2021, April 29: Morning Planets Jupiter, Saturn, Bright Moon

April 29, 2021: The bright moon is in the southwest before sunrise, near the star Antares.  The morning planets, Jupiter and Saturn are in the southeast.  The planets are 15.0° apart.

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois:  Sunrise, 5:49 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:47 p.m. CDT.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times for your location.

Daylight is approaching 14 hours at this latitude.  Today it is 2 minutes short of that length.

The bright moon, over 90% illuminated, is low in the south-southwest, near Antares, “the rival of Mars.”  The lunar orb is 3.7° above the star.

Farther eastward, bright Jupiter and Saturn are in the southeast.

Jupiter is the brightest “star” in the sky.  The gap between the two planets is 15.0°.  The gap has widened since their great conjunction at the winter solstice in 2020.  The planets have not been this far apart late since December in 2019.

Jupiter is to the upper left of Deneb Algiedi, “the kid’s tail,” (δ Cap on the chart).

Detailed Note: One hour before sunrise, the moon (17.3d, 92%) is over 20° above the south-southwest horizon.  The lunar orb is 3.7° above Antares. Farther eastward, Saturn is over 20° above the southeast horizon.  It is 1.0° to the upper right of θ Cap.  Jupiter is 15.0° to the lower left of Saturn.  The Jovian Giant is 4.6° to the left of Deneb Algiedi, 2.0° to the lower left of μ Cap, and 1.6° to the upper right of ι Aqr. The gap between Jupiter and Saturn has not been this wide since late December 2019, when Jupiter was near its solar conjunction and Saturn was setting about 70 minutes after sunset. Vega (α Lyr, m = 0.0) rises at sunset. Twenty minutes after sunset, brilliant Venus is over 4° above the west-northwest horizon.  Mercury (m = −1.2) is 3.7° above Venus.  One hour after sunset, Mars is over 36° above the western horizon in front of the starry background of Gemini.  In the starfield, the Red Planet is 2.3° to the upper right of Propus and 2.7° to the right of Tejat Posterior.  Still in the view of a binocular, the star cluster M35 is 1.8° to the lower right of the planet.

Read more about the planets during April 2021.