Three planets are in the southeastern sky before sunrise, although only for a short time. The planets are Venus, Saturn and Mercury.

Mercury is the errant planet and will only be visible for the next week, possibly a little longer, before it drops back into the glare of the sun.

Most people can pick out Venus high in the east. It is the brightest planet in our sky and has been readily visible for months. Venus is in the southeastern sky before sunrise. The second brightest celestial object nearby is the ringed planet Saturn.

Saturn is right next to Venus; the two planets are about a degree apart tomorrow morning. After that, they will appear to move apart.

Underneath the two and at some distance, Mercury hovers just above the horizon in the glare of dawn.

By the end of next week, the three planets will form a nearly perfect line. Saturn will be above Venus and Mercury will be nearest to the horizon.

This changing show is only for early risers.

There will be a brilliant full moon on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the coming week. The Old Farmer’s Almanac calls this full moon the beaver moon. But that doesn’t make sense here on the Vineyard, where there are no beavers. So we like to call it the bay scallop moon.

The moon is in the zodiacal constellation Taurus and is one of the tallest full moons of winter. Late at night, the moon almost appears at our zenith.

 

Sunrise and Sunset
Day Sunrise Sunset
Fri., Nov. 23 6:39 4:15
Sat., Nov. 24 6:41 4:15
Sun., Nov. 25 6:42 4:14
Mon., Nov. 26 6:43 4:14
Tues., Nov. 27 6:44 4:13
Wed., Nov. 28 6:45 4:13
Thurs., Nov. 29 6:46 4:12
Fri., Nov. 30 6:47 4:12

Temperatures and Precipitations

Day Max (Fº) Min (Fº) Inches
Nov. 16 47 42 .00
Nov. 17 48 39 Trace
Nov. 18 52 41 .00
Nov. 19 51 43 .00
Nov. 20 55 44 .00
Nov. 21 51 44 .00

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 51º F.