This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, September 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 7:38, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:32. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 5:08 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Venus, now is too close to the horizon at sunset to easily spot. At sunset Venus will be only 5º above the horizon at sunset and will set at 8:25 PM. We will await its dramatic reappearance in the morning sky in early November. Saturn will be in the eastern sky as it gets dark. It is the brightest starlike object low in that direction. It will be below the four stars that make large distinctive pattern, that marks the body of Pegasus the flying horse, called the Great Square of Pegasus. At 6 AM, Jupiter will be due east. Jupiter is brightest and lowest while Mars will be just below and nearly in line with Castor and Pollux of Gemini.
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
Saturn appers in the east by 9 PM, to the far left of the Moon tonight, September 23, 2026.Created using Stellarium.
The Moon three days before full at 9 PM tonight, September 23, 2026. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Mars and Jupiter appear with the stars of winter, which now adorn the predawn sky at 6 AM. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic views of the naked-eye planets as seen in a small telescope: At 9 PM, Saturn will be 19.7″ in diameter, and its rings extend to 45.8″. At 6 AM, Jupiter will be 32.9″ in diameter. Mars, not shown, will appear 5.5″ in diameter. 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 September 23, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 24th. 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 of the solar system from above and a bit beyond Saturn’s orbit for today, September 23, 2026. Created using my LookingUp app, text and arrows created using LibreOffice Draw and produced a unified image using GIMP.
