Mercury lies just 0.1 o east of Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, low in the western sky after sunset. Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, shine close together in the west-southwest at dusk, changing orientation every day. The map also shows the phases of the Moon, and all solar and lunar eclipses. Use it to locate a planet, the Moon, or the Sun and track their movements across the sky. ‘Milky Way season’ gets fully underway as the thick band of our galaxy moves into view in the late evening hours. Beta The Interactive Night Sky Map simulates the sky above Kansas City on a date of your choice. This southerly location in the heavens, together with the shallow ecliptic, means it doesn’t get high in the sky from northern latitudes. All five bright planets are in play this month, three in the evening sky and two in the eastern morning sky before dawn. 'Venus and Jupiter are somewhat common conjunctions, occurring about once a year, but if you have clear skies it should still be a very fun object to view,' she said in an email to CBC News. Saturn is last of the bright planets to be found in the morning sky, at magnitude 0.9, in the constellation of Capricornus, and not far from its border with Aquarius. Its clouds aren't quite as reflective as those of Venus, but just by the fact that it's such a large planet.'Įlaina Hyde, director of York University's Allan I Carswell Observatory, which livestreamed the conjunction, said Venus and Jupiter are two of the brightest objects that can be seen in the night sky. It’s the brightest star in the night sky. That really bright star you can see in the east is, in fact, Sirius. The immense distance to the stars making up the wall of light would have. Due north, of course, it’s actually merely the 48th brightest star in the sky. 'Jupiter is much farther away, but because it's such a giant planet - it's the biggest planet in our solar system - it too reflects a fair bit of light. The entire sky would be about as bright, and as hot, as the surface of the Sun. 'Venus is particularly bright because the clouds almost appear white to us,' he said, adding that the sun reflecting off the clouds makes the planet bright. (Kerri Breen/CBC)įor the average viewer on the ground, the two bright lights would have looked similar in size and shape - but Pellarin said the two planets are visible for different reasons.

The Venus-Jupiter conjunction happens about once a year, when two of the brightest objects in the night sky appear only a moon-width apart.

Bright dusk sky