The Stars in Late January and Early February - Awesome Sky Show in the Early Morning!

by Robert Wilkinson

We're about to enter a period when Mercury through Saturn will all be visible in the predawn sky, giving us a 5 planet spread across the sky!

I'm posting this on the site for those of you who didn't check it out on my FB feed.

Along with these 5, from January 23 through February 7 the Moon will also be above the horizon. The predawn alignment features Jupiter in the western sky, Mars will be up near the zenith, Saturn will be at about 10 o'clock in the western sky, Venus will be just below Saturn in the eastern sky, and Mercury will be just above the horizon. As the Sun and Mercury get farther apart, it should make a beautiful spread of all 5 planets spread out across 180 degrees! In late Jan, the Moon will be in the west below Jupiter. By early Feb, the Moon will be in the east above Mercury and Venus.

So you early risers are in for a real treat! It's a rare sky show to feature 5 planets plus the Moon all above the horizon at the same time, so take at least one morning and check it out!

Copyright © 2016 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Eloise]

Hello Robert ~ does this alignment have any astrological significance? My sense is that the significance of planetary positions remains the same, no matter what they look like in the sky. But I'd love some clarity on this!

Thank you