This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:06. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 2:15 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 rises too close to sunrise. Saturn and Jupiter are the only evening planets visible. Saturn can be seen moving from the south-southwest to setting in the west-southwest at 11:12 pm. Jupiter will be moving from the southeast to southwest and will be much higher in the sky during the evening hours than Saturn is, and will be up most of the night until 4:56 am. Venus, the brilliant morning star, will rise in the east-southeast at 4:22 am, and be a brilliant beacon in the morning. It will be far below and left of the fat crescent Moon.
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.
Jupiter and Saturn in the evening sky is it might be seen at 8:00 this evening, December 6, 2023. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.
Venus and the fat crescent Moon along with the constellations of the Zodiac as they might be seen at 7:00 tomorrow morning, December 7, 2023. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.
Annotated Moon as it might be seen at 7:00 tomorrow morning, December 7, 2023. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification. At 8 pm December 6, 2023, for Saturn and Jupiter, and 7 am on the 7th, for Venus. Apparent diameters: Saturn 16.75″, its rings 39.02″; Jupiter 47.31″; and Venus 16.75″, 70.0% illuminated. Io will be transiting the face of Jupiter at 8 pm, and normally is not visible then, however its shadow might be seen as a dark spot on the planet. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree).Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. 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 December 6, 2023. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 7th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 