Week of September 14-20, 2025

Early risers have probably been marveling at the dazzling white "star" now appearing in the eastern sky at dawn. It is, of course, the brilliant planet Venus. But this week it will team up with a couple of other celestial bodies to create an even more beautiful display.

On the morning of Friday, Sept. 19, Venus will join with the thin crescent moon and the distant star Regulus. In fact, the three will appear so close that you'll want to aim binoculars to see them all together.

What appears to be a near collision is anything but. The three celestial bodies are widely separated, but the fact that they appear roughly along the same line of sight produces the illusion of nearness.

Each of these three is an example of a completely different type of object. The moon is our closest celestial neighbor and natural satellite. It's a huge chunk of rock that, we now believe, formed when a planet-sized body slammed into the Earth some 4.5 billion years ago. On the morning of the 19th, it will lie 241,185 miles away.

Venus is a planet, much like the Earth, except that it's enshrouded by poisonous clouds that hold its surface temperature hotter than a pizza oven. On Sept. 19, it will lie some 135 million miles away, and its light will require 12 and a half minutes to reach us.

The third collaborator in this celestial trio is a thermonuclear cauldron not unlike our sun (but much larger and hotter). It's known as Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo. It's the most distant of these three, at a whopping 466 trillion miles away — so far that we see its light arriving after a journey of 79.3 light years.

As I said, no danger of a collision!

But things are not stationary up there. The moon orbits the Earth, and Venus orbits the sun, and both of these motions are visible to those who are patient. Check out the morning sky a few days before Sept. 19, and you'll see what I mean. Venus appears just above Regulus, while the moon lies quite far above this pair.

Over the next few mornings, you'll notice that both Venus and the moon have moved in their orbits and appear to be approaching Regulus from above. Keeping watch on this is fun, but you might also want to use your camera to capture the positions of the three as they seem to close in on each other.

And then, on the 19th, Venus, Regulus and the moon will lie almost along the same line of sight and appear as a tight group low in the eastern sky. You should begin your watch about an hour or so before sunrise and enjoy the view as the light and colors of dawn change.

If you've got binoculars, you'll want to aim them toward this trio. All will fit neatly inside the same field of view and produce a marvelous sight. And a small, low-powered telescope will show Venus and Regulus together.

Be sure to set your alarm early on Friday, Sept. 19, for a celestial display you won't want to miss!

On Friday, Sept. 19, the moon, Venus and the star Regulus will appear so close together in the sky that all three can be viewed at once with binoculars.

Visit Dennis Mammana at dennismammana.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at creators.com.

On Friday, Sept. 19, the moon, Venus and the star Regulus will appear so close together in the sky that all three can be viewed at once with binoculars.