The two brightest planets in our sky, Venus and Jupiter are separating after having spent some time close together. Last week they were less than a degree apart. The two are in the southeastern sky before sunrise. Each morning ahead, they appear farther and farther apart.

Venus is the planet that seems to be doing most of the moving. Each morning, it appears lower and lower in the morning sky, while Jupiter seems to hold still in the zodiacal constellation Virgo.

In the months ahead Jupiter will continue to appear higher in the sky and be visible earlier in the late evening. Venus is different. We can count on seeing Venus shifting from being a sunrise planet this fall and winter to a sunset planet in the New Year.

The bright red planet Mars is slight distance above Jupiter. Mars is also moving through Virgo and appears closer to Jupiter in the month ahead.

Mars will dominate our evening sky next summer and be brighter than it has been for many years.