Archive

Posts Tagged ‘Venus’

Ephemeris: 09/24/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

September 24, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, September 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 7:35, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:33. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 8:27 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn now rises about sunset in the east. It was in opposition from the Sun last Sunday. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, 1.7° from being edge on. Saturn has an axial tilt of about 27°, so it has seasons like the Earth and since its rings are over its equator, when they go edge on to the Sun, it is an equinox for it, which happened this past May. Earth, being close to the Sun, see nearly the same thing. Now the ring angle for us will decrease to about a third of a degree by November 23rd before increasing. By 6:30 AM Jupiter will appear high in the east-southeast, under the stars of Gemini. With brighter Venus low in the east below the star Regulus in Leo.

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

Saturn, low in the east, is below and a bit right of the Great Square of Pegasus
Saturn, low in the east, is below and a bit right of the Great Square of Pegasus, which stands on one corner at 9 PM tonight, September 24, 2025. Created using Stellarium.
Venus and Jupiter are visible in the east among the winter stars at 6:30 AM
Venus and Jupiter are visible in the east among the winter stars at 6:30 AM tomorrow morning, September 25, 2025. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. On the evening of the September 24th 2025, Saturn will be 19.4″ in diameter, but its rings, even being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here, and extend to 45.3″. They are tilted 1.7° from being edge on. At 6:30 AM on the morning of September 25th 2025, Jupiter will be 36.4″ in diameter. Europa will be eclipsed by Jupiter starting 4:41 AM, Ganymede will disappear into Jupiter’s shadow at 12:15 AM, and reappear at 3:19 AM, only to dissappear behind the planet at 4:20 AM. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 11.3″, and be 90.0% illuminated. It’s on the far side of the Sun. 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, starting with sunset on the right on September 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, September 24th and 25th, 2025.
This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, September 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: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 09/17/2025 – Taking a look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

September 17, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, September 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 24 minutes, setting at 7:49, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:25. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:44 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn now rises at 8:01 PM in the east. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, 2° from being edge on. Saturn has an axial tilt of about 27°, so it has seasons like the Earth and since its rings are over its equator, when they go edge on to the Sun, it is an equinox for it, which happened in May. Earth being close to the Sun and moving, see nearly the same thing. Now the ring angle for us will decrease to about a third of a degree by November 23rd before increasing. By 6 AM Jupiter will appear above the brighter Venus in the Eastern sky and among the stars of Gemini. Venus and Jupiter will have the waning crescent Moon between them tomorrow morning.

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

Saturn, low in the east, below and a bit right of the Great Square of Pegasus, which stand on one corner. Created using Stellarium.
Venus, the waning crescent Moon and Jupiter are visible in the east among the winter stars at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning, September 18, 2025. Saturn is low in the west.
Venus, the waning crescent Moon and Jupiter are visible in the east among the winter stars at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning, September 18, 2025. Saturn is low in the west. Created using Stellarium.
The waning crescent Moon with earth shine.
The waning crescent Moon with earth shine on the morning of September 18, 2025. Not much detail can be made out in binoculars otherwise.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. On the evening of the September 17th 2025, Saturn will be 19.4″ in diameter, but its rings, even being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here, and extend to 45.3″. They are tilted 2.0° from being edge on. On the morning of September 19th 2025, Jupiter will be 35.7″ in diameter. Europa is eclipsed by Jupiter, Io will begin its transit the face of Jupiter at 5:44 AM and will be nearly impossible to spot against the planet. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 11.5″, and be 88.8% illuminated. It’s on the far side of the Sun. 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 September 17th, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 18th. 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, September 17th and 18th, 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: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 09/10/2025 – Our weekly look at the naked-eye planets

September 10, 2025 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, September 10th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 8:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:17. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 9:14 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn now rises at 8:30 PM in the east. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, 2¼° from being edge on. Saturn has an axial tilt of about 27°, so it has seasons like the Earth and since its rings are over its equator, when the go edge on to the Sun, it is an equinox for it, which happened in May. Earth being close to the Sun and moving, see nearly the same thing. Now the ring angle will decrease to about a third of a degree by November 23rd before increasing. By 6 AM Jupiter will appear above the brighter Venus in the eastern sky and among the stars of Gemini. Venus and Jupiter are joining the bright winter stars, a beautiful sight in the morning twilight.

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

Saturn and the Moon at 10 PM tonight
Saturn and the Moon at 10 PM tonight, September 10, 2025. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tonight, September 10, 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 Jupiter are visible in the east among the winter stars at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning
Venus and Jupiter are visible in the east among the winter stars at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning, September 11, 2025. Saturn is off in the west-southwest. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. On the evening of the September 10th 2025, Saturn will be 19.4″ in diameter, but its rings, even being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here, and extend to 45.2″. They are tilted 2.2° from being edge on. On the morning of the September 11th 2025, Jupiter will be 35.1″ in diameter. Earlier in the morning Io and its shadow will transit the face of Jupiter. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 11.8″, and be 86.9% illuminated. 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 September 10th, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 11th. 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, September 10th and 11th, 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: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 09/04/2025 – Venus, the Morning Star

September 4, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, September 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 4 minutes, setting at 8:13, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:10. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 4:19 tomorrow morning.

Venus graces our morning sky as the Morning Star. It is seen, this year, along with the planet Jupiter. They are the two brightest planets. The Greek and others of that part of the world, early on, thought the evening and morning appearances of Venus were two different planets. The Mayans of Pre-Columbian Central America were meticulous observers of Venus, as is seen in one of their surviving books, the Dresden Codex. A Venus cycle lasts 584 days, from first appearance in the morning sky, its heliacal rising, through its morning appearance, disappearance behind the Sun, through its evening appearance and disappearance to the next heliacal rising. Astronomers call that it’s synodic period. Five synodic periods equal almost exactly 8 years.

Addendum

The Venus Cycle as seen by the Mayans.
The Venus Cycle as seen by the Mayans. In the gray part of the cycle Venus in unobservable due to being too close to the Sun in the sky.
Perspective view of Venus’ orbit in relation to the Earth, showing change in phase and size with position. When Venus is on the right side of the Sun, it is visible in the morning sky, on the left in the evening. The numbers represent Venus’ apparent size in seconds of arc. The image was found on the Internet, uncredited from a defunct website.
Categories: Concepts, Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags: ,

Ephemeris: 09/03/2025 – Our weekly look at the naked-eye planets

September 3, 2025 2 comments

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, September 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 7 minutes, setting at 8:15, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:09. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 3:04 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. The Red Planet Mars is too close to the direction of the Sun to spot. This is the curse of trying to view evening planets, which are near the direction of the Sun in late summer and early fall, for us at higher latitudes. Saturn now rises at 8:58 PM in the east. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, 2 ½° from being edge on. This angle will decrease to about a third of a degree by November 23rd before increasing. By 6 AM Saturn will be in the southwest. Jupiter will appear above the brighter Venus in the eastern sky and among the stars of Gemini. Venus and Jupiter are joining the bright winter stars, a beautiful sight in the morning twilight.

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

Saturn and the Moon at 10 PM tonight
Saturn and the Moon at 10 PM tonight, September 3, 2025. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tonight, September 3, 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 Jupiter are visible in the east among the winter stars at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning
Venus and Jupiter are visible in the east among the winter stars at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning, September 4, 2025. Saturn is off in the west-southwest. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. On the evening of the September 3rd 2025, Saturn will be 19.4″ in diameter, but its rings, even being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here, and extend to 45.1″. They are tilted 2.5° from being edge on. On the morning of the September 4th 2025, Jupiter will be 35.0″ in diameter. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 12.1″, and be 85.2% illuminated. 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 September 3rd, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 4th. 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, September 3rd and 4th, 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: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 08/27/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

August 27, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 28 minutes, setting at 8:27, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:00. The Moon, halfway from new to first quarter, will set at 10:02 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. The Red Planet Mars is too close to the direction of the Sun to spot. This is the curse of trying to view evening planets, which are near the direction of the Sun in late summer and early fall, for us at higher latitudes. Saturn now rises at 9:27 PM in the east. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, a bit more than 3° from being edge on. This angle will decrease to about a third of a degree by November 23rd before increasing. By 6 AM Saturn will be in the southwest. Jupiter will appear above the brighter Venus in the Eastern sky And among the brighter winter stars. Mercury will be in line with Venus and Jupiter very near the horizon.

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

The Moon tomorrow morning, July 28, 2025. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Saturn is seen low in the east at 10:30 PM tonight
Saturn is seen low in the east at 10:30 PM tonight, August 27, 2025. Created using Stellarium.
Three of the four morning planets are visible in the east at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning
Three of the four morning planets are visible in the east at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning, August 28, 2025. Saturn is off in the southwest. Mercury may not actually be visible. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. On the evening of the August 27th 2025, Saturn will be 19.5″ in diameter, but its rings, even being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here, and extend to 44.8″. They are tilted 2.7° from being edge on. On the morning of the August 28st 2025, Jupiter will be 34.1″ in diameter. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 12.5″, and be 83.4% illuminated. Mercury, too small to be shown here, is 5.9″ in diameter, and 77.1% 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
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on August 27, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 28th. 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, August 27th and 28th, 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: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 08/20/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

August 20, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 20th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 8:39, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:52. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 4:41 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. The Red Planet Mars is too close to the direction of the Sun to spot. This is the curse of trying to view evening planets, which are near the direction of the Sun in late summer and early fall, for us at higher latitudes. Saturn now rises at 9:55 PM in the east. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, a bit less than 3° from being edge on. By 6 AM Saturn will be in the southwest. Jupiter will appear above the brighter Venus in the Eastern sky And among the brighter winter stars. Venus is by far the brighter of the two planets. Mercury will be below the crescent Moon tomorrow morning.

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

Saturn is seen low in the east at 11 PM tonight
Saturn is seen low in the east at 11 PM tonight, August 20, 2025. It’s below the Great Square of Pegasus seen standing on one corner above and left of it. Created using Stellarium.
Three of the four morning planets are visible, along with the crescent Moon, in the east at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning, August 21, 2025.
Three of the four morning planets are visible, along with the crescent Moon, in the east at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning, August 21, 2025. Saturn is off in the southwest. Mercury will be visible for the next few days before it heads back toward the Sun. The Moon needed a bit of cosmetic surgery to have it show up better. Stellarium doesn’t handle real thin crescent moon images well at this small of a scale. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. On the morning of the August 21st 2025, Saturn will be 19.1″ in diameter, but its rings, even being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here., and extend to 44.5″. They are tilted 2.9° from being edge on. Jupiter will be 33.6″ in diameter. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 12.9″, and be 81.4% illuminated. Mercury, too small to be shown here, is 7.0″ in diameter, and 49.9% 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 August 20, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 21st.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on August 20, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 21st. 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, August 20th and 21st, 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: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 08/13/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

August 13, 2025 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for International Left-handers Day, Wednesday, August 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 7 minutes, setting at 8:51, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:44. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:47 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. The Red Planet Mars is getting so low in the western sky in evening twilight that I’ve given up on trying to spot it. This is the curse of trying to view evening planets, which are near the direction of the Sun in late summer and early fall, for us at higher latitudes. Mars won’t pass behind the Sun and enter the morning sky until January 9th. Saturn now rises at 10:23 PM in the east. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, less than 4° from being edge on. By 5:30 AM Saturn will be high in the south, when our winter pal Orion will be rising. Venus and Jupiter will appear very close. Venus is by far the brighter of the two.

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 Spica this evening in the western sky an hour after sunset
Mars and Spica this evening in the western sky an hour after sunset here (9:51 PM), August 13, 2025. With the smoke from the Canadian wild files, I doubt any stars or planets could be seen near the horizon. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn, Jupiter and Venus with some bright winter stars at 5:45 AM tomorrow morning
Saturn, Jupiter and Venus with some bright winter stars at 5:45 AM tomorrow morning, August 14th, 2025, looking from east-northeast to southwest. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tomorrow morning, August 14, 2025. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Feature labels are centered. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. On the morning of the August 14th 2025, Saturn will be 19.0″ in diameter, but its rings, even being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here., and extend to 44.2″. They are tilted 3.1° from being edge on. Jupiter will be 33.3″ in diameter. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 13.3″, and be 79.4% 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
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on August 13, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 14th. 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, August 13th and 14th, 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: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 08/11/2025 – The best times to see the Perseid meteor shower

August 11, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, August 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 8:54, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:42. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 10:06 this evening.

Tonight’s most interesting astronomical events will occur tomorrow morning. The Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak tomorrow afternoon, so tomorrow morning and Wednesday morning will be about the best times to see the meteors, except that the bright Moon is going to interfere. So only the brightest meteors will be visible. Bonus: in morning twilight tomorrow the planets Venus and Jupiter will be in conjunction, meaning they’ll be at their closest appearance to each other by a little bit less than twice the width of the Moon apart. Early risers may have been noticing that Venus and Jupiter will have been slowly approaching each other, with Jupiter below and left of Venus. Tomorrow morning, Jupiter will pass just above 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. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

My best Perseid photo. From the 1970's.
My best Perseid photo. From the 1970’s. The other streaks are stars due to the earth’s rotation during the time exposure of the stationary camera. The camera was aimed near the radiant, where the meteoric streaks are shorter because they are coming almost right at us. This one would be visible on the brightest moonlit night.

Categories: Conjunction, Ephemeris Program, Meteor Shower, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: , ,

Ephemeris: 08/06/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

August 6, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 26 minutes, setting at 9:01, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:36. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 4:13 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. The Red Planet Mars, May be seen very low in the western sky at 10 PM. Mars is moving toward Spica, a bit higher in the west-southwest. Mars will pass Spica on September 12th. By then they will be too low in the sky to be seen in twilight. Mars will leave the evening sky on January 9th. Saturn now rises at 10:50 PM in the east. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, less than 4° from being edge on. By 5:30 AM Saturn will be high in the south, when our winter pal Orion will be rising. Venus and Jupiter will appear very close. Venus is by far the brighter of the two. Their paths will cross on the morning of the 12th, where they will appear less than 2 moon-widths apart.

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 Spica this evening in the western sky near 10 PM, August 6, 2025
Mars and Spica this evening in the western sky near 10 PM, August 6, 2025. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tonight, August 6, 2025. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Feature labels are centered. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Saturn, Venus and Jupiter with some bright winter stars at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning, August 7th, 2025, looking from east-northeast to south.
Saturn, Venus and Jupiter with some bright winter stars at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning, August 7th, 2025, looking from east-northeast to south. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. On the evening of August 6, 2025, Mars will be 4.4″ in diameter, too small to be shown here. My lower size limit is 10″. On the morning of the 7th, Saturn will be 18.8″ in diameter, but its rings, even being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here., and extend to 43.8″. They are tilted 3.3° from being edge on. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 13.8″, and be 77.2% illuminated. Jupiter will be 32.9″ in diameter, though its satellites may not be visible in the morning twilight. 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 August 6, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 7th.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on August 6, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 7th. 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, August 6th and 7th, 2025.
This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, August 6th and 7th, 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: , , , , ,