• Mark Lovewell

Morning Planets

The brilliant planet Venus is high in the southeastern sky before sunrise. You don’t have to get up too early to see it. You can see Venus as late in the morning as 6 a.m. Sunrise is about a half hour later. Venus is quite high and nothing comes as close in brightness.

Take an opportunity to look more carefully and there are two celestial objects nearby. The distinctly red planet Mars is slightly to the east and below Venus. The bright star Regulus is to the right of Mars. Mars and Regulus are a close pair.

There is one more planet, Jupiter, which is close to the eastern horizon. For comparison Jupiter is far brighter than Mars but no match to the brighter Venus.

Take the time to notice the position of these bright planets. For in the weeks ahead, the arrangement will noticeably change. Jupiter and Mars will continue to climb higher, though Jupiter is expected to pass by Mars and close in on Venus.

There is no better a time to watch the movement of these planets than in the coming weeks. Sunrise is getting later in the morning. More and more of us are rising early and seeing stars in the predawn sky.

 

Sunrise and Sunset
Day Sunrise Sunset
Fri., Sept. 25 6:31 6:34
Sat., Sept. 26 6:32 6:32
Sun., Sept. 27 6:33 6:30
Mon., Sept. 28 6:34 6:29
Tues., Sept. 29 6:35 6:27
Wed., Sept. 30 6:36 6:25
Thurs., Oct. 1 6:37 6:24
Fri., Oct. 2 6:39 6:22
Temperatures and Precipitation
Day Max (Fº) Min (Fº) Inches
Sept. 18 81 63 0.00
Sept. 19 79 63 0.00
Sept. 20 81 65 0.00
Sept. 21 77 60 0.00
Sept. 22 68 60 0.00
Sept. 23 71 59 0.00
Sept. 24 70 49 0.00

 

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 71º F

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