03/29/2017 – Ephemeris – It’s Wednesday, do you know where your bright planets are?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 29th. The Sun will rise at 7:28. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 38 minutes, setting at 8:06. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 10:10 this evening.
In the evening sky tonight, replacing Venus will be the elusive planet Mercury. This tiny planet might be seen to the upper right of the Sun’s setting point starting about 9 p.m. It will set at 9:49 p.m. Mars is still hanging on, in the west, and will set at 11:10 p.m. The thin sliver of a crescent Moon is seen left of and above Mercury and Below Mars tonight. This might be a good time to spot Earth shine on it’s night side. Jupiter will rise in the east at 8:47 p.m. a half hour before the star Spica, which it will be seen to hang out with this year. Jupiter will be still seen in the morning sky low in the southwest at 6 a.m. Saturn at the same time is in the south above the Teapot figure of Sagittarius. It will rise tomorrow at 2:33 a.m. in the east-southeast.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mercury, Mars and the Moon low in the west at 9 p.m. March 29, 2017. Note the Moon as seen below is a thin crescent which cannot be displayed properly at this scale. Created using Stellarium.
The thin crescent Moon at 9 p.m. March 29, 2017. Created using Hallo Northern Sky. The program does not have the capability to show earth shine to fill out the rest of the sphere which may be detected with the naked eye or in binoculars.
Jupiter low in the east-southeast at 10 p.m. tonight, March 28, 2017. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons tonight March 29, 2017 at 10 p.m. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Jupiter and Saturn with the morning constellations of summer at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning March 30, 2017. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn and its moons at 6 a.m. March 30, 2017. It is shown at the same scale as Jupiter above. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on March 29, 2017. The night ends on the left with sunrise on March 30. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
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