This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, June 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 34 minutes, setting at 9:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 12:09 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. By 10:15 PM tonight, nearly an hour after sunset, Venus and Jupiter, and even Mercury may be seen in the western sky, with Jupiter below and right of the brighter Venus, and Mercury below and right of Jupiter. Jupiter appears to be chasing Mercury back toward the sun. But Mercury is getting dimmer, and will soon be lost in the twilight glow. A telescope will show a very tiny disc on Venus, because it is still pretty much beyond the Sun, 106 million miles (171 mil km) away from us. Over the next 4 months it will be moving closer to us and becoming much larger. In the morning, Saturn will rise at 2:37 AM, followed by dimmer Mars an hour and a half later.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
The Moon, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury at 10:30 PM tonight, June 17, 2026. Mercury may be visible now, and is getting fainter since its greatest separation from the sun two days ago. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon, 3 days after new, as seen at 10:30 PM tonight, June 17, 2026. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Saturn and Mars at 5 AM tomorrow morning June 18, 2026. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Venus and Jupiter at 10:30 PM tonight, June 17, 2026, and Saturn at 5 AM on the 18th (north up), as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 14.7″, and be 73.9% illuminated. Jupiter will be 32.2″ in diameter, with its moons shown for the time listed. Saturn will be 17.1″ in diameter, and its rings extend to 39.9″ and are tilted 8.9º to our view. Mars, not shown, will appear 4.4″ in diameter. Mercury, also not shown, will appear 8.6″ in diameter and be 34.0% illuminated. The (”) symbol means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on June 17, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 18th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets, from Mercury to Saturn in a low angle perspective view from above and a bit beyond Saturn’s orbit for today, June 17, 2026. Created using my LookingUp app, text and arrows created using LibreOffice Draw and created a unified image using GIMP.
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