It is sometimes difficult to rouse one's self out of bed in the predawn hours to get a view of some celestial event. But it will be worth setting your alarm clock for 4 a.m. local daylight time on Wednesday morning (July 31) in order to get a view of two planets that will be engaged in an interesting tableau with a slender crescent moon.
The planets in question are Mars and Jupiter and they are like two ships passing in the midsummer night — or more precisely, passing on the edge of the late July dawn. At the break of dawn, you will find them about one-third more of the way up from the eastern horizon and separated by a wide 7 and a half degrees.
