Home > Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Planets > Ephemeris: 01/03/2024 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?

Ephemeris: 01/03/2024 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?

January 3, 2024

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 3rd. The Sun will rise at 8:20. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 54 minutes, setting at 5:14. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 1:04 tomorrow morning.

Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week. Four of those five planets are now visible. Mars rises too close to sunrise to be seen. Saturn and Jupiter are the only evening planets. Saturn can be seen moving from low in the southwest to setting in the west-southwest at 9:30 pm. Jupiter will be moving from the high in the south-southeast to the west-southwest, by midnight and will set at 2:57 am. The last quarter Moon will be in Virgo tomorrow morning. Venus, the brilliant morning star, will rise in the east-southeast at 5:29 am, and be a brilliant beacon in the morning, shining in the southeast before the bright morning twilight claims it around 8 am. Mercury may be glimpsed below and left of it.

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

Jupiter and Saturn as they may appear tonight about 7 pm or about an hour and three quarters after sunset tonight January 3rd 2024. Created using Stellarium.
Venus, Mercury and the Moon as they might appear at 7:30 am, about 45 minutes before sunrise. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.
Annotated Moon as it might be seen at 7:30 tomorrow morning, January 4, 2024. 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 7 pm January 3, 2024, for Saturn and Jupiter, and 7 am on the 4th, for Venus. Apparent diameters: Saturn 16.08″, its rings 37.47″; Jupiter 43.57″; and Venus 13.86″, 78.9% illuminated. Mercury appears too small to be shown here, but its apparent diameter is 7.93″ and is 40.6% illuminated. 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 January 3, 2024. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 4th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Planets Tags: , , , , ,