On any clear morning of January 2011, people won t fail to notice the dazzling light on the southeast horizon. The light is not sent off by a landing aircraft, but by the most brilliant Venus.
Venus will reach its farthest point west of the sun in Earth s sky on January 8. Astronomers call this a greatest elongation of Venus. It rises from the east 3 hours or more before sunrise and reaches one-third of the southeast sky 45 minutes before sunrise. Without any guidance you can find it, because it will be brighter than any stars in the nearly 100-fold.
Good things come in pairs. Mercury, the following day, reaches greatest western elongation from the Sun. On January 9, 45 minutes before sunrise, it will appear low in the southeast, in the lower left of Venus. Although less brilliant than Venus, it constitutes a visible triangle together with Venus and Antares, the heart of Scorpio. Binoculars can be a good help if your naked eyes have difficulty seeing Mercury in the dawn.