News: Last night I saw the very, very close grouping of Mars and Venus: http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/article_572_3.asp

Comment: They were only one-third of a degree apart, or less than a finger's width at arms length. Pretty cool in binoculars. Eerie to imagine one planet -- Mars -- is the next planet out from us, and the other planet -- Venus -- is the next planet in.

Keep watching the skies for the next week to spot other groupings as the early Moon joins the crowd.

6:43:35 PM