Venus | Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris: 01/09/2025 – Venus is at its greatest separation from the Sun today

January 9, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, January 9th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 2 minutes, setting at 5:21, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:18. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 5:25 tomorrow morning.

Tonight, Venus will be at its greatest separation from the Sun in the sky at a little bit more than a 47° angle. Venus, being inside the Earth’s orbit, can ever stray far from the Sun. So today it is at its greatest eastern elongation from the Sun. For the rest of winter it will be moving closer to the Sun from our perspective. Crossing between the Earth and the Sun on March 22nd. During this period of time Venus will be a great object for the telescope, as it moves closer to the Earth and gets larger in telescopes and its phase, moving from being like a quarter moon to a very thin crescent near the end of winter. At inferior conjunction with the Sun, Venus will be only 26 million miles away from us, but quite invisible in the Sun’s glare.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

The Mayan civilization of Central America had several calendars. One of them was based on the planet Venus. They discovered that Venus repeated its positions in the sky with respect with the seasonal calendar over a period of eight years, which they called a Venus Sequence. They paid close attention to Venus and discovered it appeared to go around the Sun in the sky in 584 days, which they called a Venus Cycle. We call it Venus’ synodic period, which is the number of days between inferior conjunction, when Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun, then moves through the morning sky, and disappears behind the Sun at superior conjunction, then appears in the evening sky and back to inferior conjunction again. The gray area in the diagram is where Venus is not visible because it’s too close to the sun. However, at our latitude the number of days that Venus is invisible varies with the season. The Mayans, being in the tropics, didn’t have as much variation as we do. The Mayans discovered that Venus completed 5 cycles in almost exactly 8 years.

Today, Venus is at its greatest eastern elongation. On March 22nd Venus will pass inferior conjunction. That is 72 days from today. So it spends most of its time, 7 months, moving from around behind the Sun to the greatest elongation and only a short time, about 2 1/2 months moving from there to inferior conjunction. These 2 1/2 months are the best time to view Venus with a telescope, since Venus will grow in size and become an ever thinning crescent.

Check out my Wednesday posts showing the ever-growing and thinning Venus crescent until March 22nd. Or better yet, see it for yourself with a small telescope.

Categories: Concepts, Ephemeris Program, Planets Tags: Greatest eastern Elongation, Maya, Venus, Venus Cycle

Ephemeris: 01/08/2025 – A weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

January 8, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 1 minute, setting at 5:20, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:18. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 4:05 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 8:00 PM this evening four of the five naked eye planets will be out. Starting from the West we have Venus the brightest of all low in the west southwest. Above and left of that is Saturn. The waxing gibbous moon is high in the South at that time. Jupiter, the second-brightest planet will be high in the southeast. The 4th planet out is Mars which is low in the east northeast with its reddish hue giving it away. Next Monday the Moon will pass directly over the planet Mars in our evening sky. The fifth naked eye planet, Mercury, is too close to the Sun on it morning side to be visible.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

A 7 PM January 8, 2025, planet panorama — A 7 PM January 8, 2025 planet panorama. Venus and Saturn are in the southwest, and Jupiter is in the east. Mars is just rising in the east-northeast. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.

*The Moon tonight, January 8, 2025, as it might appear in a small telescope. Selected features are labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.*

Telescopic Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. All the planets are shown for tonight, 7 PM, January 8, 2025. Apparent diameters: Venus 24.1″, 51.6% illuminated; Saturn 16.4″, its rings 38.2″, 4.0 degrees from edge on (closing); Jupiter 46.3″; Mars, 14.5″. Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. Jupiter’s moon Io will disappear behind the planet later in the evening and reappear on the other side after midnight. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. 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 January 8, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 9th. 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 8 and 9, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others 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, Planets Tags: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 01/01/2025 – A New Year’s Day look at the naked-eye planets

January 1, 2025 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for New Year’s Day, Wednesday, January 1st, 2025. The Sun will rise at 8:20. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 53 minutes, setting at 5:13. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 7:02 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Venus can be spotted in the south-southwestern sky by 5:45 PM, about 30 minutes after sunset, and will also be above and left of the thin crescent Moon. Venus will set at 9:10 PM. Saturn will be in the south-southwestern sky at 6 PM, above and left of Venus, which will be seen to cross paths with it on the 18th of this month. Jupiter is low in the east, about the same time Venus is first spotted. It will be a good object for the small telescope. Mars, rises tonight at 6:31. Mars is still considered a morning planet since it is still up at sunrise. But that will end on the 15th of this month, when Mars reaches opposition from the Sun.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Happy New Year! I do really hope it will be happy…

Addendum

This is a 7 PM planet panorama. Venus and Saturn are in the southwest, and Jupiter is in the east. Mars is just rising in the east-northeast. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.

*The waxing two day old Moon with earthshine on its night side. Created using Stellarium.*

Telescopic Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. All the planets are shown for tonight, Jupiter specifically for 7 PM, January 1, 2025. Apparent diameters: Venus 22.4″, 55% illuminated; Saturn 16.6″, its rings 38.6″, 4.3 degrees from edge on (closing); Jupiter 47.0″; Mars, 14.3″. Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. 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 January 1, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 2nd. 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, January 1 and 2, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others 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, Planets Tags: Jupiter, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 12/25/2024 – A Christmas week look at the naked-eye planets

December 25, 2024 bobmoler 1 comment

This is Ephemeris for Christmas Day, Wednesday, 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, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:16 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Venus can be spotted in the south-southwestern sky by 5:30 PM, about 30 minutes after sunset. It will set at 8:41 PM. Saturn will be in the south at 6 PM, way above the bright star Fomalhaut. Jupiter is low in the east-northeast, about the same time Venus is first spotted. It will be a good object for the small telescope about an hour later. Mars, rises tonight at 7:44, It will appear above the Moon in the evening. Mars is still considered a morning planet since it is still up at sunrise. By 6:00 AM tomorrow Jupiter will be low in the west-northwest, to the right of the setting Orion, while reddish Mars will be high in the west-southwest.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

This is a 6 PM planet panorama. Venus is in the southwest, Saturn is in the south, and Jupiter is rising in the east. Mars will rise shortly. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.

*Looking eastward at 9:00 PM at Jupiter and Mars among the rising winter constellations. Created using Stellarium.*

*The Moon as it might appear through a small telescope tomorrow morning, December 26, 2024. Selected features are labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice draw, and GIMP.*

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

Ephemeris: 12/24/2024 – Looking at another possibility for the Star of Bethlehem

December 24, 2024 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Christmas Eve, Tuesday, December 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:07, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:18. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:10 tomorrow morning.

Many writers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE place Jesus’ birth, via Roman events, around 2 BCE. So the Star of Bethlehem could appear several years later than the triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BCE that’s been popular. In 3 and again in 2 BCE 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 12 sons in Genesis. The first conjunction occurred in August in the morning sky. On June 16th of the next year the two planets got together again, this time in the evening sky, a month or more after Jesus would have been born in the vulnerable spring lambing season when shepherds would most likely be out at night guarding the flocks, not December 25th.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

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 BCE in the early morning twilight.*

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

An edited excerpt from this year’s Star of Bethlehem presentation I gave to the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society on December 6th.

The triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BCE is the generally accepted Star of Bethlehem, with Jesus being born in 6 or 5 BCE and Herod’s death being in 4 BCE after a lunar eclipse. What if the lunar eclipse in question was in 1 BCE? If so, there is that other possibility. It involves the constellation Leo, which is a lion. There is a passage in Genesis in which Jacob, who, by this time, is called Israel, is blessing his sons, each the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. In Genesis 49 9-10 He compares him to a lion cub, the king of beasts, from whom the leaders of Israel will come. We can make a connection between Judah and the celestial lion, Leo. Let’s take a look at the celestial happenings against the constellation of Leo with Jupiter and Venus in 3 and 2 BCE.

On August 12th of 3 BCE Jupiter and Venus appeared to come together so close as to be separable only in telescopes. This may have been the Star at its rising mentioned to Herod. Could this predawn celestial mating of Jupiter, who the Babylonians saw as the god Marduk and Venus as Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, to bring forth a powerful king? The Magi, I’m pretty sure, would have known that 10 months later, a little longer than the human gestation period, by the way, that the two planets would again come together.

Ten months after the first conjunction of Jupiter and Venus, perhaps as the Magi neared Jerusalem, they saw Jupiter and Venus approaching each other again. Later as they left Herod’s palace on the evening of June 16th, 2 BCE the conjunction was at its tightest. They saw the “Star” again, as Matthew relates. Telescopes, which wouldn’t be invented for another sixteen hundred years, could have seen this extremely close conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. Venus, near its greatest eastern elongation from the Sun, would appear half illuminated. But even to the best naked eye observer, Jupiter and Venus would merge into a single star. Venus was much brighter than Jupiter than it appears here. In fact, it was nearly twelve times brighter, so Jupiter’s added brightness wouldn’t contribute much to the combined brightness. Jupiter would seem to disappear at their closest.

Also, there was a conjunction of Jupiter with the “Little King” star Regulus on September 14th 3 BCE, one or two days after the beginning of the Jewish New Year. Was this another sign that a new King of the Jews would be born? It is actually the first of three conjunctions Jupiter has with Regulus in the next 9 months. Yes, another triple conjunction. Jupiter passed Regulus the second time on February 17, of 2 BCE and for a final time on May 9th. During this time Venus had moved back toward the Sun and entered the evening sky where Jupiter met it once again.

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

Ephemeris: 12/18/2024 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

December 18, 2024 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 18th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:16. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 8:36 this evening.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

This is what I call my 8:00 PM planet panorama. Venus is setting the southwest Saturn heading downwards in the southwest, Jupiter high in the east and Mars just rising in the east northeast. The waning gibbous Moon will rise shortly, trailing Mars. The only thing we’re really missing is Mercury which is close to the Sun in the morning sky. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.

*The Moon as it might appear through a small telescope 10 PM tonight, December 18, 2024. Selected features are labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice draw, and GIMP.*

The planet Mercury should be seen low in the southeast by 7:30 AM, tomorrow morning December 19, 2024. Created using Stellarium.

Telescopic Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. All the planets are shown for tonight, Jupiter specifically for 9 PM, December 18, 2024. Apparent diameters: Venus 19.7″, 61.1% illuminated; Saturn 16.9″, its rings 39.4″, 4.7 degrees from edge on (closing); Jupiter 47.9″; Mars, 13.3″, 96.3% illuminated. Saturn’s rings are actually much brighter than depicted here. Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. 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 December 18, 2024. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 19th. 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, December 18 and 19, 2024. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others 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, Planets Tags: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 12/11/2024 – Where are the naked-eye planets this week?

December 11, 2024 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:11. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 5:00 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Venus can be spotted in the south-southwestern sky by 5:30 PM, about 30 minutes after sunset. It will set at 8:25 PM. Saturn will be in the south at 6 PM, way above the bright star Fomalhaut. Jupiter is low in the east-northeast, about the same time as when Venus is first spotted. It will be a good object for the small telescope about an hour later. Mars, rises tonight at 8:17, Mars is still considered a morning planet since it is still up at sunrise. By 6:00 AM tomorrow Jupiter will be low in the west-northwest, to the right of the setting Orion, while reddish Mars will be high in the west-southwest.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

*Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and the Moon as they would appear about 6 this evening in this panorama view fron east-northeast to southwest. Created using Stellarium.*

*The Moon tonight as it might appear in a small telescope. Selected features ae labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.*

*Jupiter with Mars rising in the east-noprtheast at 9:00 PM with Orion also rising. Created using Stellarium.*

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

Ephemeris: 12/04/2024 – Checking where the naked-eye planets are now

December 4, 2024 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 58 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:04. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 7:59 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Venus can be spotted low in the south-southwestern sky by 5:30 PM, about 30 minutes after sunset. It appears above the Moon tonight, and will set at 8:09 PM. Saturn will be in the south-southeast at 6 PM. Jupiter will rise at 5:09 PM in the east-northeast, and be a good object for the small telescope about an hour later. Mars, rises tonight at 8:47, Both Mars and Jupiter are considered morning planets, since they are still up at sunrise, though Jupiter will be an evening planet after Saturday. By 6:00 AM tomorrow Jupiter will be in the west, above and right of Orion, while reddish Mars will be high in the southwest. Jupiter and Saturn are great planets to view with a small telescope.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Venus will appear above the waxing crescent moon this evening. This is their separation at 5:30 PM from Northern Michigan. The Moon will be moving to the upper left compared to Venus. Created using Stellarium.

*The Moon tonight as it might appear in a small telescope. Selected features ae labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.*

*Venus and Saturn as they would appear about 6:30 this evening. The Moon is lost in the bloated image of Venus. Created using Stellarium.*

*Jupiter with Mars rising in the east at 9:00 PM with Orion also rising. Created using Stellarium.*

*By 6:00 AM the winter stars and Jupiter have moved into the west with Orion about to set. Jupiter is seen in the West with Mars high up in the southwest. 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 December 4, 2024. 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.

This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, December 4 and 5, 2024. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others 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, Planets Tags: Jupiter, Mars, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 11/27/2024 – Checking up on the naked-eye planets this week

November 27, 2024 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 5:05, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:57. The Moon, 4 days before new, will rise at 5:23 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Venus can be spotted low in the south-southwestern sky by 5:30 PM, about 25 minutes after sunset. It will set at 7:52. Saturn will be in the south-southeast at 6 PM. Jupiter will rise at 5:45 PM in the east northeast, and be a good object for the small telescope about an hour later. Mars, rises tonight near 9:16, Both Mars and Jupiter are considered morning planets, since they are still up at sunrise. By 6 AM tomorrow Jupiter will be in the west, above and right of Orion, while reddish Mars will be high in the southwest. Jupiter and Saturn are good planets to view with a small telescope, Mars will appear only a quarter the diameter of Jupiter.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

This is where Venus will appear in the south-southwest at about 5:30 PM or about 25 minutes after sunset. Venus is now in the part of the ecliptic where the planets travel northward as it moves eastward. So It will be seeing it higher in the sky when it’s first spotted in the evening. Created using Stellarium.

*Saturn and Jupiter at 8 PM tonight, November 27, 2024. Off to the right beyond the image, Venus setting in the southwest. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.*

Low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions — This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, November 27 and 28, 2024. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others 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, Planets Tags: Jupiter, Mars, Moon, Saturn, Venus

Ephemeris: 11/20/2024 – Our weekly look at the naked-eye planets

November 20, 2024 bobmoler Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 20th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 5:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:48. The Moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 9:45 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Venus can be spotted low in the southwestern sky by 5:30 PM, about 20 minutes after sunset. It will set at 7:41. Saturn will be in the south-southeast at 6 PM. Jupiter will rise at 6:11 PM in the east northeast, and be a good object for the small telescope about an hour later. Mars, rises tonight near 9:36, just ahead of the Moon and will be leading it through the night skies tonight. By 6:00 AM tomorrow Jupiter will be in the west, above and right of Orion, while reddish Mars will be high in the southwest to the right of the waning gibbous Moon. Jupiter and Saturn are good planets to view with a small telescope, Mars will appear only a quarter the diameter of Jupiter.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.