Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 24th. The Sun will rise at 8:09. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 6:42. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 10:09 this evening.

The crescent Moon will be in the southwest as it gets dark tonight. The planet Saturn will appear below and to the right of our satellite. Saturn has those gorgeous rings, which are visible at as low as 20 power scopes and hinted at lower magnifications. The Moon shows a fat crescent with two whole gray seas, Crises, nearest the limb, and below Fertility. Partially illuminated are Tranquility above and the small sea of Nectar. At the bottom end of that small sea is a horse shoe shaped crater called Fracastorius. It looks like the lava welling up from the Nectar asteroid impact washed down the walls of Fracastorius. The bottom part of the Moon is the lunar highlands of brighter rugged craters.

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

Addendum

The Moon and Saturn at 8 p.m. October 24, 2017. Created using Stellarium.

The Moon at 8 p.m. October 24, 2017 as it might be seen in binoculars. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas.