Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, April 10th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 8:22, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:04. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 6:29 tomorrow morning.

The planets that have transitioned from the evening sky to the morning sky are beginning to show up in the morning now as they separate themselves from the Sun. Venus is the first to appear low in the east starting about 6:00 in the morning. Saturn will be very near Venus and below right of it on the 28th of this month. Saturn will separate itself more and more from the Sun over the spring and summer months until in late September when it becomes, officially, an evening planet again. Venus will increase its separation from the Sun until May 31st, its greatest separation from the sun of 46°. Then it will slowly head back towards the direction of the Sun. However, it will stay in the morning sky for the rest of the year.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

On the 28th, both planets will be at the same distance west of the sun in right ascension, which is the same as longitude in the Earth’s coordinate system. The two planets were a bit closer on the 25th. Saturn is just a little bit less than three degrees above the horizon in the above image. One needs a low eastern horizon to spot it. Saturn may be visible a few days before that, however it is lacking a bright ring right now. The Earth passed through the Saturn’s ring plane on March 23rd, and we are now looking at, probably, a thin line through the planet. The ring should be fairly dim because the Sun is shining on the other side of the rings, and will until its crossover on May 6th.