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June 4: Jupiter passes south of Pollux
Now that the Red Planet is rising roughly an hour before the Sun, let’s check in on Mars in the predawn sky. The nearby world now has time to climb well above the horizon, leading to easier viewing even as the sky is growing light.
Half an hour before sunrise, Mars is 12° above the eastern horizon, shining at magnitude 1.3. If you have any trouble spotting it in the growing twilight, try for it with binoculars — but make sure to put them away at least several minutes before sunrise from your location. Brighter Saturn, shining at magnitude 0.8, lies some 30.5° west of Mars. Like the planets in the evening sky, these two worlds trace out the ecliptic in the morning sky, showing its shallower angle with respect to the horizon.
Unfortunately, peering at Mars through a telescope will show little more than the view with binoculars — the planet is just 4” across, with no surface detail visible at that size.
Sunrise: 5:32 A.M.
Sunset: 8:25 P.M.
Moonrise: 12:02 A.M.
Moonset: 10:00 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (73%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location.
