Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 8:00, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:36. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 6:26 tomorrow morning.

Let’s search for the naked-eye planets for this week. Unfortunately the only one you’ll find in the evening is Mars. It can be found high in the west-southwest at 9 pm tonight, above the orange star Aldebaran in the face of Taurus the bull, between it and the much higher star Capella in the west northwest. Mars will set at 2:01 am. Right now three of the other four naked eye planets are just west of the Sun in the Morning sky. Venus is now below and just a bit west of the Sun. Only Saturn and Jupiter are at a far enough angle from the Sun to be just spotted in the morning twilight. Saturn will rise at 5:35 am, with Jupiter rising a half hour later. By 7 am they will be low in the southeast.

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

Addendum

Mars appears above Aldebaran and the letter V of stars of the Hyades which is the face of Taurus the bull tonight March 24, 2021. This image is for 9 pm. or about an hour after sunset. Created using Stellarium.

The waxing gibbous Moon as it might be seen in binoculars tonight at 9 pm, March 24, 2021. Created using Stellarium.

Jupiter and Saturn low in the southeast at 7 am tomorrow morning, March 25, 2021. Note that they will probably appear dimmer than shown. Created using Stellarium.

Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on March 24, 2021. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 25th. Venus is too close and south of the Sun to be plotted. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.