April 8, 2022: Begin counting days to the solstice. Morning planets Venus, Mars, and Saturn are in the east-southeast. The evening moon is near Castor and Pollux.

by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:22 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:24 p.m. CDT. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times for your location.
The rising and setting sun is moving fast enough along the horizon to start an exercise to determine the date of the summer solstice. Yes, we have computer programs and calendars that tell us the date and time of the summer solstice (June 21, 4:14 a.m. CDT from the U.S. Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program). Ok. Easy. Done. For our ancestral farmers at the mid-northern latitudes, it was not that simple.
The growing season was relatively short, between the last spring frost and the first one in the fall, especially for tender plants without the benefit of modern hybridization. Even though the weather varies in the spring, knowing those dates were life-essential.
Plant a stick or vertical post during the next few weeks and note the rising spot of the sun. Count the days until the sunrise point returns to the same point on the horizon as noted by the vertical marker. Half that time was the date of the solstice.
Next year, when the sun reaches that point on the horizon, count the days to the solstice. The count is accurate within a day or two.
By early-to mid-May, the sun’s motion along the horizon is minimal and beginning the count too late during the spring season does not yield favorable results.

In southwest Ohio, a snake effigy faces the eastern horizon. A post near the snake’s head may have cast a shadow along the body and tail to mark spring events and the summer solstice, the day when the sun stops moving northward along the horizon and slowly rises at more southerly azimuths. This may have been used as an agricultural calendar as well as one for cultural activities.
A winter solstice snake is nearby.
Morning Sky
SUMMARY OF PLANETS IN 2022 MORNING SKY

Brilliant Venus, Mars, and Saturn are in the southeast before day break. Venus is “that bright star” in the eastern sky during morning twilight. The planet rises 104 minutes before sunrise. In a week, the planet rises before the beginning of morning twilight. This occurs for the remainder of the planet’s appearance in the morning sky.
Through a spotting scope or small telescope, Venus shows a morning gibbous, nearly 60% illuminated. The planet is largely featureless because it is wrapped in a thick layer of clouds.
Mars is 8.2° to the upper right of Venus. It passed Saturn a few mornings ago. The Ringed Wonder is 2.3° to the upper right of the Red Planet.

Mars and Saturn fit in the same binocular field with two stars in Capricornus – Deneb Algedi and Nashira.
Venus is too far to the east of Mars to fit into the same field of view with the Red Planet.
Through a telescope, Mars is somewhat featureless. It appears as a rusty star. The planet is too small and too far away this morning to see Martian polar caps or darker regions.
In a telescopic eyepiece, Saturn is relatively small, but its yellow-orange globe is visible along with its rings and possibly a brighter moon or two.
Jupiter is slowly entering the morning sky, rising 52 minutes before the sun. By 30 minutes it is nearly 4° above the eastern horizon, 20.0° to the lower left of the Morning Star.
Venus passes Jupiter is a close proximate conjunction at month’s end.
Evening Sky

Speedy Mercury is scrambling into the western evening sky for its best appearance of the year in northern hemisphere. This evening it sets 32 minutes after sundown.
Near month’s end it is near the Pleiades star cluster. The crescent moon appears near Mercury during early May.
This evening the nearly half-full moon is about 70° up in the west-southeast, in front of the stars of Gemini. The moon is at its First Quarter phase at 1:38 a.m. CDT tomorrow.
This evening, the lunar orb is 7.4° to the lower left of Castor and 7.6° to the lower right of Pollux.
RECENT PODCASTS
RECENT ARTICLES

2022, June 21: Evening Planet Parade Visibility, Summer Solstice
June 21, 2022: How frequently are the five bright planets visible in their order from the sun after sundown? Five the morning planet parade in the eastern sky before sunrise.
Keep reading
2022, June 20: Morning Planet Parade Visibility
June 20, 2022: How frequently are the five bright planets visible in their order from the sun before daybreak? These planets are in this order in the eastern sky before sunrise.
Keep reading
2022, June 19: Planet Order Frequency, Moon Identifies Planets
June 19, 2022: How frequently are the five bright planets in order from the sun to create a morning or evening planet parade. The five planets are in the sky before daybreak.
Keep readingCategories: Astronomy, Sky Watching
Leave a Reply