| Jupiter, Mars, and Uranus are gathered in Taurus as we move into the second half of summer. On this August 1st morning, Jupiter shines at magnitude -2.16, Mars at +0.89, and Uranus comes in at magnitude +5.76 which is not much dimmer than it will be at opposition in November. Compare Mars to Aldebaran, the brightest star in the Hyades cluster (although it is not a member of the Hyades), which shines at magnitude +0.87 according to my planetarium software. On my image, Mars appears a tad brighter than Aldebaran for some reason. |