A successful and happy venture for me hitting the bull eyes with the sighting of the 5 "bare eyed" planets in the city morning sky. Winter skies the best as it is crisper and clearer to sky view . First western most Jupiter which I also saw 4 of its moons clearly, then next to the east Mars, then Saturn which to my great delight in my cheap birders scope i saw the rings.The moon was between Mars and Saturn. However at 520 am from the Prospect Long Meadow lawn I was wondering where the heck Venus was. Of course, it hadn't rose yet.
IT wasn't until 6:10 am that Venus finally popped above the tree line; quickly I searched for Mercury the elusive tougher to find planet as it doesn't rise too high above the horizon; its at it highest peak now and sure enough I looked to Venus' left and a little lower, barely above the trees, there is Mercury ! I was surprised at how much larger than Mars it is ; of course its closer to planet Earth than the former.Also in view was the stars Antares the red super giant and alpha star of Scorpius constellation ( which I also saw the whole constellation) and Spica..
A spectacular morning !
