dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (10/11/85)
There are some worlds waiting to be seen in the predawn sky on Saturday. More -- after this. October 11 Mars, Venus and the Moon If you need a reason to get up early on Saturday -- don't forget about three worlds waiting to be seen in the predawn sky. The moon, Venus and Mars all are very near each other Saturday morning. They'll be easy to see -- city or country -- in the east shortly before sunrise. You'll have no trouble knowing where to look for these three worlds -- because one of them, the moon, will show you where. Also, Venus is now very bright -- some two hundred times brighter than Mars -- brighter than anything else in the sky besides the sun and moon. And Mars is conspicuous for its nearness to Venus and the moon. It's located just above them in Saturday's predawn sky. The moon is now waning, or getting closer to the sunrise each day -- as it prepares to pass between the Earth and sun at new moon. Venus also is heading into the sun's glare, though it won't be gone entirely until just before Christmas. But watch out for Mars. It's now becoming more prominent in our sky, because Earth is now catching up to the red planet in the race around the sun. Mars will get brighter and rise earlier each day for the first half of 1986. By next summer, it'll be a brilliant red object in our sky all night long. So take a look -- that's Venus, Mars and the moon -- easy to see near each other in the sky before dawn on Saturday. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1984, 1985 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin