Two of the Earth’s nearest planetary neighbors, Venus and Mars, appear in the western sky. Brilliant Venus is the easiest planet to spot right after sunset. It is so brilliant, and looks like an approaching airplane with landing lights on. Venus appears amid the glow of twilight.

 Look carefully and you might see Mars, which is much fainter. Mars, the reddish planet, appears above Venus and to the left. Mars has been in our western sky for many months and it will remain low in the west well into spring.  The planet is 193 million miles away, more than twice the distance from us than the Sun.

Last April, Mars was much brighter and closer to the earth, only 57 million miles away.

Venus takes center stage. You can’t miss this brilliant planet, 139 million miles away and getting closer. Venus will be with us in the western sky all the way to August. Enjoy.

Jupiter is now in opposition, closer to the Earth and easy to spot rising in the east after sunset. Jupiter is bright, although not as bright as Venus. Venus sets in the west. Jupiter rises in the east. Astronomers estimate that the solar system’s largest planet, Jupiter,  is now 404 million miles away. At midnight, the planet is high overhead.

Snow Moon

The full moon on Tuesday is called the Snow Moon. The moon resides in the zodiacal constellation Cancer and it is moving into the zodiacal constellation Leo.