Good morning fellow stargazers, and at a whopping 28F its a pretty frosty morning down here in Dixie, as the old song goes!
Yeah I know, for some of y'all farther north, or in higher altitudes, 28F in the early morning hours is probably not that impressive. Its not the temperature, its the humidity for us here in South Carolina though. And for this Southern boy, anything below roughly 52F is liable to be pneumonia weather, LOL!
This morning I braved the cold weather and frost covered ground, scraped off my frost-covered windshield, and traveled a few miles into the nearby City of Chester so I could find a high enough place to get my latest planetary offerings for y'all to enjoy -- all of the inner planets of our Solar System at once!
Taken at approximately 50 minutes before sunrise in a wonderfully clear morning sky are bright Venus, and faint Mars nearby with tiny Mercury lower on the horizon. Add our own Earth in the foreground at the bottom of the photo, with some of my hometown and y'all have all four of the inner planets of our Solar System.
During the month of February y'all should be able to see our neighboring three planets: Mercury, Venus, and Mars in the early morning hours before sunrise in a rough, elongated triangle in the southeastern sky. Y'all might have to brave the cold morning hours to do so, and find a place clear enough on the horizon to see tiny Mercury -- although Mercury will rise higher in the morning sky as the month goes on.
Bright shinning Venus -- already the third brightest point of light in the sky dome after the moon and the Sun -- is at its peak brightness in the early morning sky this month with most of its surface reflecting the sun's light. It will continue to be a bright "morning star" visible in the eastern sky until early October of 2022.
Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed this planetary offering and I hope to have more coming up soon. Until next time, have a wonderful Dixie day my friends.
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