2022, December 2: Evening Gibbous Moon, Three-Planet Display

December 2, 2022: The bright gibbous moon is in the southeast after sundown.  Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are visible during the evening.

2022, December 2: An hour before sunrise, Mars is in the western sky between Elnath and Aldebaran.
Chart Caption – 2022, December 2: An hour before sunrise, Mars is in the western sky between Elnath and Aldebaran.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois:  Sunrise, 7:00 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:20 p.m. CST.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times for your location.

At Chicago’s latitude, daylight lasts 9 hours, 20 minutes today.  On the solstice, December 21st, daylight is twelve minutes shorter than today.  There’s not much more daylight to lose.

Today’s sunset time is the earliest of the year.  This continues through the 14th.

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

SUMMARY OF PLANETS IN 2022 MORNING SKY

Bright Mars is finishing its all-nighter in the western sky before sunrise.  Brighter than all the stars this morning, the Red Planet is about 20° up in the west-northwest at an hour before sunrise.  It is 5.7° to the lower left of Elnath – the northern horn of Taurus – and 11.1° to the upper right of Aldebaran, the constellation’s brightest star.

Mars continues to retrograde – appear to move westward – compared to the distant starfield.  The illusion continues to nearly mid-January.

MARS OPPOSITION 2022 SUMMARY

Earth is passing between the planet and the sun.  The effect of Earth’s faster speed is that Mars seems to move backwards or retrograde.

Each morning Mars is lower in the sky. Around mid-month, Mars is no longer visible at this hour in the morning.

2022, December 2: Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali are in the southeast before sunrise. Spica and Arcturus are nearby.
Chart Caption – 2022, December 2: Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali are in the southeast before sunrise. Spica and Arcturus are nearby.

Farther eastward, the Scorpion’s claws – Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali – are reaching over the southeastern horizon.  The heart – Antares – is near solar conjunction today, making its first morning appearance – heliacal rising – on the 27th, depending on weather conditions.  The entire constellation is not visible until later next month.

The claw stars are part of the modern Libra constellation.  Some celestial artwork either shows Scorpius alone or grasping a balance scale.

Evening Sky

2022, December 2: Bright Jupiter, Saturn, and the gibbous moon are in the southern sky after sundown.
Chart Caption – 2022, December 2: Bright Jupiter, Saturn, and the gibbous moon are in the southern sky after sundown.

SUMMARY FOR VENUS AS AN EVENING STAR, 2022-2023

Venus and Mercury continue their slow entry in to the evening sky.  They are east of the sun and are hidden in bright evening twilight, meaning they set after the central star.  This evening Venus sets 36 minutes after the sun, while Mercury follows four minutes later.

The two inferior planets – those closer to the sun than Earth – join Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars for another five-planet display beginning in nearly three weeks.

As night falls, the bright gibbous moon, 75% illuminated, is nearly 40° up in the southeast.  It is over 10° to the lower left of bright Jupiter.  The moon reaches its Full (Cold) moon phase on the 7th, the night the moon occults or eclipses Mars.

Jupiter is slowly moving eastward against a dim Pisces starfield. It is the brightest star in the sky tonight.  Even the planets look like stars without the aid of a telescope.

Saturn is brighter than most stars tonight, but it is dimmer than Jupiter.  The Ringed Wonder is about one third of the way up in the south-southwest, nearly 39° from Jupiter.  As Jupiter picks up eastward speed after its retrograde ended last month, Saturn is moving faster eastward, slightly closing the wide gap to the Jovian Giant.

An hour after sundown, Mars is less than 10° up in the east-northeast.  Opposition occurs in five nights when it rises at sunset.  There’s no rush to see the Red Planet at this moment.  It is higher later during the evening and farther westward.

2022, December 2: Three hours after sunset, Mars is in the eastern sky.
Chart Caption – 2022, December 2: Three hours after sunset, Mars is in the eastern sky.

About three hours after sundown, Mars, Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn dot the ecliptic from the east to the southwest.  The moon and Jupiter are about halfway up in the south.  Mars is about 20° up in the east and Saturn is the same height above the horizon in the southwest.

By tomorrow morning, Saturn, Jupiter, and the moon have left the sky, leaving Mars in the western sky.  The display of the three bright outer planets continues into next month.

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