Jupiter | Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris: 01/28/2026 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

January 28, 2026 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 39 minutes, setting at 5:45, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:05. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 5:43 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn is the brightest star-like object in the southwestern sky as soon as it gets dark. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, 2 degrees from being edge on and is slowly opening. Jupiter is the brilliant star-like object in the eastern sky, to the right of Pollux in the pair Castor and Pollux, the bright stars of Gemini. It is still moving slowly to the west, and will, until it stops and reverses its track on March 10th. Jupiter’s 4 brightest moons can be seen even in binoculars, if held steadily enough. They shift position night to night. At 8 PM tonight, all four Galilean moons can be seen, though two may too close to the planet to be picked out in binoculars.

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; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

*Saturn appears lonely in the west- southwestern sky at 8 PM. Created using Stellarium.*

Jupiter as it appears tonight, January 28, 2026, in its orientation at 9:00 PM, moving against the stars of Gemini. Also shown is its track from last July to next July, and the retrograde loop that is currently making. — Jupiter as it appears tonight, January 28, 2026, in its orientation at 9:00 PM, moving against the stars of Gemini. Also shown is its track from last July to next July, and the retrograde loop that is currently making, slowly moving to the West which you will do for the next 41 days until it stops in March. Then it will resume its eastward motion. Created using Stellarium, Libreoffice Draw and GIMP.

The Moon three days past first quarter, as seen this evening, January 28, 2026. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

Telescopic Saturn, and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification at 8 PM tonight. — Telescopic Saturn, and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification at 8 PM tonight, January 28, 2026. Saturn will be 16.4″ in diameter, but its rings, being nearly edge on, may show up brighter than seen here, and extend to 38.2″. They are tilted 2.0° from being edge on. Jupiter will be 45.9″ in diameter. Io will begin transiting the planet at 8:35 PM EDT (1:35 UT on the 29th). Its shadow will begin crossing the planet at 9:02 PM EDT (2:02 UT). The transit will end at 10:51 PM EDT (3:51 UT), with the shadow leaving the planet at 11:19 PM EDT (4:19 UT). 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 and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night. — The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on January 28th, 2026. 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.

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, January 28th and 29th, 2026. 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: 01/21/2026 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

January 21, 2026 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 21st. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 5:36, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:11. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 8:53 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn is the brightest star-like object in the west-southwestern sky as soon as it gets dark. At 8 PM, it is in roughly in the same direction as the Moon, but a good deal higher in the sky. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, 1.8 degrees from being edge on and is slowly opening. Jupiter is the brilliant star-like object in the eastern sky, to the right of Pollux in the pair Castor and Pollux, the bright stars of Gemini. Jupiter’s 4 brightest moons can be seen even in binoculars, if held steady enough. They shift position night to night. At 8 PM tonight, only three will be visible, but the 4th will be appearing from in front of Jupiter later this evening.

Addendum

Saturn and the waxing crescent Moon as they might appear tonight. — Saturn and the waxing crescent Moon as they might appear tonight, January 21, 2026. The Moon is being enlarged by a factor of 2 to show it up better. Look off into the west southwest at 8:00 PM. Created using Stellarium.

Jupiter as it appears tonight in its orientation at 8:00 PM, moving against the stars of Gemini. Also shown is its track from last July to next July, and the retrograde loop that is currently making. — Jupiter as it appears tonight, January 21, 2026, in its orientation at 8:00 PM, moving against the stars of Gemini. Also shown is its track from last July to next July, and the retrograde loop that is currently making, slowly moving to the West which you will do for the next 48 days until it stops in March. Then it will resume its eastward motion. Created using Stellarium, Libreoffice Draw and GIMP.

*The Moon th*ree days past new, as seen this evening, January 21, 2026. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, 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 January 21st, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 22nd. Mercury is not plotted, being too close to, and south of the Sun. *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, January 21st and 22nd, 2026. — This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, January 21st and 22nd, 2026. 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: 01/14/2026 – Only two naked-eye planets are visible this week, both in the evening

January 14, 2026 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 14th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 5:27, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:16. The Moon, halfway from last quarter to new, will rise at 6:14 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn is the brightest star-like object in the southwestern sky as soon as it gets dark. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, 1½ degrees from being edge on and is slowly opening. Jupiter is now officially an evening planet, rising before sunset. It’s seen in the evening to the right of Pollux in the pair Castor and Pollux, the bright stars of Gemini. Jupiter’s four brightest moons can be seen even in binoculars, and shift position night to night. Jupiter can still be seen in the morning sky. At 7 AM it will be low in the western sky. Venus, Mercury and Mars are too close to the direction of the Sun to be seen.

Addendum

This is a photograph of the Sun, Venus and Mars taken through the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory‘s (SOHO) C3 coronagraph last night. — *This is a photograph of the Sun, Venus and Mars taken through the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory*‘s (SOHO) C3 coronagraph last night at 7:54 PM or 0:54 today Universal Time. Venus and Mercury are heading to the left, while Mars is heading to the right. They are all beyond the Sun. Venus will be entering our evening sky, and should be visible in about a month. Mercury too should be visible in the evening twilight by mid-February. Mars will be moving into the morning sky and it will take several months before it will be visible then. Credit: NOAA/ESA.

*Jupiter, and Saturn along with the zodiacal constellations, and the path of the Sun (ecliptic) in orange, in this panorama at 8 PM tonight, January 14, 2026. Created using Stellarium.*

*The Moon th*ree days before last quarter as seen tomorrow morning, January 15, 2026. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

Telescopic Saturn, and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification at 8 PM tonight, January 14, 2026. Saturn will be 16.7″ in diameter, but its rings, being nearly edge on, may show up brighter than seen here, and extend to 39.0″. They are tilted 1.5° from being edge on. Jupiter will be 46.5″ 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.

A low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, January 14th and 15th, 2026. — This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, January 14th and 15th, 2026. 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: 01/07/2026 – Taking our first weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets for 2026

January 7, 2026 bobmoler 1 comment

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 5:19, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:19. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:37 this evening.

Let’s take our first weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets for 2026. Saturn is the brightest star-like object in the southwestern sky as soon as it gets dark. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, 1.2 degrees from being edge on and is slowly opening. Jupiter will rise just after sunset. It is seen in the evening right of Pollux in the pair Castor and Pollux, the bright stars of Gemini. The giant planet is slowly moving westward with its retrograde motion. Jupiter’s 4 brightest moons can be seen even in binoculars, and shift position night to night. In the morning sky, only Jupiter can be seen. It will leave the morning sky, become an official evening planet Saturday. Venus crossed behind the Sun yesterday to become an evening planet. Mars will also cross behind the Sun Friday to become a morning planet.

Addendum

The apparent path of Jupiter from July 15, 2025 to July 10, 2026, showing its retrograde loop. We are 3 days from Jupiter’s opposition from the Sun. The retrograde (western) motion is due to the Earth’s faster speed in its orbit overtaking the planet. Created using Stellarium and LibreOffice Draw.

The Moon two days before last quarter as seen tomorrow morning, January 8, 2026. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

Telescopic Saturn, and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification at 8 PM tonight, January 7, 2026. Saturn will be 16.9″ in diameter, but its rings, being nearly edge on, may show up brighter than seen here, and extend to 39.4″. They are tilted 1.2° from being edge on. Jupiter will be 46.6″ 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.

This this is a photograph of the Sun, Venus and Mars taken through the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory's (SOHO) C2 coronagraph. — *This this is a photograph of the Sun, Venus and Mars taken through the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory*‘s (SOHO) C2 coronagraph last night at 8:37 PM or 1:37 today Universal Time. Venus is heading to the left, while Mars is heading to the right. They are both beyond the Sun. Venus will be entering our evening sky, and should be visible in about a month. Mars will be moving into the morning sky and it will take several months before it will be visible then. Credit: NOAA/ESA.

A low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, January 7th and 8th, 2026 — This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, January 7th and 8th, 2026. 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: 12/31/2025 – A last look at the naked-eye planets for 2025

December 31, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, December 31st. The Sun will rise at 8:20. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 52 minutes, setting at 5:12. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 6:49 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our last weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets for 2025. Saturn is the brightest star-like object in the southwestern sky as soon as it gets dark. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, one degree from being edge on and is slowly opening. Jupiter will rise at 5:54 PM in the east-northeast, below and right of Castor and Pollux, the bright stars of Gemini. The giant planet is slowly moving westward with its retrograde motion. Jupiter’s 4 brightest moons can be seen even in binoculars, and shift position night to night. In the morning sky, only Jupiter can be seen, descending in the western sky. It will leave the morning sky, officially on January 10th, as it reaches opposition with the Sun.

Addendum

Jupiter, Saturn and the waxing gibbous Moon along with the zodiacal constellations tonight. — Jupiter, Saturn and the waxing gibbous Moon along with the zodiacal constellations, and the path of the Sun (ecliptic) in orange, in this panorama at 8 PM tonight, December 31, 2025. Created using Stellarium.

*The Moon three days before f*ull as seen in the tonight, December 31, 2025. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

Jupiter is the only visible morning planet, and soon it too will leave, as it is sinking in the west with the few remaining winter stars and the Moon at 7 AM tomorrow, January 1, 2026. Created using Stellarium.

Telescopic Saturn, and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification at 8 PM tonight, December 31, 2025. Saturn will be 17.1″ in diameter, but its rings, being nearly edge on, may show up brighter than seen here, and extend to 39.9″. They are tilted 1.0° from being edge on. Jupiter will be 46.5″ in diameter. Jupiter’s moon Io and its shadow will transit the planet later in the evening. The (”) symbol means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.

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

Ephemeris: 12/25/2025 – Christmas night stars

December 25, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

Merry Christmas! This is Ephemeris for Christmas Day, Thursday, December 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:07, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:19. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 11:01 this evening.

The real star of Bethlehem is probably not what is popularly depicted as a bright star in the sky, rather it was something subtle, only noticed by some astrologers. However, gracing our skies tonight we do have, in the evening, a brilliant star-like object, and our usual winter sprinkling of bright real stars in the southeastern sky. I call the one star-like because it’s a planet, Jupiter to be specific. The term “planet” we get from the Greeks, meaning wanderer. Planets don’t actually wander. Their paths can be determined, and are affected by the Sun, mainly and the other planet’s gravitational attraction. Perhaps the Magi, thought the cause was by divine action, to set them on their journey. Again have a Merry Christmas!

Addendum

*Christmas night 2025 sky with brilliant Jupiter and the bright winter stars at 9 pm*. Created using Stellarium.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags: Jupiter, Winter stars

Ephemeris: 12/24/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

December 24, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Christmas Eve, Wednesday, December 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:06, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:18. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 9:51 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn is the brightest star-like object in the southwestern sky as soon as it gets dark. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, eight tenths of a degree from being edge on and slowly opening. Jupiter will rise at 6:26 PM in the east-northeast, below Castor and Pollux, the bright stars of Gemini. The giant planet is slowly moving westward with its retrograde motion. Jupiter’s 4 brightest moons can be seen even in binoculars, and shift position night to night. In the morning sky, only Jupiter can be seen, descending in the western sky. It will leave the morning sky, officially on January 10th, as it reaches opposition to the Sun.

Addendum

Jupiter, Saturn and the waxing crescent Moon along with the zodiacal constellations, and the path of the Sun (ecliptic), in this panorama at 8 PM tonight. — Jupiter, Saturn and the waxing crescent Moon along with the zodiacal constellations, and the path of the Sun (ecliptic) in orange, in this panorama at 8 PM tonight, December 24, 2025. Created using Stellarium.

The Moon three days before first quarter as seen in the tonight, December 24, 2025. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

*Jupiter is the only visible morning planet, and soon it too will leave, as it is sinking in the west with the few remaining winter stars at 7 AM tomorrow, December 25, 2025. Created using Stellarium.*

Telescopic Saturn, and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification at 8 PM tonight, December 24, 2025. Saturn will be 17.3″ in diameter, but its rings, being nearly edge on, may show up brighter than seen here, and extend to 40.3″. They are tilted 0.8° from being edge on. Jupiter will be 45.2″ in diameter. There are some events with Jupiter’s moons tonight. Europa is already transiting the face of the planet, and will leave at 10:05 PM. It’s shadow, falling on the planet is preceding it, though not shown, and will leave at 9:15 PM. The (”) symbol means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.

A note about transits of Jovian moons: A transiting moon is extremely difficult to pick up, however the moon’s shadow falling on the planet is much more easily spotted.

The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on December 24th, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 25th. 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, December 24th and 25th, 2025. — This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, December 24th and 25th, 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: 12/23/2025 – An alternate possibility of the Star of Bethlehem

December 23, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, December 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:06, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:18. The Moon, halfway from new to first quarter, will set at 8:40 this evening.

Many writers of the early church place Jesus’ birth around 2 BC, which had to be before Herod the Great’s death, which I suggest was in 1 BC marked by a total lunar eclipse, rather than the 4 BC partial lunar eclipse, normally accepted. In 3 and again in 2 BC there were star-like conjunctions or apparent joining of the planets Jupiter and Venus against the backdrop of the constellation of Leo the Lion. A lion is related to Judah, son of Jacob by a blessing the latter gave his sons in Genesis. The first conjunction occurred in the morning sky of August, 3 BC. In June the next year the two planets got together again, in the evening sky, just after Jesus would have been born in the lambing season, when shepherds would be guarding their flocks at night.

Addendum

August 12, 3 BC conjunction — *Here is an animation created using Stellarium of Jupiter and Venus, the brighter of the two seeming to coalesce on August 12, 3 BC in the early morning twilight.*

The second appearance of the "Star" — *On June 16th 2 BC, this time in the evening, Venus and Jupiter seem to coalesce as one, at least to the naked eye.*

Categories: Astronomical History, Conjunction, Ephemeris Program, Planetrary grouping Tags: Jupiter, Star of Bethlehem, Venus

Ephemeris: 12/22/2025 – The most popular astronomical explanation for the Star of Bethlehem

December 22, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, December 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:05, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:18. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 7:30 this evening.

This year we have a bright evening Christmas star, Jupiter in the east. But what about the one described in the Bible, in the Gospel of Matthew? We will look today at the first of two events that may have been recorded as the Star of Bethlehem. In 7 BCE there was a rare event over 6 months when three times the planet Jupiter passed Saturn against the stars of the constellation Pisces. Could the Persian astrologer priests, called Magi, have read into the event enough significance to start the journey to Jerusalem in search of the newborn King of the Jews? It was the scribe’s readings that sent them to Bethlehem. Jupiter, Saturn and Pisces all may have had significance to the Magi.

Addendum

Jupiter-Saturn Triple Conjunction — *Jupiter and Saturn pass each other three times from May to December in 7 BC against the constellation of Pisces. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts) and GIMP.*

Categories: Astronomical History Tags: 7 BC, Conjunctions, Jupiter, Pisces, Saturn, Star of Bethlehem

Ephemeris: 12/17/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

December 17, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:15. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 7:26 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn is the brightest star-like object in the southern sky as soon as it gets dark. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, six tenths of a degree from being edge on and slowly opening. In a couple of months the rings will be much more visible in telescopes. Jupiter will rise at 7:02 PM in the east-northeast, below Castor and Pollux, the bright stars of Gemini. Jupiter’s 4 brightest moons can be seen even in binoculars, and shift position night to night. In the morning sky, Mercury just might be spotted very low in the east-southeast by 7:30. The next opportunity to spot Mercury will be in the evening in mid-February.