Columnist Arnold Pearlstein offers his view of the skies above South Florida. His observations provide insight and a guide to this week’s astrological activity.
Jupiter reaches conjunction with the sun. The giant world now moves into the morning sky, where it will become visible before dawn by the year’s end.
Mercury also reaches conjunction with the sun this week. Like Jupiter it moves into the morning sky and it will shine low in the east before dawn in a few weeks.
The moon sails north of the bright blue-white Regulus. This star marks the heart of Leo the Lion, a well-known member of the zodiac.
In the southeast during morning twilight, blue-white Venus reaches its maximum brightness. This is the time where you can track the planet and see it with your naked eye in the sky after the sun rises. Through a telescope and even binoculars, the huge slim featureless-phase shape of Venus can be seen.
On Friday, astronomically the sun enters Ophiuchus the Snake Handler. This is the lost or 13th constellation of the zodiac. The sun spends more time in this group than in its neighbor, the more well-known Scorpius. The moon is at last-quarter phase this weekend. This is a good time to search for craters and surface features with your telescopes. The late-rising moon will not appear until after midnight. Pale gold Saturn shines in the southwest after sunset. Small telescopes will give stargazers a peek at the planet’s famous rings and largest moon Titan. To the left of Saturn glows red Mars.