2023, October 27: Moon Approaches Jupiter

Astronomy, Sky Watching

October 27, 2023:  The moon approaches Jupiter in the eastern sky after sunset.  Saturn is to the west of the pair.  Brilliant Venus is the Morning Star in the east before daybreak.

2019, January 29: The moon approaches Jupiter and Venus.
Photo Caption – 2019, January 29: The moon approaches Jupiter and Venus.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois:  Sunrise, 7:17 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 5:52 p.m. CDT.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

2023, October 27: Venus is with Leo in the east-southeast before daybreak.
Chart Caption – 2023, October 27: Venus is with Leo in the east-southeast before daybreak.

Brilliant Venus is in the east-southeast before sunrise.  Rising four minutes less than four hours, the planet is at its maximum rising interval before sunrise.  This occurs through November 6th. The value is simply the difference between the rising times of the two bodies.

An hour before sunrise, the Morning Star is over 30° above the east-southeast horizon. It is stepping eastward in front of Leo, less than 20° to the lower left of Regulus, the pattern’s brightest star.

With a bright moon in the sky at this hour tomorrow, this is the last morning for over a week to see Leo’s stars without a binocular.  The moonlight whitewashes the sky and the dimmer stars. 

The Lion’s head is made by a backwards question mark, made of a half dozen stars and known as the “Sickle of Leo.”  Regulus is at the bottom.  The haunches and tail, Denebola, are dotted by three stars to the lower left.  In its eastward trek, Venus has a wide conjunction with Denebola November 1st.

2023, October 27: Before sunrise, Jupiter retrogrades and passes between Hamal and Menkar.
Chart Caption – 2023, October 27: Before sunrise, Jupiter retrogrades and passes between Hamal and Menkar.

Jupiter is farther westward at this hour, less than 20° up in the west and over 125° from Venus.  The Venus-Jupiter gap continues to widen each day.  When the separation reaches 180°, Jupiter sets as Venus rises.  This occurs December 10th.  Afterward, Jupiter sets before Venus rises. After Jupiter passes its solar conjunction and again reappears west of the sun, a very close Venus-Jupiter conjunction occurs May 24, 2024, but the pair is in very bright sunlight.

This morning, the Jovian Giant is retrograding in front of Aries, 11.9° to the left of Hamal, the Ram’s brightest star, and 11.6° to the right of Menkar.  The planet appears to pass between the stars tomorrow.   Look this morning before the moon overwhelms the view tomorrow.

Evening Sky

Mars
The Red Planet from the Mars Global Surveyor shows the effects of a global dust storm (NASA)

Mercury and Mars are not visible.  Mercury, emerging from bright sunlight, sets eleven minutes after the sun.  Mars follows less than ten minutes later.

2023, October 27: Saturn is above Fomalhaut in the south-southeast after sunset.
Chart Caption – 2023, October 27: Saturn is above Fomalhaut in the south-southeast after sunset.

The bright moon, 99% illuminated, is in the eastern sky after sundown.  Less than twenty-four hours before the Full phase, this month known as the Hunter’s moon, the moon is about 25° above the horizon.

One hour after sunset, Saturn is 30° above the south-southeast horizon.  Not as bright as Venus or Jupiter, the Ringed Wonder is among the brightest starlike bodies this evening. It is about 20° above the star Fomalhaut

2023, October 27: During the evening, the bright Moon is near Jupiter.
Chart Caption – 2023, October 27: During the evening, the bright Moon is near Jupiter.

At two hours after night fall, Jupiter, about 20° up in the east, is over 17° to the lower left of the lunar orb.

During the night, from Earth’s rotation, Jupiter, Saturn, and the moon are farther westward.  Saturn is in the southern sky less than three hours after sunset and it sets over an hour before Venus rises.  Jupiter is in the southeast as midnight approaches and again in the western sky before sunrise tomorrow.

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