Friday night the moon appears near the bright red planet Mars. The two are in the southern sky, in the zodiacal constellation Sagittarius. While they are close together tonight, the moon is only slightly farther away on Saturday night.

The moon will be first quarter Saturday night, so think of this as a two night event.

Mars remains a bright planet in our southern sky, though it has lost much of its brilliance since it was in opposition earlier this year. Mars is about as far away from us as the sun, at 94 million miles. Last May, the planet was a relatively close 46 million miles away.

Mars will dim more quickly in the months ahead.

Jupiter and Mercury
   
If you are up early Tuesday morning, two planets are close together. The bright planet Jupiter is right next to Mercury. Both are close to the eastern horizon. Take a look at about 6 a.m. and not much later. The two planets are less than a degree apart.