Dawn Trio

Early risers are in for a treat tomorrow – a tight triangle formed by the Moon, the planet Venus, and the star Spica. It’s in the east-southeast as dawn twilight paints the sky. But the group is quite low, so there’s not much time to look for it. And you’ll need a clear eastern horizon. The Moon is about as close to the Sun as it can get and still be visible. The Sun will light up only about three percent of the lunar hemisphere that faces our way. But you can see the rest of the lunar disk thanks to earthshine – sunlight reflected off of Earth. You should be able to make out many of its features with your eyes alone. But binoculars will really enhance the view. By Sunday morning, the Moon will be lost in the Sun’s glare as it heads toward “new” later in the day – the start of a new cycle of phases. It’ll return to view in the evening sky on Wednesday, also a thin crescent. Venus is the brilliant “morning star,” so it’s an easy target. It’s climbing away from the Sun and into better view day by day. It’ll be in good view well before twilight in a few days. Spica, the leading light of Virgo, is quite close to the left of Venus. It’s the faintest member of the dawn trio – about half a percent as bright as Venus. But its proximity to the morning star will help you pick it out – completing this beautiful treat in the early morning sky. We’ll talk about two other morning planets tomorrow.   Script by Damond Benningfield