Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 7 minutes, setting at 9:13, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:05. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 1:59 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. The red planet Mars will appear below the Moon tonight. It has moved into Cancer, and is seen above and left of Venus by 14 degrees, or one and a half times the width of one’s fist held at arm’s length. 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 will. In the morning, Saturn will be visible and low in the southeast at 5 am, rising at 2:47 am. Jupiter makes its morning appearance and is very low in the east-northeast at that hour.

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

Addendum

Evening planets and the Moon at 10 pm tonight, May 24, 2023. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.

5 day old Moon with selected features labeled for May 24, 2023, at 10 pm. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice and GIMP.

Saturn and Jupiter in early morning twilight at 5:00 am tomorrow, May 25, 2023. Created using Stellarium.

Telescopic Venus, Saturn and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification. Apparent diameters: Venus 21.03″ and is 55.4% illuminated; Saturn 16.96″, its rings 39.52″; Jupiter 34.07″. Mars, too small to be represented here, is 4.81″ in diameter. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on May 24, 2023. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 25th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.