Home > Ephemeris Program, Observing, Planets > 04/26/2023 – Ephemeris – Let’s find where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week

04/26/2023 – Ephemeris – Let’s find where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week

April 26, 2023

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours even, setting at 8:41, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:39. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 3:28 tomorrow morning.

Let’s find where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week. Venus is our blazing Evening Star, seen in the west all evening. It will set after midnight. It’s in Gemini, below the namesake stars of the twins Castor on the right and Pollux on the left. Pollux is a bit below and to the right of the Moon tonight. Mars is above and left of Venus. Venus is closing the gap between them, but will never quite reach Mars while they are in the evening sky. The closest they will get is three and a half degrees or 7 moon diameters apart, before Venus pulls back toward the Sun faster than Mars. They won’t cross paths until February of next year. Saturn is emerging from morning twilight, rising at 4:33 am in the east-southeast. Both Jupiter and Mercury are too close to the direction of the Sun to be seen.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Evening planets and stars at 10 pm

Evening planets and stars looking westward at 10 pm tonight, April 26, 2023. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

The Moon tonight, one day before first quarter

The Moon, one day before first quarter tonight, April 26, 2023, with prominent features labeled. Created using Stellarium, GIMP and LibreOffice Draw.

Saturn in the morning

Saturn, low in the east-southeast at 5:30 am, April 27, 2023. Created using Stellarium.

Telescopic views of Venus and Saturn

Telescopic Venus and Saturn (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification. Apparent diameters: Venus 16.51″ and is 68.1% illuminated; Saturn 16.23″, its rings 37.80″. Mars is too small to be represented here. It is 5.5″ in diameter. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

Planets and the Moon on a single night

The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on April 26, 2023. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 27th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.

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