Venus Gleams above Mercury and Saturn (before sunrise)

During the early part of April, the planets Venus, Mercury, Neptune, and Saturn will all be gathered above the eastern horizon before sunrise. Neptune is far too faint to compete against the morning twilight, but the other three planets will be visible, especially from tropical latitudes where the ecliptic (green line) will be closer to vertical. On the mornings surrounding Friday, April 11, find brilliant Venus and then search a bit more than a binoculars’ field of view below it (orange circle) for the side-by-side pair of Mercury and Saturn. Mercury will be the slightly brighter planet to Saturn’s left. On the prior few days, Saturn will be lower than Mercury. Then it will climb while Mercury descends.