Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 11th. The Sun will rise at 7:53. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 7:04. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 11:59 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the bright planets. Jupiter, for all intents and purposes is gone from the evening sky. It will cross into the morning sky later this month. Saturn too is sinking lower in the southwestern sky in the evening. Saturn’s rings are still spectacular in telescopes, but since Saturn is so low in the sky the turbulence of the thick atmosphere makes Saturn fuzzy and seemingly to go in and out of focus. Saturn will set at 10:17 p.m. In the morning sky, Mars will rise in the east at 5:38 a.m., ahead of Venus. In the week since their conjunction Mars has gained 20 minutes on Venus, which will rise at 5:58 in the east. Mars is less than 100th the brightness of Venus, so catch it early, before twilight overpowers it..

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

Addendum

Saturn and the constellations of the evening tonight at 8:30 p.m., October 11, 2017. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium. 

Saturn and its brightest moons overnight October 11/12, 2017. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

Venus, Mars and the Moon at 7 a.m. October 12, 2017. Created using Stellarium.

The Moon as it might be seen in binoculars, 7 a.m. October 12, 2017. Created using Stellarium.

Planets at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on October 11, 2017. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 12th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.