VENUS is still dominating the evening sky, blazing in the west after sunset like a piece of burning magnesium, writes STUART ATKINSON.
Through a telescope or even just a good pair of binoculars it looks like a tiny crescent, but it is now past its best and is a little lower in the sky each evening. Soon it will sink into the twilight and we'll be glimpsing it through the branches of trees and gaps in roofs, so enjoy it while you can. Mars is still quite close to Venus, shining to its upper left, but the two are moving apart now.
As Venus sinks in the west Jupiter is rising in the east, eager to take its place. Jupiter isn't as bright as Venus, and has more of a yellow-white hue than blue-white Venus but is a more rewarding sight through binoculars; through a good pair you will see up to four of its family of 63 moons. Jupiter is also shining above Spica, one of the brightest stars in the sky, and the pair look like a beautiful double star in the sky.
If you can stay up until - or get up at! - 5am you'll also be able to see Saturn rising into the eastern sky.
So, if you can stay out long enough you can see four different planets in the sky in one night!
Stuart Atkinson
Eddington Astronomical Society of Kendal
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