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09/30/2015 – Saturn is really alone in the evening sky now – Mercury is leaving today
Ephemeris for Wednesday, September 30th. The Sun will rise at 7:39. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 7:25. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 9:20 this evening.
Lets look at the planets for this last day of September. Saturn is alone in the evening sky spotted by 8:30 p.m. low in the southwestern sky near the bright star Antares to its left. Antares has a reddish hue, while Saturn is brighter and yellowish. Both these colors are enhanced by being low to the horizon. Saturn will set at 9:47 p.m. The rest of the planet action has moved to the morning sky. Venus, the morning star, will rise at 4 a.m. a bit north of east. Much dimmer Mars will rise at 4:39 a.m. in the east-northeast. Jupiter is beginning to be visible in the morning sky and will rise at 5:17 in the east-northeast. The three will be closing together in the coming weeks. Mercury is at inferior conjunction with the Sun today.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Saturn and two zodiacal constellations at October 1, 2015 Created using Stellarium.
Venus, Mars and Jupiter and the bright st star Regulus at 6:30 a.m. October 1, 2015. Creating using Stellarium.
The Bright Planets, in order of appearance as seen with the same telescope magnification. Created using Cartes du Ciel.
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for September 30, 2015 showing the location of the planets and the Moon at that time. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on the image to enlarge.
05/02/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Wednesday, May 2nd. The sun rises at 6:30. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 18 minutes, setting at 8:48. The moon, half way from first quarter to full, will set at 4:39 tomorrow morning.
Let’s see what’s happening with the bright planets for this week. Venus is high in the west as it gets dark. Enjoy it now, because it will be gone in 5 weeks. Venus will set at 12:28 a.m. in the west northwest. That’s 8 minutes earlier than last week, so it’s noticeable drawing closer to the sun. Venus is 40.1 million miles away and closing. It is a breautiful brilliant crescent in telescopes. Mars is high in the south in the evening with its unmistakable bright reddish color. It’s in the constellation Leo the lion now. It is 89 million miles from us and moving away. Mars will pass due south at 9:30 p.m. and will be setting in the west at 4:18 a.m. Saturn will be in the east southeast just to the left of the bright star Spica. It will pass due south at 12:33 a.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The stars and planets at 9:30 p.m. on May 2, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 