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02/06/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 6th. The sun will rise at 7:54. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 5:58. The moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 5:36 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the planets for this week. Mars and Mercury can be seen low in the southwest. Mercury will set at 7:09, Mars 8 minutes later. Mercury will be the brighter of the two. They will be closest this Friday. I’ll talk more about that then. Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus and moves from the high southeast to the high southwest during the evening. It will transit or pass due south at 7:51 p.m, and will set at 3:22 a.m. Jupiter is a wonderful sight in telescopes with its cloud bands and its moons which change positions each night. Saturn will be the next planet to rise at 1:01 a.m. in the east southeast. It’s located in eastern Virgo. Saturn will pass due south at 6:11 a.m. It will rise before midnight by the end of the month.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mercury approaches Mars at 6:45 p.m. in the west on February 6, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter with the winter stars at 9 p.m. on February 6, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Previewing the Late spring stars with Saturn at 6 a.m. on February 7, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
01/30/2013 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 30th. The sun will rise at 8:03. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 45 minutes, setting at 5:48. The moon, half way from full to last quarter, will rise at 9:58 this evening.
Let’s check out the planets for this week. Mars can be seen low in the west southwest. It will set at 7:15 p.m, two minutes later than last week because Mars is moving northward. The sun is gaining on it since it sets 10 minutes later each week. Jupiter will be visible in the southeast as it gets dark. Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus and moves from the southeast to the high south southwest during the evening. It will transit or pass due south at 8:15 p.m, and will set at 3:45 a.m. Jupiter is a wonderful sight in telescopes with its cloud bands and its moons which change positions each night. Saturn will be the next planet to rise at 1:24 a.m. in the east southeast. It’s located in eastern Virgo. Saturn will pass due south at 6:38 a.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mars low in the west southwest with Mercury just below the horizon at 6:30 p.m. on January 30, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
On February 8th Mercury will appear closest to Mars. Mercury’s greatest elongation from the sun will be on February 16th.
Jupiter and the stars of Taurus and Orion at 9 p.m. on January 30, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Also see the Pleiades right and just above Jupiter.
Saturn and the moon in Virgo at 6 a.m. on January 31, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
The moon will pass Saturn Sunday morning February 3rd.
01/23/2013 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 23rd. The sun will rise at 8:10. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 5:39. The moon, 3 days before full, will set at 6:08 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the planets for this week. Mars can be seen low in the southwest. It will set at 7:13 p.m, two minutes later than last week because Mars is moving northward. The sun will eventually catch up with it in mid April. Even before you can spot Mars, bright Jupiter will be visible in the southeast. Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus and moves from the southeast to the high south southwest during the evening. It will transit or pass due south at 8:46 p.m, and will set at 4:17 a.m. Jupiter is a wonderful sight in telescopes with its cloud bands and its moons which change positions each night. Saturn will be the next planet to rise at 1:54 a.m. in the east southeast. It’s located in eastern Virgo. Venus is now too close to the sun to be seen.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mars at 6:30 p.m. on January 23, 2013. Note the steep angle of the ecliptic (in red) the line near which the planets are found. It’s heading northward as Mars moves to the upper left against the stars. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter, the moon and the winter stars at 9 p.m. on January 23, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn at 7 a.m. on January 24, 2013. Note the shallowness of the ecliptic compared to the evening sky in the first image. Created using Stellarium.
01/16/2013 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 16th. The sun will rise at 8:15. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 14 minutes, setting at 5:30. The moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 11:37 this evening.
Let’s check out the planets for this week. Mars can be seen low in the southwest. It will set at 7:11 p.m, two minutes later than last week because Mars is moving northward. The sun will eventually catch up with it in mid April. Even before you can spot Mars, bright Jupiter will be visible in the southeast. Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus and moves from the southeast to the high south southwest during the evening. It will transit or pass due south at 9:15 p.m, and will set at 4:46 a.m. Jupiter is a wonderful sight in telescopes with its cloud bands and its moons which change positions each night. Saturn will be the next planet to rise at 2:20 a.m. in the east southeast. It’s located in eastern Virgo. Venus will rise at 7:15.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mars, now becoming more visible as it moves northward is shown at 6:30 p.m. on January 16, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and the winter circle of bright winter stars at 9 p.m. January 16, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn with the late spring and early summer stars at 6 a.m January 17, 2013.
01/09/2013 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 9th. The sun will rise at 8:18. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 5:21. The moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 6:56 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the planets for this week. Mars can be seen low in the southwest. It will set at 7:09 p.m, two minutes later than last week because sunset times are increasing and Mars is moving northward. The sun will eventually catch up with it. Even before you can spot Mars, bright Jupiter will be visible in the east. Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus and moves from the east to the high south during the evening. It will transit or pass due south at 9:44 p.m, and will set at 5:15 a.m. Jupiter is a wonderful sight in telescopes with its cloud bands and its moons which change positions each night. Saturn will be the next planet to rise at 2:45 a.m. in the east southeast. It’s located in eastern Virgo. Venus will rise at 7:03.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter and the winter stars and constellations at 9 p.m. on January 9, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn and Venus in morning twilight at 7:30 a.m. on January 10, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
A closeup of Venus and the moon at 7:30 a.m. January 10, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
In actuality the cusps of the crescent will extend to the moon’s poles. Planetarium programs generally have a problem with this on extremely thin crescents.
01/02/2013 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 2nd. The sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 54 minutes, setting at 5:14. The moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 11:00 this evening.
Let’s check out the planets for this week. Mars can be seen low in the southwest. It will set at 7:07 p.m, two minutes later than last week because sunset times are increasing and Mars is starting to move northward. The sun will eventually catch up with it. Even before you can spot Mars, bright Jupiter will be visible in the east. Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus in the southeast in the evening. It will transit or pass due south at 10:14 p.m, and will set at 5:45 a.m. Jupiter is a wonderful sight in telescopes with its cloud bands and its moons which change positions each night. Saturn will be the next planet to rise at 3:10 a.m. in the east southeast. It’s located in eastern Virgo. Venus will rise at 6:52.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Note: The Quadrantid meteor shower will reach peak tomorrow morning. I will release tomorrow’s program about the meteor shower at noon today.
Addendum
Jupiter and the winter stars and constellations as seen at 9 p.m. on January 2, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and the winter stars and constellations at 7 a.m. on January 3, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
12/26/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 26th. The sun will rise at 8:18. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 5:08. The moon, 2 days before full, will set at 7:27 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the planets for this week. Mars can be seen low in the southwest. It will set at 7:05 p.m, one minute later than last week because sunset times are increasing and Mars is starting to move northward. The sun will eventually catch up with it. Even before you can spot Mars, bright Jupiter will be visible in the east. Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus in the southeast in the evening. It will transit or pass due south at 10:44 p.m, and will set at 6:16 a.m. Jupiter is a wonderful sight in telescopes with its cloud bands and its moons which change positions each night. Saturn will be the next planet to rise at 3:35 a.m. in the east southeast. It’s located in eastern Virgo. Venus will rise at 6:37 and is below and left of Saturn.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter, the bright moon and the winter stars and constellations at 9 p.m. on December 26, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn, Venus and the constellations of morning at 7 a.m. on December 27, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
12/19/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 19th. The sun will rise at 8:15. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:04. The moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 12:48 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the planets for this week. Mars can be seen low in the southwest. It will set at 7:04 p.m. The same as last week because sunrise times are increasing and Mars is starting to move northward. The sun will eventually catch up with it. Even before you can spot Mars, bright Jupiter will be visible in the east. Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus in the southeast in the evening. It will transit or pass due south at 11:15 p.m, and will set at 6:47 a.m. Jupiter is a wonderful sight in telescopes with its cloud bands and its moons which change positions each night. Saturn will be the next planet to rise at 4 a.m. in the east southeast. It’s located in eastern Virgo. Venus will rise at 6:20 and is below and left of Saturn.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter and the winter stars in the east southeast at 9 p.m. December 19, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn, Venus and the star Spica low in the east southeast at 6:45 a.m., December 20, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
12/12/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 12th. The sun will rise at 8:10. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:02. The moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 8:18 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the planets for this week. Mars can be seen low in the southwest. It will set at 7:04 p.m. The planetary action will have already picked up on the other side of the sky. Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus on the southeast in the evening. It will transit or pass due south at 11:47 p.m, and will set at 7:19 a.m. Saturn will be the next planet to rise at 4:24 a.m. in the east southeast. Venus will rise at 6:02 and is below and left of Saturn. Mercury will rise at 6:36 a.m. Below and left of Venus. A half an hour later it should be high enough to spot. The three planets will appear in a straight line and nearly equally spaced. After a few days Mercury will not be visible again until next February.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mars low in the southwest at 6:15 p.m. on December 12, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and the winter stars at 9 p.m. December 12, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter with its Great Red Spot November 18, 2012 by Scott Anttila.
Jupiter with Callisto above, Ganymede and its shadow below on December 6, 2012 by Scott Anttila, Click to enlarge.
Saturn, Venus and Mercury at 6:45 a.m. ay December 13, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
12/05/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are all the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 5th. The sun will rise at 8:04. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 58 minutes, setting at 5:02. The moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 12:03 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the planets for this week. All 5 classical planets are visible now. Mars can be seen low in the southwest. Mars will set at 7:05. The planetary action will have already picked up on the other side of the sky. Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus on the southeast in the evening. It will transit or pass due south at 12:18 a.m, and will set at 7:51. Saturn will be the next planet to rise at 4:48 a.m. in the east southeast. Venus will rise at 5:44 and is below and left of Saturn. Mercury will rise at 6:16 a.m. Below and left of Venus. A half an hour later it should be high enough to spot . The three planets will appear in a straight line and nearly equally spaced. After about a week, Mercury will not be visible again until next spring.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mars low in the southwest at 6:15 p.m. on December 5, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and the winter stars at 9 p.m. on December 5, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
Mercury animation from December 4 to thru 12, 2012. Created using Stellarium
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 