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Two bright evening stars command the early evening sky in the second half of fall. They actually are not stars at all, but bright planets. When you view from the city or the country, you will be treated to Venus hanging low in the southwest and Jupiter shining in the south.
As the weeks pass, Jupiter slowly moves westward setting a few minutes earlier each night. Venus, itself setting four hours earlier than Jupiter, heads slowly towards it before reversing course in mid December. It then drops quickly towards the set sun and becomes easily lost in the bright twilight by the end of 2021.
Between them lies the ringed planet, Saturn, not nearly as commanding as the other two. In fact, it is only about as bright as one of the brighter stars in the evening sky, Altair, which lies to its upper right.
The crescent Moon—magically bathed in Earthshine (the back reflected sunlight off Earth)—first glows to the right of Venus on November 7, then to its left the following evening. Enjoy this wonderful scene through binoculars: brilliant Venus guarding the lunar crescent and its mysteriously lit “dark side.” Two nights later on November 10, a somewhat thicker crescent visits Saturn. The first quarter Moon moves to Jupiter’s left on November 11. If you miss out, don’t worry: the Moon re-visits the three planets December 6 through December 9.
The story above first appeared in our November/ December 2021 issue.
