Morning Planets Venus and Jupiter gleam from the morning skies today as seen from the Chicago area. Both can be seen well into bright twilight before sunrise.
Brilliant Venus shines from the dimmer stars of Virgo, although above it, as shown in the 30-second image above, Denebola and Regulus of the constellation Leo are easily visible.
Bright Jupiter appears against the starry background of Taurus in the western sky, 100 degrees away from Venus.
In the image above, Venus appears near Aldebaran and the star clusters, the Pleiades — partly obscured by the tree — and the Hyades. Capella (Auriga) also appears in the image.
For our monthly sky watching posting, click here. Watch the planetary pair in the morning sky throughout the next several months. Read more about Venus as a Morning Star. (Click the images to see them larger.)