Here is the sky before dawn on Monday, May 20.
See the end note about enlarging illustrations.
At this moment, in the east and out of our picture, Venus is rising (about an hour before the Sun).
Westward, in the part of the sky that was high at midnight, there is more activity. The Moon is about to pass Jupiter. It will be closest north of the planet 9 hours later (in daylight for the Americas and Europe).
The Moon was Full on May 18: it was then near to the moving point we’ve marked as the “anti-Sun.” And Jupiter will be at opposition on June 10, when the “anti-Sun” catches up with it.
Here’s a question for you. If you have our new “Map of the Starry Sky,” what do you think about the green curves representing sample horizons? Are they distracting, or do they help in relating the map of the celestial sphere to the view from localities on Earth?
__________
DIAGRAMS in these posts are made with precision but have to be inserted in another format. You may be able to enlarge them on your monitor. One way: right-click, and choose “View image”, then enlarge. Or choose “Copy image”, then put it on your desktop, then open it. On an iPad or phone, use the finger gesture that enlarges (spreading with two fingers, or tapping and dragging with three fingers). I am grateful to know of what methods work for you.
I find the map’s green horizon markers just the right amount of ignorable. I can pay attention if I want to, otherwise I don’t get visually bothered by them.
Just what I wanted to hear!