Planets | Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris: 06/11/2025 – Checking on the naked-eye planets for this week

June 11, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, June 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 31 minutes, setting at 9:28, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 10:31 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Only one naked eye planet will be visible in the evening sky. That is reddish Mars, now approaching the bright star Regulus in the constellation Leo the lion, which it will pass just north of next Monday evening, June 16th. Both are seen in the western sky. They are currently about the same brightness, but Mars has an orange-reddish hue, while Regulus, to the left, is white. By 5 AM Venus will be seen very low in the east, as the Morning Star, with Saturn to the right and above it in the east-southeast. Venus will be visible until close to 5:40. For those with telescopes, Saturn’s rings are now slowly opening up again, and will for the next 7 years.

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

Mars and Regulus in the evening — *Mars and Regulus this evening near 10:30 PM, June 11, 2025. Created using Stellarium and LibreOffice Draw.*

The Moon just 20 hours after being full, the sunset terminator is beginning to fill craters with shadows to the upper right of the Moon. Selected features are labeled. Created using Stellarium , labels from Virtual Moon Atlas, added using LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.

Venus and Saturn at 5 AM tomorrow morning, June 12th, 2025, low in the east. Created using Stellarium.

Telescopic Saturn and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Mars is 5.2″ in diameter, too small to be shown here. My lower size limit is 10″. On the morning of the 12th, Saturn is 17.1″ in diameter, but its rings, being nearly edge on should show up brighter than seen here., and extend to 40.0″. They are tilted 3.4° from being edge on. Venus’ apparent diameter is 21.1″, and is 55.4% illuminated. The ” 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 and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on June 11, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 12th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.

A low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, June 11th and 12th, 2025 — This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, June 11th and 12th, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others are not. The transit column is the time that the body crosses the meridian and is due south. Elong, for elongation, is the angle between the Sun and that body. RA is right ascension, which is the object’s east-west position on the celestial sphere in hours and minutes. Dec is declination which is the north-south position of the object on the celestial sphere in degrees and minutes. R is the distance of that object from the Sun in astronomical units. An astronomical unit is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. And Delta is the distance of that object from the Earth, also in astronomical units. I omit the ‘m’ in am and pm for compactness. The data was generated using my LookingUp for DOS app and displayed as a table by my Ephemeris Helper app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 06/04/2025 – Taking our weekly look at where the naked-eye planets have wondered off to

June 4, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, June 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 25 minutes, setting at 9:23, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:58. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 2:57 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 10 PM this evening two naked eye planets will be out. Jupiter, is then very low on the west-northwestern horizon, difficult or impossible to find. Fading Mars, with its distinctive reddish hue, is in the west-southwest, at that time, though better seen when the skies are darker. It’s slowly approaching the bright star Regulus in Leo the lion, which it will pass on June 16th. By 5 AM Venus will be seen very low in the east, as the Morning Star, with Saturn to the right in the east-southeast and above it. Venus will be visible until close to 5:40. For those with telescopes, Saturn’s rings are now slowly opening up again, and will for the next 7 years.

Addendum

Though Mercury and Jupiter are still in the evening sky, they are too close to the Sun to really be visible. Only Mars is left. It is approaching the star Regulus, which it will pass just north of on the 16th. The waxing gibbous Moon is entering Virgo tonight. Created using LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

*The Moon tonight, J*une 4, 2025. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

*Venus and Saturn at 5 AM tomorrow morning, June 5th, 2025, low in the east. Created using Stellarium.*

Telescopic Saturn and Venus as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification — Telescopic Saturn and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Mars is 5.4″ in diameter, too small to be shown here. My lower size limit is 10″. On the morning of the 5th, Saturn is 16.9″ in diameter, but its rings, being nearly edge on should show up brighter than seen here., and extend to 39.5″. They are tlted 3.2° from being edge on. Venus’ apparent diameter is 22.7″, and is 51.8% iluminated. The ” 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 and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on June 4, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 5th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.

A low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, June 4th and 5th, 2025 — This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, June 4th and 5th, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others are not. The transit column is the time that the body crosses the meridian and is due south. Elong, for elongation, is the angle between the Sun and that body. RA is right ascension, which is the object’s east-west position on the celestial sphere in hours and minutes. Dec is declination which is the north-south position of the object on the celestial sphere in degrees and minutes. R is the distance of that object from the Sun in astronomical units. An astronomical unit is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. And Delta is the distance of that object from the Earth, also in astronomical units. I omit the ‘m’ in am and pm for compactness. The data was generated using my LookingUp for DOS app and displayed as a table by my Ephemeris Helper app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 05/28/2025 – Our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

May 28, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 9:18, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:01. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 11:50 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 10 PM this evening two naked eye planets will be out. Jupiter, is now low in the west-northwestern sky Underneath the waxing crescent Moon. The fading Mars, with its distinctive reddish hue, is in the west-southwest, at that time. It’s slowly approaching the bright star Regulus in Leo the lion, which it will pass on June 16th. By 5 AM Venus will be seen very low in the east, as the Morning Star, with Saturn to the right and a bit above it. Venus will require a low eastern horizon then. But it will rise and be visible until close to 5:45. For those with telescopes, Saturn’s rings are now opening up again, and will for the next 7 years.

Addendum

The evening planets Jupiter and Mars seen with the fading stars of winter in bright twilight at 10 PM, tonight May 28th, 2025. It looks like the last chance to see Jupiter in the evening sky until late fall. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

*Venus and Saturn at 5 AM tomorrow morning, May 29th, 2025, low in the east. Created using Stellarium.*

Telescopic Jupiter, Saturn and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Jupiter is shown for tonight, 10 PM, May 21, 2025. Its apparent diameter is 32.4″, though its moons will be probably washed out by the bright twilight. Mars is 5.6″ in diameter, too small to be shown here. My lower size limit is 10″. Saturn is shown on the morning of the 29, it is 16.8″ in diameter, but its rings, being nearly edge on should show up brighter than seen here., and extend to 39.0″. They are 3.1° from being edge on. *Venus’ apparent diameter is 24.6″, and is 47.6% iluminated.* Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on May 28, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 29th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.

This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, May 28th and 29th, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others are not. The transit column is the time that the body crosses the meridian and is due south. Elong, for elongation, is the angle between the Sun and that body. RA is right ascension, which is the object’s east-west position on the celestial sphere in hours and minutes. Dec is declination which is the north-south position of the object on the celestial sphere in degrees and minutes. R is the distance of that object from the Sun in astronomical units. An astronomical unit is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. And Delta is the distance of that object from the Earth, also in astronomical units. I omit the ‘m’ in am and pm for compactness. The data was generated using my LookingUp for DOS app and displayed as a table by my Ephemeris Helper app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 05/21/2025 – Checking where the naked-eye planets are

May 21, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 21st. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 9:11, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:07. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 3:32 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 10 PM this evening two naked eye planets will be out. Jupiter, is now low in the west-northwestern sky. The rapidly fading Mars, with its distinctive reddish hue, is in the west-southwest, at that time. Once it’s darker binoculars can be used to spot the Beehive Star Cluster to its lower right. By 5 AM Venus will be seen very low in the east, as the Morning Star, with Saturn and the waning crescent Moon in an upward line to the right and a bit above it. Venus will require a low eastern horizon then. But it will rise and be visible until close to 5:45 or later. For those with telescopes, Saturn’s rings are now opening up again, and will for the next 7 years.

Addendum

*The evening planets Jupiter and Mars seen with the fading stars of winter at 10 PM, on May 21st, 2025. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.*

*Venus, Saturn and the waning crfescent Moon at 5 AM tomorrow morning, May 22nd, 2025, low in the east. Created using Stellarium.*

The waning crescent Moon tomorrow morning, May 22nd, 2025, in its orientation at 5 AM. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

Telescopic Jupiter, Venus and Saturn as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification — Telescopic Jupiter, Venus and Saturn (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Jupiter is shown for tonight, 10 PM, May 21, 2025. Its apparent diameter is 32.7″. Mars is 5.8″ in diameter, too small to be shown here. My lower size limit is 10″. Venus is shown in the morning of the 22nd. Its apparent diameter is 26.9″, and is 44.0% iluminated. Saturn is 16.6″ in diameter, but its rings, being nearly edge on may not be visible, but extend to 38.6″. They are 2.8 degrees from being edge on and barely illuminated. Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, May 21st and 22nd, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others are not. The transit column is the time that the body crosses the meridian and is due south. Elong, for elongation, is the angle between the Sun and that body. RA is right ascension, which is the object’s east-west position on the celestial sphere in hours and minutes. Dec is declination which is the north-south position of the object on the celestial sphere in degrees and minutes. R is the distance of that object from the Sun in astronomical units. An astronomical unit is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. And Delta is the distance of that object from the Earth, also in astronomical units. I omit the ‘m’ in am and pm for compactness. The data was generated using my LookingUp for DOS app and displayed as a table by my Ephemeris Helper app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 05/14/2025 – Looking for the naked-eye planets

May 14, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 14th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 9:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:14. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 11:41 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 10 PM this evening two of the five naked eye planets will be out. Jupiter, is now the brightest evening planet, our substitute evening star if you will. It will be in the low in the west-northwestern sky. The rapidly fading Mars, with its distinctive reddish hue, is in the west-southwest, less than a binocular field’s width east of the Beehive Star Cluster in Cancer the Crab. By 5 AM Venus will be seen very low in the east, as the Morning Star. It will require a low eastern horizon. It should be visible until close to 6 AM. Saturn is visible to the right and a bit above Venus. It will disappear much sooner than the much brighter Venus.

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. Event times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

The Moon tomorrow morning, May 15, 2025, in its orientation at 5 AM. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

*Venus and Saturn at 5:15 AM tomorrow morning, May 15th, 2025, low in the east. Created using Stellarium.*

Telescopic Jupiter, Venus and Saturn (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Jupiter is shown for tonight, 10 PM, May 15, 2025. Its apparent diameter is 33.0″. Mars is 6.1″ in diameter, too small to be shown here. My lower size limit is 10″. Venus is shown in the morning of May 8th. Its apparent diameter is 29.5″, and is 39.5% iluminated. Saturn is 16.4″ in diameter, but its rings, being nearly edge on may not be visible. They are 2.6 degrees from being edge on and barely illuminated. Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

A low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow — This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, May 14th and May 15th, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others are not. The transit column is the time that the body crosses the meridian and is due south. Elong, for elongation, is the angle between the Sun and that body. RA is right ascension, which is the object’s east-west position on the celestial sphere in hours and minutes. Dec is declination which is the north-south position of the object on the celestial sphere in degrees and minutes. R is the distance of that object from the Sun in astronomical units. An astronomical unit is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. And Delta is the distance of that object from the Earth, also in astronomical units. I omit the ‘m’ in am and pm for compactness. The data was generated using my LookingUp for DOS app and displayed as a table by my Ephemeris Helper app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 05/07/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

May 7, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 31 minutes, setting at 8:55, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:22. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 4:36 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 10 PM this evening two of the five naked eye planets will be out. Jupiter, is now the brightest evening planet, our substitute evening star if you will. It will be in the low in the west-northwestern sky. The rapidly fading Mars, with its distinctive reddish hue, is in the west-southwest, moving away from the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini to the lower right of it. By 5:30 AM Venus will be seen very low in the east, as the Morning Star. It will require a low eastern horizon. It should be visible until a bit after 6:30. Saturn is visible close and to its right and a bit above. It will disappear much sooner than Venus.

Addendum

*The Moon tonight, May 7, 2025. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.*

Venus and Saturn at 5:30 AM seen tomorrow morning — *Venus and Saturn at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning, May 8th, 2025, low in the east. Saturn may still be tough to spot at our northerly latitude (45 N). Created using Stellarium.*

Telescopic Jupiter, Venus and Saturn (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Jupiter is shown for tonight, 10 PM, May 7, 2025. Its apparent diameter is 33.3″. Mars is 6.3″ in diameter, too small to be shown here. My lower size limit is 10″. Venus is shown in the morning of May 8th. Its apparent diameter is 37.9″, and is 34.6% iluminated. Saturn is 16.3″ in diameter, but its rings, being nearly edge on may not be visible. They are 2.3 degrees from being edge on and barely illuminated, They were edge on to the Sun two days ago. Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing, Planets Tags: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 04/30/2025 – Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

April 30, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 8:46, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:32. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 1:08 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 9:30 PM this evening two of the five naked eye planets will be out. Jupiter, is now the brightest evening planet, our substitute evening star if you will. It will be in the western sky. Tonight it will be below the crescent Moon. To its lower left, the great constellation of Orion will be beginning to set. The rapidly fading Mars, with its distinctive reddish hue, is high in the southwest, with the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini to the right of it. By 5:30 AM Venus will be seen very low in the east, as the Morning Star. It will require a low eastern horizon. It should be visible until a bit after 6:30. Saturn is visible close and to its lower right.

Addendum

The evening planets Jupiter and Mars seen with the Moon (3 times normal size) and fading stars of winter at 10 PM, on April 30th, 2025. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

*The Moon tonight, April 30, 2025. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.*

*Venus and Saturn at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning, May 1st, 2025, low in the east. Saturn may still be tough to spot at our northerly latitude (45 N). Created using Stellarium.*

The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on April 30, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the May 1st. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.

This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, April 30th and May 1st, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others are not. The transit column is the time that the body crosses the meridian and is due south. Elong, for elongation, is the angle between the Sun and that body. RA is right ascension, which is the object’s east-west position on the celestial sphere in hours and minutes. Dec is declination which is the north-south position of the object on the celestial sphere in degrees and minutes. R is the distance of that object from the Sun in astronomical units. An astronomical unit is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. And Delta is the distance of that object from the Earth, also in astronomical units. I omit the ‘m’ in am and pm for compactness. The data was generated using my LookingUp for DOS app and displayed as a table by my Ephemeris Helper app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 04/23/2025 – Taking our weekly look at where the naked eye planets have wandered off to

April 23, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 53 minutes, setting at 8:38, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:43. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 5:09 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 9:30 PM this evening two of the five naked eye planets will be out. Jupiter, is now the brighter evening planet, outshining all the stars, and being our substitute Evening Star, if you will. It will be in the west. Below it is the bright star Aldebaran. To its lower left, the great constellation of Orion. The rapidly fading Mars, with its distinctive reddish hue, is high in the southwest, with the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini to the right and below it. By 5:30 AM Venus will be seen very low in the east, as the Morning Star. It will require a low eastern horizon to spot it at that hour. It should be visible until a bit after 6:30. Saturn should be visible in the morning by the end of the month.

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

The evening planets Jupiter and Mars seen with the fading stars of winter at 9:30 PM. — *The evening planets Jupiter and Mars seen with the fading stars of winter at 9:30 PM, on April 23rd, 2025. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.*

*Venus, Saturn and the Moon at 6 AM tomorrow morning, low in the east. Saturn may not yet be visible at our northerly latitude (45 N). Created using Stellarium.*

The Moon 6 AM tomorrow morning, April 24, 2025, 3 1/2 days before new. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

Telescopic Jupiter and Venus (north up) as it would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Jupiter is shown for tonight, 10 PM, April 23, 2025. Its apparent diameter is 34.2″. Mars is 6.9″ in diameter, too small to be shown here. My lower size limit is 10″. Venus is shown in the morning of the 24th. Its apparent diameter is 40.6″, and is 23.3% iluminated. Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing, Planets Tags: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 04/16/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the naked-eye planets

April 16, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 16th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 33 minutes, setting at 8:29, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:54. The Moon, halfway from full to last quarter, will rise at 12:48 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 9:30 PM this evening just two of the five naked eye planets will be out. Jupiter, now becomes the brightest evening planet, our substitute evening star if you will. It will be high in the west. Below it is the bright star Aldebaran. To its lower left, the great constellation of Orion. The rapidly fading Mars, with its distinctive reddish hue, is high in the south-southwest, with the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini to the right of it. By 6 AM Venus will be seen very low in the east, as the Morning Star. It will require a low eastern horizon. It should be visible until a bit after 6:30. Saturn should be visible in the morning by the end of the month.

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

*The evening planets Jupiter and Mars seen with the fading stars of winter at 9:30 PM, on April 16th, 2025. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.*

The Moon 6 AM tomorrow morning, April 17, 2025, 2 1/2 days before last quarter. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

*Venus at 6:15 tomorrow morning, low in the east. Saturn is below Venus, but overpowered by the twilight glow. Created using Stellarium.*

This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, April 16th and 17th, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others are not. The transit column is the time that the body crosses the meridian and is due south. Elong, for elongation, is the angle between the Sun and that body. RA is right ascension, which is the object’s east-west position on the celestial sphere in hours and minutes. Dec is declination which is the north-south position of the object on the celestial sphere in degrees and minutes. R is the distance of that object from the Sun in astronomical units. An astronomical unit is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. And Delta is the distance of that object from the Earth, also in astronomical units. I omit the ‘m’ in am and pm for compactness. The data was generated using my LookingUp for DOS app and displayed as a table by my Ephemeris Helper app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 04/09/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

April 9, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 9th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 12 minutes, setting at 8:20, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:06. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 6:13 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 9 PM this evening just two of the five naked eye planets will be out. Jupiter, now becomes the brightest evening planet, our substitute evening star if you will. It will be high in the west at 9 PM. Below it is the bright star Aldebaran. To its lower left, the great constellation of Orion. The rapidly fading Mars, with its distinctive reddish hue, is high in the south-southwest, in line with the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini above right of it. By 6 AM Venus will be seen very low in the east, as the Morning Star,. It will require a low eastern horizon. It should be visible until about 6:45. Saturn should be visible in the morning by the end of the month.

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.