Venus Rising

[Richard]

So-called 'Morning Stars', like Venus, are at their brightest now and can be seen in the pre-dawn sky by looking to where the sun rises.
Venus is actually part of a grouping with Mars (least bright) and Jupiter (second brightest), of the three planets, all visible on the morning of 26th October.
They won't be so close again until 2021

So, if you can't sleep, at around 5 am tomorrow morning, step outside and look up to the East, Jupiter is astonishingly bright and looks like an approaching UFO.

If you have binoculars or a telescope, you might just make out Jupiter’s four major moons, which look like pinpricks of light on or near the same plane. They are often called the Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

[Derek Jempson]

Would that I could, Richard. There is so much light pollution where I live (especially on the eastern side) that I'm taken by surprise whenever I see the moon!

[Richard]

To be fair I only managed to see Venus and Jupiter and forgot where I put the binoculars