Trio of Planets in Pre-Dawn Sky

Most people think of stargazing as a night time activity.  And if you want to see the greatest number of stars, constellations, and deep sky objects its best to get out early and stay up late.

But many people haven't considered that the sky before dawn is a great time to go out and look up.  Especially this August, when 3 bright planets will be visible before the sun comes up.

Looking East just after 05:00 (MDT)  you should see the bright constellation Orion the Hunter and to his left is Gemini the Twins.  Sitting between the two twins are Jupiter and Mars.  Jupiter will be the brightest of the two.  In fact, Jupiter is the 4th brightest object visible in sky (after the Sun, the Moon and the planet Venus).

Following a diagonal line from Jupiter to Mars and extending it to the horizon reveals tiny Mercury.  Mercury is a little harder to spot but binoculars can help.  

By mid month Mercury will have scurried into the glare of the rising sun.  Look for it in the evening sky sometime later this fall.  Mars and Jupiter will also have separated, since Mars orbits the sun considerably faster than Jupiter.  

So if you have to get up and moving before sunrise, take a step out and look for the trio of planets in the pre-dawn sky.

Pre-Dawn Sky in Early August.  Created by the Author using Stellarium