07/15/2020 – Ephemeris – Let’s look at a comet and the naked-eye planets for this week
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, July 15th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 9:25, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:12. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 2:47 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at a comet and naked-eye planets for this week. Jupiter now rises before sunset and now is an official evening planet. It’s seen low in the southeast in the evening. To the left of it will be Saturn. The next planet up will be Mars which will rise at 12:41 am. Its now down to 67.8 million miles (109.2 million km) away, as the Earth slowly overtakes it at the rate of about 3.7 million miles (6 million km) a week. Venus will rise at 3:33 am in the east-northeast as our Morning Star. Newly discovered Comet NEOWISE is now visible in the evening sky A good time to start looking would be about 10:45 pm toward the northwest. The comet is trending brighter than early predictions and sports a wide tail. The comet gets its name from the NASA Satellite and mission to detect near Earth objects or NEOs in the infrared.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Comet NEOWISE in the evening tonight July 15, 2020 at 11 pm. The comet’s head or coma is shown somewhat brighter than it actually appears. What shows up first is the streak oa the tail. 11 pm here in western Michigan is equivalent to about an hour and a half after sunset. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn and Jupiter in the evening tonight at 11 pm July 15, 2020. Also shown are the stars of the Teapot of Sagittarius and Scorpius to the right. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Mars, Saturn and Jupiter at 4:30 tomorrow morning July 16, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Venus, the Moon and the comet in the morning at 4:30 am or about an hour, 45 minutes before sunrise. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Binocular Moon tomorrow morning at 4:30 a.m. July 16, 2020. The large dark gray area centered on the 9 o’clock position that dominates the crescent is Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms). The dark floored crater near the limb at the 8 o’clock position is Grimaldi. Created using Stellarium.
The planets as seen in a telescope (north up) with the same magnification tonight and tomorrow July 15/16, 2020. Apparent diameters: Jupiter, 47.63″; Saturn, 18.47″, rings, 43.02″, Mars, 12.87″, and Venus 33.81″. At 11 pm the moon Io is transiting the face of Jupiter. I’ve ever been able to spot a moon in transit, though I can sometimes see the shadow cast on the planet. By 4:30 am Io will appear next to Jupiter on the same side as Callisto. Mars also displays an enlargement showing surface detail. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets, a comet, and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on July 15, 2020. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 16th. Jupiter made it into the evening sky yesterday when it passed opposition. Saturn will do the same on the 20th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
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