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Ephemeris: 11/22/2023 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?

November 22, 2023 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 5:08, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:50. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 3:17 tomorrow morning.

Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week. Three of those five planets are now visible, but Mercury sets too close to sunset to be seen. Mars is now a morning planet after passing conjunction with the Sun last Friday. So, Saturn and Jupiter are the only evening planets visible. Saturn can be seen moving from the south to the southwest in the evening. Saturn will be visible until 12:04 am. Jupiter is seen moving from low in the east-southeast to south-southeast in the evening. Only the Moon is brighter in the evening. Jupiter will be up most of the night until 5:54 am. The gibbous Moon is almost exactly centered between Saturn and Jupiter. Venus, the brilliant morning star, will rise in the east-northeast at 3:57 am.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The evening planets Saturn and Jupiter with the Moon between them
The evening planets Saturn and Jupiter with the Moon between them at 8 pm tonight, November 22, 2023. Created using Stellarium.
The moon 2 days past first quarter.
The moon 2 days past first quarter. As it might appear tonight, November 22, 2023, with selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
Venus and the first magnitude stars at 7 am, or about 50 minutes before sunrise. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification. At 8 pm November 22, 2023, for Saturn and Jupiter, and 7 am on the 23rd, for Venus. Apparent diameters: Saturn 17.15″, its rings 39.95″; Jupiter 48.66″; and Venus 18.12″. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree). Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts) and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on November 22, 2023. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 23rd. Note that the labels for the Sun and Mars overlap each other. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing, Planets Tags: , , , , ,