Friday "smiley face" in the sky a likely no show in Central Ohio

(WCMH) -- Friday morning, the waning crescent moon, Venus, and Saturn will be aligned in a way to create a basic sideways smiley face in the eastern sky before sunrise.

Venus will rise first in the eastern sky, just before 5 a.m. About 20 minutes later, the moon and Saturn will both rise. Venus, if the sky were clear, would be very easy to spot, as it's a very bright planet in the sky. However, Saturn is very dimly lit on a clear night and challenging to see in the night sky.

Complicating matters, Astronomical twilight begins around 5 a.m. This is the period when some of the light from the sun starts to make the night sky less dark. Nautical twilight, or the period when the horizon may be distinguishable, is around 530 a.m. Civil twilight, or the period where the sun is still below the horizon, but is clearly lighting the sky, starts just after 6 a.m. with the actual sunrise around 6:40 a.m.

The light will likely wash out quickly any chance of seeing a very dimly lit Saturn. On top of the light from the sun, it is more likely than not that the sky will be mostly cloudy to overcast in the morning, so this would make it very challenging to impossible to see the smiley face.

But if you are up early around 5:20-5:30 a.m., and you get a break in the clouds, look out to the eastern sky, you may be lucky enough to sneak a peek. If not, at least it will be a warm morning to enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning.