Bright Venus and Jupiter to be close together in early Sunday morning sky

Saskatchewan is known as the land of the living skies, and there will be a very interesting sight up there early Sunday morning.

Venus and Jupiter will appear to be very close together. It’s called a conjunction.

It’s a phenomenon that excites Chris Martin, a Saskatoon astronomy enthusiast.

He woke up at around 4 a.m. Saturday to try and get a glimpse of it.

“But the haze was so heavy this morning, you couldn’t see through that. I love it when the weather office says ‘partly cloudy.’ Yeah, sure guys,” he chuckled.

Still, he has another chance Sunday morning.

“About 45 minutes before sunrise (is the best time) … so, at around 5 a.m., 5:15 a.m., you’ll notice it low in the east. It’s really cool,” he explained.

He gaves some tips on how to get the best view of the phenomenon.

“If you can get a nice, low horizon, you can see above trees and houses and stuff. If you can get out of the city a little bit, that makes it a lot easier to see,” Martin recommended.

If you’re having trouble seeing it, there’s an easy way to spot it.

“If you put your thumb down on the horizon, and your index finger pointing up and you put it at arm’s length from you, that gives you a good idea of how high they’ll be above the horizon, at the tip of your index finger,” he continued.

While he didn’t have much luck Saturday morning, he’s more than willing to wake up early to try again, even if it might be a bit tough on him.

“I woke up ahead of my alarm. I was up at 4:05 a.m. I’m a little groggy,” he giggled.

He brought up a recent study that showed the best amount of sleep to get every night.

“It’s supposed to be 7 hours. I think I got 3 hours. I was up too late, and you’re kind of restless because you don’t want to miss your alarm to see this thing,” he said.

Afterwards, he took some time to listen to 650 CKOM until about 8 a.m., when we spoke with him.

“I’m going to bed now,” he finished with a laugh.