Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 29th.  The sun will rise at 7:02.  It’ll be up for 13 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 8:23.   The moon, 2 days before full, will set at 6:04 tomorrow morning.

Let’s see what’s happening with the bright planets for this week.  Mars Saturn and the star Spica make a bright but elongating triangle in the west southwest after sunset.  Mars is on the upper left with Saturn on the upper right and Spica below.  They are located in the constellation Virgo the virgin.  Saturn will be setting in the west at 10:20 p.m, and Mars will set 3 minutes later.  The morning sky features the two brightest planets:  Jupiter, which will rise at 12:23 a.m. in the east northeast and Venus, which will rise at 3:16 also in the east northeast.  Jupiter is near the head of Taurus the bull, while Venus is moving between Gemini and Cancer.  Early morning is a good time to get a preview of winter stars.

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

Addendum

Mars, Saturn and Spica at 9:30 p.m. on August 29, 2012. Created using Stellarium.

Jupiter, Venus and the stars of winter rising at 5:30 a.m. on August 30, 2012. Created using Stellarium.