Tomorrow morning, well before sunrise, you have an opportunity to see the planet Mercury close to the horizon. And you are being helped by a thin crescent moon, nearby.

The scene is made up of three celestial objects. The thin moon displays only a sliver of sunlight, a slender arc of sunlight. The shaded part of the moon might have a slight glow, called earth shine.

Closest to the moon and to the left is the bright red star Antares, the brightest star in the southernmost zodiacal constellation Scorpius.

If you can see those two celestial objects, look immediately to your left for Mercury, shining brightly like a star. All three celestial objects are about equal distance above the horizon. See one, and you probably can see all three.

Mercury, though one of the visible planets in our sky, is the hardest to spot for it is always close to either the rising or setting sun. Mercury is also one of the fastest moving planets in our sky. Next week, Mercury gets harder to see as it slips closer and closer to the horizon.

You can look for Mercury on Sunday morning, though the moon will have slipped away. Only Mercury and Antares appear together.

New Year's Eve Sky

Four visible planets appear in our evening sky, now and through the weeks ahead. If you step outside on New Year's Eve, look early in the evening for the brightest planet in our sky, Venus, setting in the west.

The second brightest planet, Jupiter is fairly high in the eastern sky. The ringed planet Saturn in the southwestern sky, near to Venus.

Mars rises in the east an hour or so after sunset. Mars is a very bright red planet now and will be at its brightest in a week.