Venus Shines above Saturn (pre-dawn)

In the eastern sky before dawn in late April, the orbital motion of the brilliant planet Venus will be carrying it past 240 times fainter Saturn. On the mornings before Monday, April 28, Saturn will be positioned several finger widths below (or 3.6 degrees to the celestial south of) Venus, allowing the two planets to share the view in binoculars (orange circle). After Venus shines closest above Saturn on Monday, it will descend more to Saturn’s left and widen their separation. All told, you’ll be able to see the duo in binoculars from about April 16 to May 6.