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Ephemeris: 02/07/2024 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?

February 7, 2024 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 4 minutes, setting at 5:59, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:53. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 7:32 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. Saturn and Jupiter are the evening planets. Saturn is getting harder to spot very low in the west-southwest, nearly succumbing to evening twilight, setting at 7:32 pm. Jupiter will move from high in the south-southwest to low in the west by midnight, and will set in the west-northwest at 12:53 am. Venus, the morning star, will rise in the east-southeast at 6:25 am, but its brilliance is diminished by the bright twilight and its low altitude in the sky. As we advance through winter into spring Venus is going to be harder to spot before sunrise for two reasons, Venus is getting closer to the Sun, and it is appearing more to the right side of the Sun, than above 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 might appear tonight, February 7, 2024, at 7:00 pm
Jupiter and Saturn as they might appear tonight, February 7, 2024, at 7:00 pm or about an hour after sunset, over a Lake Michigan horizon. Created using Stellarium.
Venus appears low in the southeastern sky at 7 am tomorrow morning February 8, 2024. The planet Mars is also up at this time below and left the Venus but is too faint and into the bright twilight to be seen. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification. At 7 pm February 7, 2024, for Saturn and Jupiter, and 7 am on the 8th for Venus. Apparent diameters: Saturn 15.60″, its rings 36.33″; Jupiter 38.82″; and Venus 11.92″, 87.3% illuminated. There are some Jovian satellite events this evening. See below. 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.

Jovian satellite interactions with Jupiter and its shadow visible for Michigan and longitudes around 85 degrees west:

    • 7:03 pm Europa’s transit across the face of Jupiter ends.
    • 7:18 pm Europa’s shadow begins to cross Jupiter’s face.
    • 9:38 pm Europa’s shadow leaves Jupiter’s face.
    • 9:42 pm Ganymede starts an occultation by Jupiter (hides behind it).
    • 12:47 am Ganymede’s occultation ends.
    The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on February 7, 2024. The night ends on the left with sunrise on February 8th. The label for Mars overlays the image of Venus. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
    Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing, Planets Tags: , , , , ,