I was outside in the back yard with the dogs last night and was pleasantly surprised to see Orion’s belt shining overhead. The sky was as clear as could be, and beautiful as ever.
The very bright star to the left of the crescent moon is actually Jupiter, which showed off its red spot last night. If I would have had my telescope out, I could have seen it. Of course, that bright morning star is the planet Venus. Still amazingly bright and beautiful. In the minutes just before morning, Venus is so bright and so low in the sky that it really does appear to be moving. Pretty spectacular. http://earthsky.org/tonight
Jupiter's position relative to the moon
Venus just before dawn
