Home > Ephemeris Program, Observing, Planets > Ephemeris: 04/24/2024 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?

Ephemeris: 04/24/2024 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?

April 24, 2024

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 8:39, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:41. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 9:49 this evening.

Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week, and see what planets are left. Jupiter, looking not-so bright in twilight is very low and in the west. It will set at 10:23 pm. I’m giving Jupiter another week of evening visibility. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks now only visible to observers south of the equator. In the morning, Mars and Saturn will be close together in the east southeastern sky at 6 am. They will be fighting the bright morning twilight and low altitude then. Saturn will be difficult to see right now in the twilight. Mars will be harder to spot. Saturn will look fairly different this year and next with its rings nearly edge on to us. They will look more like a line through the planet.

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

Jupiter appears very low in the West northwest at 9:30 PM which is about 50 minutes after sunset. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon a day after full at 10:30 PM tonight, April 24th 2024. At this time it’s still low in the sky showing its coloring. Selected features are labeled. Created with Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
Saturn and Mars is they might appear tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM, April 25th 2024. They might be difficult or impossible to pick out low in the east southeast because they are much dimmer than Jupiter. In fact Saturn is dimmer than it normally is because its rings are nearly edge on and will be edge on to us in 11 months, before opening up again. The rings, when they’re open, contribute a great deal to Saturn’s brightness. Created using Stellarium , LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
This is Saturn as it might appear in a telescope at 6:00 AM tomorrow, April 25th 2024. It is larger than I usually present it, to show off it’s rings or nearly lack thereof. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
The naked-eye planets, Comet Pons-Brooks, and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right tonight, April 24th 2024. The night ends on the left with sunrise tomorrow morning on the 25th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.

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