Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 23rd.  The sun will rise at 8:10.  It’ll be up for 9 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 5:39.   The moon, 3 days before full, will set at 6:08 tomorrow morning.

Let’s check out the planets for this week.  Mars can be seen low in the southwest.  It will set at 7:13 p.m, two minutes later than last week because Mars is moving northward.  The sun will eventually catch up with it in mid April.  Even before you can spot Mars, bright Jupiter will be visible in the southeast.  Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus and moves from the southeast to the high south southwest during the evening.  It will transit or pass due south at 8:46 p.m, and will set at 4:17 a.m.  Jupiter is a wonderful sight in telescopes with its cloud bands and its moons which change positions each night.  Saturn will be the next planet to rise at 1:54 a.m. in the east southeast.  It’s located in eastern Virgo. Venus is now too close to the sun to be seen.

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

Addendum

Mars at 6:30 p.m. on January 23, 2013. Note the steep angle of the ecliptic (in red) the line near which the planets are found. It’s heading northward as Mars moves to the upper left against the stars. Created using Stellarium.

Jupiter, the moon and the winter stars at 9 p.m. on January 23, 2013. Created using Stellarium.

Saturn at 7 a.m. on January 24, 2013. Note the shallowness of the ecliptic compared to the evening sky in the first image. Created using Stellarium.