Sunrise Sunset

Fri., Jan 18 7:05 4:39

Sat., Jan. 19 7:04 4:40

Sun., Jan. 20 7:03 4:41

Mon., Jan. 21 7:03 4:43

Tues., Jan. 22 7:02 4:44

Wed., Jan. 23 7:01 4:45

Thurs., Jan. 24 7:01 4:46

Fri., Jan. 25 7:00 4:48

Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets in our night sky, are getting closer together. Venus for many weeks has been alone low in the eastern sky before sunrise. It is an impressive “morning star” and easy to find. Already, another planet has arrived on the scene.

Jupiter is making a slow entrance. For early risers, Jupiter appears within the glow of dawn far below Venus. In the mornings ahead, Jupiter gets higher and is easier to see. By the end of this month, Jupiter and Venus are right next to each other, slightly more than a degree apart.

Venus and Jupiter are the brightest planets. Being both close and permanently covered with cloud cover makes Venus a highly reflective bright planet. Venus is 111 million miles away.

Jupiter is huge and also cloud-covered. Jupiter may be five times farther away from the Earth than Venus, but its size more than makes up for it. Jupiter is bright because it is a thousand times bigger than Venus.

Mars and Moon

The gibbous moon appears close to Mars tomorrow night. The two are in the zodiacal constellation Gemini. The full moon, known as the Wolf Moon, takes place Monday night.

The moon moves up close to Saturn by the end of the coming week. Both will be in the zodiacal constellation Leo.