Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Wednesday, September 27th. The Sun will rise at 7:35. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 54 minutes, setting at 7:29. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 12:16 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the bright planets. Jupiter is really low in the west-southwest after sunset setting in bright twilight at 8:22 p.m. Saturn can be seen low in the southwest tonight. The reddish star Antares is below and right of Saturn before it sets at 9:50 p.m. Saturn’s rings are spectacular in telescopes. With the demise of the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn for the last 13 years, there is no telescope closer to Saturn than yours. The planet will set at 11:09 p.m. In the morning sky, brilliant Venus will rise at 5:23 a.m. in the east-northeast. Much dimmer Mars will rise in the east-northeast at 5:46 a.m. Mars will brighten greatly as it approaches us in the next 10 months. Mercury is too close to the glare of the Sun to be spotted.

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

Addendum

Saturn and the Moon tonight at 9 p.m., September 27, 2017. Created using Stellarium.

Saturn and its brightest moons overnight September 27/28, 2017. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

The Moon as it might be seen in binoculars, 9 p.m. September 27, 2017. Created using Stellarium.

Venus and Mars close up at 6:30 a.m. September 27, 2017. Created using Stellarium.

Planets at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on September 27, 2017. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 28th. I’ve rotated the sunrise plot so the planet labels wouldn’t overlap. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.