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02/08/2017 – Ephemeris – Four bright planets are visible, two each in the evening and morning
Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 8th. The Sun will rise at 7:52. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 6:01. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 6:44 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the bright planets for this week. Saturn can be glimpsed this morning in the southeast at 7 a.m. It will rise tomorrow at 4:35 a.m. in the east-southeast. Jupiter can be seen in the south-southwest this morning above the star Spica in Virgo. Jupiter will rise tonight at 11:19 p.m. Venus and Mars are in the evening sky. At 7 p.m. these planets will be seen in the west-southwestern sky. Venus is unmistakable as the brilliant evening star, Mars will be left and above it and much dimmer. Mars will set at 10:14. Venus itself will set at 9:52 p.m. Venus exhibits a dazzling fat crescent in small telescopes now, but a month from now as it gets closer to Earth the thinning crescent will be big enough to be seen in binoculars.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus and Mars in the evening twilight of about an hour after sunset. 7 p.m. February 8, 2017. Venus is now drawing away from Mars as it heads toward the Sun faster than Mars. Their apparent paths won’t cross again until October in the October sky. Created using Stellarium.
Venus as it might appear in a telescope tonight February 8, 2017. I processed the image to overexpose it as it would appear in a telescope. Created using Stellarium.
What the Moon might look like in binoculars tonight at 7 p.m. February 8, 2017. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter in the south above the star Spica with Saturn the southeast at 7 a.m. this morning, February 9, 2017. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moon in a compact arrangement as they might appear in telescopes this morning at 7 a.m. February 8, 2017. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn and its brightest moons as they might appear in telescopes this morning at 7 a.m. February 8, 2017. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
The planets and Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on February 8, 2017. The night ends on the left with sunrise on February 9. Click on image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 