Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 6:34, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:19. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 8:36 this evening.

Let’s look at the bright planets for this week. Venus and Mercury are too close to the Sun to be seen. They are on the evening or east side of the Sun. Bright Jupiter will be low in the southwestern sky as it gets dark. It will set at 9 p.m. Jupiter is moving at nearly its fastest to the east now and next year will be where Saturn is currently. Saturn, the ringed planet, will be in the south-southwestern sky in the evening, and will set at 10:40 p.m. Next year it will be a bit farther east. Jupiter is approaching Saturn in our sky. They will cross paths late next year on December 21st, something they do about every 20 years. Mars is in the morning sky and will rise in the east at 5:51 a.m. It’s not very bright because it’s 236 million miles (380 million km)

away

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

Addendum

Jupiter, Saturn and the thin crescent Moon shown twice its actual size tonight, October 30 at 7:30 p.m. Created using Stellarium.

The thin crescent Moon with earthshine as it might appear in binoculars or a small telescope tonight at 7:30 p.m. October 30, 2019. Created using Stellarium.

Mars in the morning at 7:30 a.m. October 31, 2019. Created using Stellarium.

Telescopic views of Jupiter and Saturn with the same magnification at 7:30 p.m. tonight October 30, 2019. 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 October 30, 2019. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 31st. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.