This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 9:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:09. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 3:26 tomorrow morning.
Let’s search for the naked-eye planets for this week. Mars will be joined by two more planets seen in twilight. Both Mercury and Venus are now just above where the Sun set. By 10 pm Mercury should be able to be spotted low in the west-northwest. Venus might be spotted lower and somewhat earlier, it’s a lot brighter than Mercury. Venus will be setting at 10:21 pm with Mercury following at 11:04. Mars can be found in the west at 10:30 tonight, in the constellation of Gemini the twins. Tonight it’s in the middle of the constellation. Mars will set at 12:42 am. Jupiter and Saturn, are in the morning sky. Saturn will rise at 2:03 am, with brighter Jupiter rising at 2:43 am. By 5 am they will be in the southeast in the morning twilight.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mercury and Venus as they might appear at 10 pm tonight over a low Lake Michigan horizon. Mercury will be that hard to spot. Binoculars will help. Mercury is getting dimmer as its phase becomes an increasingly thinner crescent. Venus here is only 3 degrees above the Horizon. For other locations, this is 51 minutes after sunset. Created using Stellarium.
Mars finder animation for 11 pm tonight, May 19, 2021. Mars is no longer a first magnitude star-like object, having dropped to second magnitude. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
The Moon as it might appear in a telescope tonight at 11 pm May 19, 2021 (03:00 UT 05/20/2021 for folks not in the US Eastern Daylight Time Zone). Two of my favorite craters (Tycho and Clavius) are on the terminator tonight. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and Saturn as they might appear at 5 am tomorrow morning. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn and Jupiter as seen in a small telescope at the same magnification. Apparent diameters: Saturn, 17.28″, rings, 40.24″; Jupiter, 39.81″. Mars is too far away to make out detail on its surface, except maybe a polar cap. Its apparent diameter is 4.30″. Venus’ apparent diameter is 10.00″ and will be added when it gets far enough from the Sun to be easily seen. Mercury’s apparent diameter is 8.88″. The normal cutoff for whether to show a planet here is an apparent diameter of 10″ or greater. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree). 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 May 19, 2021. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 20th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
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