Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Wednesday, September 19th.  The sun will rise at 7:26.  It’ll be up for 12 hours and 18 minutes, setting at 7:44.   The moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 9:40 this evening.

Let’s see how many bright planets we can find this week.  Mars and Saturn now set too close to the sun to be easily seen in the evening sky.  Both are in the west southwestern sky and very low in twilight.  Saturn sets at 9:02 p.m., while Mars sets at 9:33.  The planetary action moves to later in the evening and the morning. Jupiter, will rise at 11:07 p.m. in the east northeast.  It is located in the constellation of Taurus.  The last bright planet of the night is the morning star Venus which will rise at 3:45 a.m. also in the east northeast.  Venus is now moving through Cancer towards Leo.  The planets Venus and Jupiter and the winter constellations are a great sight for early risers.

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

Addendum

Mars, the moon and Saturn at 8:30 p.m. on September 19, 2012. Created using Stellarium.

Note that the sky will be brighter than this.  The moon will be a thin crescent, and not at all bright.  tell me if you can spot these guys.

Jupiter, nearly an hour after rising – midnight September 20, 2012. Created using Stellarium.

Jupiter and Venus among the star of winter at 6 a.m. on September 20, 2012. Created using Stellarium.

On a personal note

This would have been my mother’s 100th birthday.  She passed away 34 years ago.  It is she who first taught me the constellations.