2022, October 10: Morning Mercury, Evening Moon, Planets

October 10, 2022: Mercury continues to put on its best morning display of the year, while Mars marches eastward in Taurus.  The bright moon is visible all night and along a planetary arc with Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

2022, October 10: Mercury is low in the eastern sky before sunup, putting on its best morning display of the year.
Chart Caption – 2022, October 10: Mercury is low in the eastern sky before sunup, putting on its best morning display of the year.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois:  Sunrise, 6:58 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:17 p.m. CDT.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times for your location.

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

SUMMARY OF PLANETS IN 2022 MORNING SKY

At forty-five minutes before sunup, Mercury continues its best morning display of the year.  The sun’s nearest planet is about 10° up in the east, 2.1° to the lower left of Zavijava, also known as Beta Virginis.  Use a binocular to initially find the star.

Leo is above Mercury. Denebola, the lion’s tail, is nearly 15° to the upper left, while Regulus, the heart, is over 30° to the upper right of the speedy planet.

Mercury’s brightness grows each morning.  This morning it is nearly the same intensity as Mars.  At this low altitude – height above the horizon – and with the blush of morning twilight, the planet is easily visible, but it may not appear as bright as the Red Planet. 

After this morning’s appearance, the planet rises over 90 minutes before sunup for the next two mornings.  Thereafter, it begins to disappear into twilight again.  In a week it has lost 16 minutes of rising time.

The bright Full moon is low in the west at this hour.

2022, October 10: Mars is with Taurus, high in the southwest before sunrise.
Chart Caption – 2022, October 10: Mars is with Taurus, high in the southwest before sunrise.

Mars is high in the southwest.  Look fifteen to twenty minutes earlier to see it against a darker sky, but somewhat washed out by the bright moonlight that fills the sky.

MARS OPPOSITION 2022 SUMMARY

Mars is marching eastward against Taurus.  It approaches the Bull’s horns, Zeta Tauri and Elnath.  This morning the Red Planet is 2.9° to the lower right of Zeta.

Moonlight washes out the fainter stars this morning.  Possibly only Mars, Aldebaran and the brighter stars in the morning sky can be seen with this bright moon.  A binocular is helpful to locate the dimmer stars, such as those in the Hyades star cluster and Pleiades star cluster, as well as Zeta and Elnath.

Mars passes between the horns in a week.  The moon moves through in five mornings.

Venus is nearing its superior conjunction on the far side of its orbit and nearly behind the sun.  This occurs on the 22nd.  The planet becomes the Evening Star later during the year.

Evening Sky

2022, October 10: An hour after sunset, the moon, Jupiter and Saturn are lined up in the eastern sky.
Chart Caption – 2022, October 10: An hour after sunset, the moon, Jupiter and Saturn are lined up in the eastern sky.

The bright moon continues to dominate the night.  An hour after sunset, the lunar orb, 98% illuminated, is low in the eastern sky.  During the night it appears farther west with Earth’s rotation. 

Bright Jupiter, nearly 20° up in the east-southeast, is to the upper right of the moon.  The Jovian Giant is the brightest star in the sky at this hour.

Saturn, nearly one-third of the way up in the sky above the south-southeastern horizon is nearly 45° to the upper right of Jupiter.

The moon is about one third of the way from Jupiter to Mars.  The Red Planet rises over three hours after sundown.  Around midnight, Mars, Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn are along an arc of the ecliptic from the eastern sky to the southwest.

Tomorrow evening the moon is near Uranus.

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