Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Wednesday, July 18th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 9:23, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:15. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 1:01 tomorrow morning.

It’s Wednesday and time to look for and at the bright planets. Four of them are in the evening sky. The brilliant beacon of Venus will be visible in the western twilight from about 9:40 p.m. until it sets at 11:21 p.m. Mercury, is fading and is far below and right of Venus, setting at 10:18 p.m. Jupiter will be in the south as it gets dark. It is only outshone by Venus, the Moon, and for a few weeks by Mars at its closest. Jupiter will set at 1:42 a.m. Saturn will start the evening low in the southeast and will stay relatively low, above the Teapot of Sagittarius. It will be due south at 12:14 a.m. and will set at 4:40 a.m.. Mars will rise at 10:20 p.m. and is now only 36.8 million miles (59.2 million km) away, in telescopes it appear to be 23.7″ (seconds of arc) in diameter.  It will be due south and at its highest in the sky at 2:35 a.m. at 21 degrees altitude.

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

Addendum

Evening planets from Mercury to Saturn and Moon at 9:50 p.m., July 18, 2018. Click on image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.

Mars at its highest in the south with Saturn at 2:35 a.m. Click on image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.

The moon as it might be seen in binoculars this evening. Created using Stellarium.

Telescopic view of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars at 11 p.m. on July 18. All at the same magnification. 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 July 18, 2018. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 19th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.