@Narnian78, the Hubble is indeed still up and functioning. Check out the Hubble site for news and to search images. As I recall, back in the day there was some discussion about trying to recover Hubble at the end of its life for display in the Smithsonian. The loss of shuttle Columbia dashed that, however.

Trivia note: from some parts of the earth, Hubble can be seen moving across the sky just like the ISS. I live too far north to see it, but about 15 years ago my parents wintered in the far south of Texas and I was able to see it there.

The new Webb Telescope has a much larger primary and is still undergoing final testing before its work begins. First images are expected July 12. For that inner space geek, check out Where is Webb? and click on "Webb in 3D solar system."    

I enjoyed your description of your early morning observation, @jo. My early-morning viewing has been limited, but I stepped outside around 4 am this morning to see Mars about 10 degrees northeast of Jupiter, Saturn in the southeast, and a beautiful full moon, big and round and deep yellow, almost setting in the southwest. It was glorious! (The sky was quite hazy, however, due both to very high humidity and heat, and wildfire smoke blowing in from Colorado and Kansas). If it remains clear I'll step out a little later this evening, but probably not for too long, since the mosquitoes are out in force and it's still 90F/32C a half hour after sunset.

Last night my husband and I loaded up our kiddos and drove out into the countryside to see the supermoon rise. There's something about the supermoon coming up on the horizon that is just...  

Well we didn't see it come up on the horizon because of some clouds/smoke and such (Sahara dust too?), but when we did finally spot it coming out of the clouds, it looked like some kind of thin weather balloon or jellyfish. It was quite something.  

@stargazer 

Thanks for the link to information about Hubble. I often have thought that it’s unfortunate that some of the spacecrafts sent to other planets have been lost. They were expensive to build, and they were sent on a one way trip. But that’s the sacrifice that one has to make to explore the universe.

I love the memories you are making with your kids and the night sky, @fantasia. Brings back my own family recollections of stargazing when they were growing up. And also now when we are together.

Thanks for the interesting Hubble info, @stargazer.

Yesterday morning I spotted Venus and Jupiter again, even after the sun rose. They vanished from view at 5:59 and 6, respectively. The sun rose at 5:45; today at 5:43. (Our longest day is nearly upon us!) Again, a clear sky this morning on my walk, so I kept my eye on the two planets after the sun rose until they winked from view around 6.

(Weird how the font changed ^. )

I like reading how you're able to see Venus and Jupiter after sunrise, @jo. I've only seen Jupiter in daylight once. I did try again this morning, given how close it was to the Moon, but the binoculars fogged up in our high humidity. But it was pretty seeing the Moon near Jupiter earlier, before sunrise.

Posted by: @stargazer

But it was pretty seeing the Moon near Jupiter earlier, before sunrise.

Very pretty!

It is too warm these days for me to have my early morning walks, but I sure hope to make it outside with a clear view toward the E-SE this week to view ...

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/solar-system-gets-its-ducks-in-a-row/

This morning was stunningly beautiful. I got out of the house by 4:30 a.m. local time (EDT), jogged to my favourite wide, clear viewing point just east of our village by the Old Silo, about a ten-minute jog away. And stood in amazement. There was the anticipated planetary lineup, stretching from low in the east to higher in the south, with the Moon taking earth's place in the line: Mercury quite low in the growing dawn, brilliant Venus higher, the crescent Moon, ruddy Mars nearby, bright Jupiter, and further towards the south, Saturn. What a sight! And the temperature was SO much more comfortable than of late: 10°C/50F, with a good breeze, making it feel even cooler. Gorgeous! Plus a clear sky all around.

The same is forecast for tomorrow morning, with Jupiter and a very thin Moon cozying up, so my aim is the same timing then.

I could see Mercury with my naked eye until 5 a.m., then with binoculars until 5:09. Saturn went from view at 5:21; Mars winked out at 5:25. The sun rose at 5:44 (the earliest at the solstice was 5:43), then Jupiter and Venus faded around 5:50.

I am very eager to view again tomorrow morning! And would love to hear about others' experiences with this wonderful sight.  

It all comes back to this for me: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims the work of his hands." from Psalm 19:1

EDIT: I was so captivated by writing of the planets that I neglected to mention the wonderful view of Cygnus the Swan directly overhead, along with that impressive Summer Triangle. It was really wonderful to get outside this early to view some of the night sky again. And now that our days are slowly beginning to shorten, I have more of that to look forward to, especially towards the end of August, on.

That's awesome, @jo! So glad you got to see this.

I was also out this morning, at about 4 am local daylight time - too early to see all the planets.  Venus was just rising but hidden by trees. However, I loved the view of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the Moon all lined up. Earthshine was prominently visible on the Moon and was quite pretty.

I may make a more serious attempt to see them all tomorrow morning, though rain is in our forecast.

Very cold nights here, but it must have been clear viewing for people up looking at the Pleiades in NZ. 

It's a NZ Maori festival, celebrating New Year, looking back at those passed away in the last year, and looking forward with hope. It's the first year we've had a public holiday for it. The stars ( I thought there were 7,but it seems to be 9) all have Maori names and some qualities attributed to them. One of them is called Matariki, which is also the name of the whole group, and of the festival.

I replied to a post on Facebook this morning, and someone appreciated what I said.

"I'm happy to mark the midpoint of the astronomical year, with the Pleiades or Seven Sisters apparently visible in both hemispheres, and the slow crawl back to longer days begun.
But whatever the stars are called, I don't use them for anything more than navigation, and the legends believed by ancient Greeks and other cultures are only stories.
Of course there are names and traditions here, used for centuries before Europeans arrived, and I acknowledge and respect those.
But I put my trust in the one who made the stars and gave them their paths and groupings."

I then opened my Bible for readings set (chronological order reading through the whole Bible), and this is what I read 8 verses in:

[Hebrew prophet Amos says,] "It is the Lord who created the stars, the Pleiades and Orion. It is He who turns darkness into morning and day into night ".

Adding on two writers who included the Pleiades in stories: Diana Wynne Jones wrote a great book called The Game, in which a girl meets up with her wide family for the first time, and discovers her true identity (I won't tell you who).  And P.L.Travers wrote a story in the first Mary Poppins book, where Jane and Michael meet a girl who turns out to be one of the Seven Sisters, during their Christmas shopping. Like other astronomical and mythological figures, she already knew Mary Poppins.

The following post is a bit lengthy, but ... there is a lot to talk about!  

Great, @stargazer, that you had that lovely viewing yesterday morning. Wondering if the rain came for this morning, or if you were able to again enjoy that beautiful planetary sight.  

@fantasia, I am eager to hear more, when you have time, about your family's viewing this morning.  

Interesting about the Maori Pleiades festival, coracle.

This morning, I began my walk to the Old Silo just before 4:30 at 9°C / 48F. A fresh, invigorating temperature for being outside for a long time. The sky was clear again, and I arrived at my viewing point about an hour before sunrise (which was 5:44 again today). There were Venus, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and off to the south, Saturn. In all their splendour. I did not see Mercury with my naked eye right off the bat, and found it more tricky to spot this morning as compared to yesterday morning. When I searched the sky upon my arrival at the Old Silo today, Mercury was too drenched in the horizon dawn's light, but shortly after, it was visible for a short time, before I had to switch to binoculars to keep it in sight. It faded very shortly after 5. I meant to look for Aldebaran, fairly close to Mercury ... but forgot.  

I did try to spy the Pleiades (not far above Venus), but could not in any way see this star cluster with my plain eye. And even with binoculars, it was mighty hard to pinpoint. I did, but barely.

I caught a brief glimpse of Arcturus, low to the horizon in the west before it set. Again, Cygnus the Swan was at the zenith high above, with the Summer Triangle gloriously spread out. Cassiopeia was not far away to the right, up high.

Mars and Saturn both faded around 5:23; Jupiter and Venus around 5:53, as one by one the planets blinked out.

What a wonderful treat again this morning. The glory of our Creator God displayed in creation all over the sky yet again and again!

I made an info mistake in my last post, though: somehow I had the impression that there was a conjunction between the Moon and Jupiter this morning. This was not the case. Not sure where I got that from. I must add, too, that this twinkling line of planets was stunning to see, arcing gently from lower Mercury in the eastern sky to Saturn much higher in the south, and more on the level with Jupiter.

I was able to see three planets and the Moon in one eye's view: Venus, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and with only a slight turn of my head, Mercury. I had to make much more of a turn (to the right/south) to view Saturn. So cool!  

My family and I rented an AirBnB in the middle of nowhere Kansas this past Thursday. If you like stargazing, Kansas is a fabulous state. The only problem was on our way there, we started driving through thunderstorms.  (One even dropped a tornado after we were through that line. Go Kansas!) And the skies stayed stormy with plenty of lightning for the rest of the night. 

I set my alarm for 4:15am Friday morning anyways, rolled out of bed, and went outside. I found Jupiter and Mars immediately, the Moon was glowing behind a thunderhead, lightning was still flashing far to the north, and I was having the hardest time finding Saturn.

Shortly thereafter my husband joined me with our telescope and we found Saturn (it was closer to the horizon than I thought) and the Moon came out from behind the clouds. Venus and Mercury were completely out of the question, so my husband triangulated the telescope and we managed to find both Uranus and Neptune, which was super cool.

After a while, Venus popped out from behind the clouds, and the somewhere around 545am, I realized that if I followed the planetary arc, the clouds were clearing with the sunrise. So my husband pointed telescope in the direction of Mercury, and for a split second, we found it,though it quickly disappeared behind the clouds again. 

So what seemed to start off as a disappointment, ended up being quite successful as we saw every major planet in the Solar System. 

Still on my bucket list though is seeing Mercury with the naked eye. Maybe next time!

Posted by: @fantasia

So what seemed to start off as a disappointment, ended up being quite successful as we saw every major planet in the Solar System. 

This is A.m.a.z.i.n.g! Maybe a once-in-a-lifetime treat for you and your family! Thanks for your descriptions, fantasia. I could visualize those beautiful heavenly images in my mind's eye. I hope you do have the chance to view Mercury sometime with the naked eye. It truly is a (albeit quite elusive) treat. And I hope I have the opportunity to some day view all the major planets. That really is astounding!

Posted by: @fantasia

the Moon was glowing behind a thunderhead

I must exclaim that this would have been such a stunning sight. *has a great fondness for the Moon ... as well as for towering thunderhead clouds*

Yesterday morning I was unexpectedly able to get out for a walk, being 10°C here. Lovely! I was out a bit later than usual (just after 5:30), so missed seeing Mercury and even Mars. I may have seen the latter if I had brought my binoculars. Jupiter and Venus disappeared from view at 6:04 and 6:09, respectively. The sun rose at 5:46 yesterday and today.

This morning I was out by 5 (only 6°C here - really fresh and beautiful!), so I was able to see four of the planets with the naked eye: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. At first, I could not find Mars, thinking it was still closer to Venus, but no, it was nearer Jupiter this morning. There was no sign of Mercury, even with binoculars. The dawn near the horizon was just too bright at that time. Somewhere between 6:20 and 6:24 Saturn disappeared from sight; Mars, at that point, I could only spot in my binoculars. By near 6 a.m., Venus and Jupiter had gone. It was a New Moon this morning, so naught to be seen there.

I may be able to get out once or twice in the next week, as the temperatures bounce around from cooler to warmer to cooler again.

It's awesome that you got to see all the planets, fantasia!

Mercury is sinking out of view now. The next opportunity to see all 5 major planets at once, in order, comes at the end of March 2041, though Mercury, Venus, and Mars will be quite low at sunrise.

Another interesting object to view comes around mid-July, but only for mid-northern latitudes (I think the equivalent opportunity Down Under comes in January). The ISS spends some time always in sunlight then, so all of its night passes are visible for a few days around that time. It can mess up the sleep schedule, going out every 90 minutes or so, but it can mean seeing 5 passes of the ISS in the same night.

(It may seem counterintuitive that all the passes being visible come during some the year's shortest nights, but it's due to the conditions of seeing the ISS - it has to be in sunlight while the ground below has to be in twilight or darkness to see it. In winter  those midnight passes are in the dark, but in summer the station can still be in sunlight then).

Posted by: @stargazer

The next opportunity to see all 5 major planets at once, in order, comes at the end of March 2041,

Good to know. I wonder if I will still be around then. And thanks for the ISS info, stargazer!

This morning I was up extra-early and out of the house by 5:05 a.m. so had the great treat of seeing four of the planets: Venus (ENE), Mars (ESE), Jupiter (SE), Saturn (S). Beautiful, as always. Mercury is now out of view as it is very near the Sun.

I saw Saturn vanish from view at 5:32; Mars at 5:34. Venus and Jupiter were just after 6 a.m.

It was only just over 9°C this morning (not even 10°), with a cool breeze, so a really lovely and fresh walking morning!