Moon
Planets: Jupiter, Mars, Saturn
Conjunction: Moon-Jupiter-Saturn-Mars
Constellations: Lyra
Stars: Nunki, Vega, ε1 Lyrae, ε2 Lyrae, ζ Lyrae
Location: Home
Date: 2020-03-18
Time: 6:30 AM - 7:00 AM AST
Equipment: Visual, 10x42 IS Binoculars
Temperature: 0° C
SQM: 14.63 (with Sun just below the horizon)
Jerry woke me up at 6:30 AM AST to alert me of the Moon-Mars-Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in the Eastern sky. Dave Chapman had tweeted it was "up". Clear skies in the East, very light breeze, and no clouds.
Conjunction
Could easily see the Moon with the reddish Mars at 1 o'clock from the Moon's terminator. Jupiter was at 11 o'clock. Saturn was quite a distance away towards the SE. Using my binoculars, I could see a star that I later identified as Nunki in the handle of the Teapot.
Jupiter, Mars and Saturn were easily seen naked eye and with binoculars. I did not take the time to locate and identify Jupiter's moons. Saturn was seen between two branches of our maple trees.
On the Moon, could easily see Kepler and its splatter, Copernicus on the terminator, Aristarchus brightly lit and Montes Jures well lit on the northern shore of Sinus Iridum. Oceanus Procellarum made up most of the lit portion of the Moon look dark.
Conjunction of Moon-Mars-Jupiter 
Proximities of the Moon and 3 Planets 
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Lyra |
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