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06/21/2023 – Ephemeris – Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week

June 21, 2023 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, June 21st. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 34 minutes, setting at 9:32, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:57. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 12:27 tomorrow morning.

Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week. Looking below the horizon we see our planet, which will reach the June solstice and the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere later this morning (10:58 am EDT, 14:58 UT). Venus is our blazing Evening Star seen in the west all evening. It will still set after midnight, but barely. Tonight it is seen below the Moon. The red planet Mars is seen left of and a bit higher than Venus by four and a half degrees, or a bit less than half 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. Both Mars and Venus are in Cancer. In the morning, Saturn will be visible low in the south-southeast at 5 am. Jupiter will be low in the east 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

Venus, Mars and the thin crescent Moon to be seen at 10:30 pm EDT tonight, June 21, 2023. Created using Stellarium.
The moon as it might appear tonight, June 21, 2023, with selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
Jupiter and Saturn seen at 5 am, about an hour before sunrise. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Venus, Saturn and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification at 10:30 pm for Venus and 5 am for Jupiter and Saturn. Apparent diameters: Venus 29.41″ and is 38.7% illuminated; Saturn 17.79″, its rings 41.44″; Jupiter 35.83″. Mars, too small to be represented here, is 4.35″ in diameter. Venus, Saturn and Jupiter are approaching us, so their apparent diameters are growing. 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 June 21, 2023. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 22nd. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing, Planets Tags: , , , ,