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before sunrise. Look low in the eastern sky for dazzling Venus, the brightest star-like light in the morning sky. Saturn shines a short hop above Venus and Mercury a short hop below. A line from Saturn through Venus points out Mercury's place on or near the horizon. If you can't see Mercury with the eye alone, try binoculars.
• It rarely gets any easier than this for seeing Mercury in the Northern Hemisphere. Mercury reaches its greatest elongation west of the sun on Tuesday, December 4. That means this often hard-to-see world is climbing above the southeast horizon a maximum time before sunrise. Given a level and unobstructed horizon, Mercury rises about one and three-quarter hours before the sun at mid-northern latitudes, and about an hour before sunup at middle latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Rising times of the sun and morning planets in your sky
• Mercury shines as brilliantly as a first-magnitude star. The innermost planet isn't hard to see because it's dim. It's because - as seen from Earth - this world stays perpetually close to the sun, so it's often lost in the twilight glare. But with Mercury swinging to its farthest point west of the sun, before sunrise tomorrow is about as good as it gets for catching Mercury in the morning sky.
• Our chart at top shows the sky scene for about one hour before sunrise at North American mid-northern latitudes. But it'd be better to get up sooner if you can, using Saturn and Venus to catch this elusive world just as darkness gives way to dawn. Look first for Venus and then Saturn up above. If you don't see Mercury on line with Saturn and Venus, wait a little while as Mercury may still be below the horizon.
• December 2012 guide to the five visible planets
• Don't fret if you miss Mercury tomorrow. Keep using Saturn and Venus to locate Mercury near the horizon, for the innermost planet will reign as a morning "star" for another two to three weeks!
• Bottom line: Will Venus, Saturn and Mercury appear above Egyptian pyramids in early December 2012, as a widely circulated image on the Internet suggests? Well, it's true they're all together in the eastern, predawn sky. That's a fairly common event. But the images being circulated - showing them above the pyramids - are an exaggeration of a true sky event. The good news: these planets will be beautiful in early December! If you watch the night sky on a regular basis, you know it conveys a profound beauty and order every day of the year. And if you're lucky enough to observe them from the Egyptian pyramids, hey, we envy you! Contact us to learn where to send us your photo, or post your photo directly to EarthSky's Facebook page!
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