Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 8th.  The sun will rise at 7:53.  It’ll be up for 10 hours and 7 minutes, setting at 6:00.   The moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 7:24 this evening.

Let’s see what’s happening with the bright planets for this week.  Venus is brilliant in the southwestern sky after sunset and will set at 9:35 in the west.  Jupiter the second brightest planet after Venus.  It’s located high in the southwest as it gets dark and is seen against the stars of the constellation Aries.  It will set at 12:25 a.m.. Mars is the up and coming planet.  It will rise at 8:31 p.m in the east and is below the hind end of the constellation Leo the lion.  It is 69.2 million miles away and closing and is getting brighter.  It’s now as bright as most first magnitude stars.  Mars will pass due south at 3:01 a.m.  Saturn will rise at 11:54 p.m. just to the left of the bright star Spica in the east southeast.

* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Venus by Scott Anttila. Taken Monday evening February 6, 2012

Jupiter by Scott Anttila. Taken Monday evening February 6, 2012