Mercury is hiding deep in the sunset.

Venus (magnitude –3.9) is disappearing low in the dawn. Look for it just above the east-southeast horizon about 30 minutes before your local sunrise time.

On November 18th, when Sky & Telescope's Sean Walker took this stacked-video image, Mars had grown to 9.0 arcseconds in diameter. The most obvious features are the North Polar Cap and Cloud Hood at bottom, its dark "collar," and the Solis Lacus complex at top "Good seeing this morning," writes Walker. "Note the bright cloud in Arcadia [just above the North Polar Cap collar]; the yellowish color is intriguing; could it be a small dust storm?"

S&T: Sean Walker

Mars (magnitude +0.1, in Cancer) rises as early as 10 p.m. now, far below Castor and Pollux in the east. It's very high in the south before dawn. In a telescope Mars is 9 arcseconds wide and growing. Can you make out its north polar cap, bordered by a dark polar-cap collar? Any other surface features? Clouds? See the Mars map and observing guide in the December Sky & Telescope, page 57. Mars is on its way to opposition late next January, when it will be 14.1 arcseconds wide.

Jupiter (magnitude –2.3, in Capricornus) shines brightly in the south in twilight, and lower in the southwest later in the evening. It sets around 10 p.m.

Saturn (magnitude +1.0, in the head of Virgo) shines in the southeast before and during dawn. In a telescope, its rings are still tilted only 4° from edge-on.

Uranus (magnitude 5.8, below the Circlet of Pisces) is highest in the south during early evening.

Neptune (magnitude 7.9, in Capricornus) lurks 4° east of Jupiter. Use our finder charts for Uranus and Neptune.

Pluto is lost in the sunset.