Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 6th.  The sun will rise at 7:54.  It’ll be up for 10 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 5:58.   The moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 5:36 tomorrow morning.

Let’s check out the planets for this week.  Mars and Mercury can be seen low in the southwest.  Mercury will set at 7:09, Mars 8 minutes later.  Mercury will be the brighter of the two.  They will be closest this Friday.  I’ll talk more about that then.  Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus and moves from the high southeast to the high southwest during the evening.  It will transit or pass due south at 7:51 p.m, and will set at 3:22 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 1:01 a.m. in the east southeast.  It’s located in eastern Virgo. Saturn will pass due south at 6:11 a.m.  It will rise before midnight by the end of the month.

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

Addendum

Mercury approaches Mars at 6:45 p.m. in the west on February 6, 2013. Created using Stellarium.

Jupiter with the winter stars at 9 p.m. on February 6, 2013. Created using Stellarium.

Previewing the Late spring stars with Saturn at 6 a.m. on February 7, 2013. Created using Stellarium.