Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Friday, February 24th.  The sun will rise at 7:29.  It’ll be up for 10 hours and 53 minutes, setting at 6:22.   The moon, 3 days past new, will set at 9:36 this evening.

This weekend we will be able to spot appearances of the moon passing two planets.  Tomorrow night Venus will appear below the moon.  It should be a spectacular sight with Jupiter nearby to the upper left.  Then Sunday night the moon will have moved near Jupiter.  This time Jupiter will appear to the left of the moon, their closest apparent approach being after they set Monday morning.  Even though the moon will leave these planets, keep watching them.  As Venus slowly approaches Jupiter.  They will be their closest, called a conjunction on the Ides of March.  That’s March 15th using our calendar.  These two planet will still be with us for the next few months, with Mars and Saturn appearing later in the evening now.

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

Addendum

The moon will pass above Venus at 7 p.m. Saturday February 25, 2012. Created using Stellarium.

The moon will pass Jupiter, seen at 10 p.m. February 26, 2012. Created using Stellarium.