Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2020 March 20

                     Morning, Planets, Moon and Montreal
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Arnaud Mariat

   Explanation: Dawn's early light came to Montreal, northern planet
   Earth, on March 18, the day before the vernal equinox. At the end of
   that nearly equal night the Moon stands above a dense constellation of
   urban lights in this serene city and skyscape. Of course the Moon's
   waning crescent faces toward the rising Sun. Skygazers could easily
   spot bright Jupiter just above the Moon, close on the sky to a fainter
   Mars. Saturn, a telescopic favorite, is just a pinprick of light below
   and farther left of the closer conjunction of Moon, Jupiter and Mars.
   Near the ecliptic, even Mercury is rising along a line extended to the
   horizon from Jupiter and Saturn. The elusive inner planet is very close
   to the horizon though, and not quite visible in this morning's sky.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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