Moon, Venus and Saturn close together in the morning sky of January 7th, 2016

If you look an hour or so before sunrise towards the southeastern (Northern Hemisphere) / eastern (Southern Hemisphere) horizon this month the planets Venus and Saturn are currently visible. Brilliant Venus is by far the brighter of the pair. It shines at magnitude -4.0 and is unmistakable, a dazzling beacon of light hovering above the horizon. Saturn at mag. +0.6 is 70x fainter than the much closer Venus but nevertheless easily found. Venus also acts as a useful guide in locating the more distant planet. Positioned 6 degrees further south is red supergiant Antares (α Sco - mag. +1.0).

A good time to look is on the morning of January 7th when the thin 10% illuminated waning crescent Moon forms a nice pairing with the two planets.

See also

The Planets this Month - January 2016