Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 8th.  The sun rises at 6:37.  It’ll be up for 14 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 8:57.   The moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 11:50 this evening.

Let’s see what’s happening with the bright planets for this week.  Mars Saturn and the star Spica make  a bright triangle in the west southwest after sunset.  Mars is on the lower right and Saturn is the topmost of the three.  They are located in the constellation Virgo the virgin.  Mars will be setting in the west at 11:17 p.m. Saturn will set at 11:39.  Next Monday Mars will pass between Saturn and Spica.  The morning sky features the two brightest planets:  Jupiter, which will rise at 1:32 in the east northeast and Venus, which will rise at 3:09 also in the east northeast.  The bright star Aldebaran in Taurus the bull will appear just to the lower right of Jupiter tomorrow morning, but Venus will have dropped farther below Jupiter, as it stays near the sun.

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

Addendum

Looking west at 10:30 p.m. on August 8, 2012. Created using Stellarium.

Looking eastward at 5 a.m. on August 9, 2012. Orion is also rising along with Jupiter and Venus. Created using Stellarium.

The trio of Mars, Saturn and the star Spica from August 11th through the 18th. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts)