September 20, 2007
Venus, the closest planet to Earth and the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon, now gleams in the east before dawn. On September 23, Venus reaches its brightest for this appearance and the planet gleams at magnitude –4.8 on the scale astronomers use.

Get up an hour or so before the Sun and look east. Venus is the object that looks like an airplane's landing lights about 25° above the horizon. That's roughly equal to the height of both fists stacked at arm's length.

Look below and to the left of Venus to find the planet Saturn as well. At magnitude 0.7, Saturn glows much more dimly than Venus, but the ringed planet outshines all but the brightest stars. A view through a telescope will reveal Saturn's rings and its largest moon, Titan.

Between the two planets lies Regulus, the brightest star of the constellation Leo the Lion. Follow the arc of stars above and to the left of Regulus to see the Lion's "head."

A waning crescent Moon passes through the grouping October 7, but the morning's planetary show keeps getting better. On October 15, Saturn passes 3° from Venus. And on October 28, a still-brilliant but slightly dimmer Venus reaches its greatest angle west of the Sun — 46° — for this appearance.