Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Monday, February 10th.  The sun will rise at 7:49.  It’ll be up for 10 hours and 14 minutes, setting at 6:04.   The Moon, half way from first quarter to full, will set at 5:28 tomorrow morning.

The planet Jupiter will appear above the moon tonight.  At 9 p.m. Jupiter will be 5 and a half degrees, or 11 moon widths above the Moon.  It will only get a little closer as the night progresses.  The Moon will pass below Jupiter from our vantage point.  In binoculars or a telescope the planets satellites can be seen spread out around the planet.  Some of us amateur astronomers with pretty good-sized telescopes still can see only the same 4 moons that Galileo saw in 1610.  The count of the Jovian satellites is up to something like 67, but these are small bodies Jupiter picked up from the outer part of the asteroid belt.  Many of these are in retrograde of backward orbits, a sure sign of capture.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The Moon and Jupiter at 9 p.m. on February 10, 2014. Created using Stellarium.

The Moon at 9 p.m. on February 10, 2014. Created using Stellarium.

Jupiter at 9 p.m. on February 10, 2014. There’s quite a few interloper stars nearby. Created using Stellarium.