Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Actually yes we do.  Three are visible at 11 p.m., One, Mercury is MIA too close to the sun to be seen.  And the 5th bright planet is a morning person planet.  Uranus and Neptune are beyond the scope of this radio program.  Well, on with the transcript:

Ephemeris for Wednesday, June 11th.  Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 9:27.   The moon, 2 days before full, will set at 5:40 tomorrow morning.  Tomorrow the sun will rise at 5:56.

It’s Wednesday and once again time to locate the bright planets for this week.   We have lost Mercury to the bright twilight glow, and the fact that it’s getting dimmer as a crescent.  Brilliant Jupiter will be in the western sky in Gemini as darkness falls tonight.  It’s getting lower each night and will set at 11:36 p.m. tonight.  Reddish Mars is in Virgo in the south-southwest as darkness falls.  It’s 80 million miles (128 million km) away now, and moving away, and will set at 2:49 a.m.  Saturn will be low in the southeast as darkness falls.  It’s in the faint constellation of Libra the scales this year.  It will pass due south at 11:26 p.m.  Brilliant Venus will rise in the east at 4:14 a.m. in morning twilight.

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

Addendum

The evening planets at 11 p.m. on June 11, 2014. Created using Stellarium.

Jupiter and moons at 10 p.m., June 11, 2014 Callisto is in Jupiter’s shadow and wont emerge until 11:09 p.m. when Jupiter will be less than 5 degrees above the horizon in Michigan. Created using Stellarium.

Mars through a telescope at 11 p.m., June 11, 2014. The large dark feature Syrtis Major is rotating onto the Earth side face of the planet from the left. Created using Stellarium.

Saturn and some of its brighter moons at 11 p.m. June 11, 2014. The moon Titan can be seen in small telescopes, but larger scopes may be necessary to pick out the other satellites. Created using Stellarium.

The Moon as seen in binoculars at 11 p.m., June 11, 2014. Created using Stellarium.

Venus in morning twilight at 5 a.m., June 12, 2014. Created using Stellarium.

A telescopic view of Venus as it would be seen at 5 a.m., June 12, 2014. Created using Stellarium.