BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Brad Klein reviews the week’s astronomical highlights with Bethlehem’s ‘Backyard Astronomy Guy,’ Marty McGuire. This week, they discuss the ‘morning star’.
Although Venus is the planet most often associated with that phrase, sometimes that planet plays the role of ‘evening star’. And sometimes, like this week, Venus is not visible in the night sky.
“It can’t be seen at all," McGuire said, speaking of Venus which is sometimes blocked from our view by the Sun.
But for those who rise before dawn, Jupiter will be the brightest star-like object in the morning sky. And it will be easier to see as the Summer goes on, as it daily is seen higher above the Eastern horizon. It will also be visible for a longer time as it rises earlier in the Eastern sky before being washed out by the light of day.
With the help of an astronomy app, McGuire says that careful observers could also pick out Mars, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in the morning sky. But the last two are so faint that they require a telescope to see.
