October of 1996 saw a nice planetary grouping in the morning sky consisting of Mars, Mercury, and Venus. Mars has just crossed the border into Leo from Cancer this morning, while Venus has gotten to central Leo, just north of ρ Leonis, which is not visible on the image. Mercury is starting to recede back toward the Sun during this favorable morning apparition.

Mars is beginning its apparition, the main phase of which will occur in the spring of 1997 during which it comes to opposition in Virgo. Venus, on the other hand, while still at a great height in the morning sky, will rapidly sink back into the Sun's glare over the next several months. Venus' magnitude is -4.09, Mars is at +1.40 and Mercury is magnitude -0.92 this morning.

I don't recall where I was to take this picture, but based on the angle that the planets and Moon are making with respect to the horizon, the spot must have been at a similar latitude to Virginia near Fredericksburg. The day was Wednesday, so I would have had to go to work LOL, therefore it's not likely I would have been in the mountains or somewhere far from home.

Later in the month, on the 29th, Mars has a very nice conjunction with Regulus. On that date, the separation between the two is 1°9' and they have almost exactly the same magnitude (Mars is going to be slightly brighter), so they'll make a fine pair. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of that event :(