Mars and Saturn are favorite planets. Mars is red and there are plenty of stories about it being the most likely planet to have extraterrestrial life. Saturn is a giant with rings like no other planet in our solar system. These two planets are friends this spring and their friendship continues well into summer.

In July and August when you are out in the early evening, Mars and Saturn will share the same part of the zodiac, due south.

This month, however, they are morning planets, shining early low in the southeastern sky. The two rise in the eastern sky around 2 a.m. By dawn they appear low in the sky almost due south. Mars is brilliant red after having brightened considerably in just the last few months. Saturn is stalwart, pretty much the same brightness throughout the year. Saturn has a yellowish tint and is in Libra. Mars is not too far away, in the constellation Scorpius.

For the next two months these two will appear even closer together. The two separate only slightly in early summer. But in August, they come within a few degrees of each other in Scorpius for a final conversation. After Labor Day they separate and go their separate ways.

Jupiter

Jupiter is in opposition. It was closest to the Earth earlier this week. You see it rising in the east, after the sun has set. It is almost high overhead at midnight and sets in the west at dawn.