2023, December 12: Look for Nightly Three-Planet Waltz

December 12, 2023: Brilliant Morning Star Venus, bright Jupiter, and Saturn are easy to spot during nighttime hours, a nightly three-planet waltz.

Venus and Saturn
Photo Caption – 2019, December 3: Venus is nearly midway between Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter is becoming more difficult to see as it heads towards its solar conjunction

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois:  Sunrise, 7:09 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:20 p.m. CST.  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:

Three bright planets are visible during the nighttime hours, a nightly three-planet waltz.  Brilliant Venus starts the daily planet waltz with an appearance in the southeastern sky before sunrise.  After sundown, Saturn and Jupiter dance in front of the distant stars.

The moon reaches the New phase at 5:32 p.m. CST, beginning lunation 1249, the number of lunar cycles since the count began a century ago.

Morning Sky

Nightly Three-Planet Waltz, Venus

Nightly Three-Planet Waltz
Chart Caption – 2023, December 12: Venus is in the southeast before sunrise, approaching Zubenelgenubi.

One hour before sunrise, brilliant Venus is over 20° up in the southeast.  It steps eastward in front of Libra, 6.5° to the upper right of Zubenelgenubi, part of the Scales, and over 15° to the lower left of Spica, Virgo’s brightest star.

Zubenelgenubi’s name means “the southern claw” of the Scorpion.  Nearby is the northern claw, Zubeneschamali.  On old star charts, the stars were part of Scorpius, but they are part of today’s Libra, formally catalogued as Alpha Librae and Beta Librae, respectively.

Venus passes Zubenelgenubi in five mornings and moves between the claws the next morning.

Venus is visible into bright morning twilight toward sunrise.  The planet can be found in a cloudless sky by searching carefully for it during the day.

Mars is not part of the visible celestial dance.  It rises only thirty-one minutes before the sun and is lost in the central star’s brilliance.

Venus and Mars lead the sun across the daytime sky.  The Morning Star sets nearly two hours before the sun, followed by Mars about ninety minutes later.

Evening Sky

2023, December 12: In bright twilight, Mercury is in the southwest after night falls.
Chart Caption – 2023, December 12: In bright twilight, Mercury is in the southwest after night falls.

Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter rise during the daytime. After sundown, Jupiter and Saturn are easy to locate.  Among the five bright planets, Mercury is a challenging view after sundown.  Setting seventy-two minutes after night falls, the speedy planet is a binocular object about 6° above the southwest horizon forty minutes earlier.  Not as bright as it was a week ago the planet’s visual intensity fades as it overtakes our planet.

In two evenings, the crescent moon is about the same altitude – height above the horizon – as Mercury, but they are not in the same binocular field.

Saturn’s Nightly Dance

Nightly Three-Planet Waltz
Chart Caption – 2023, December 12: An hour after sundown, Saturn is the southern sky about 20° to the upper right of Fomalhaut.

Saturn, not as bright as Jupiter, is over 35° above the southern horizon an hour after sundown.  Without a telescope, a visual check to find the Ringed Wonder is the star Fomalhaut, slightly dimmer than the planet, about 20° to Saturn’s lower left and nearly 20° above the south cardinal direction.

Saturn is slowly moving eastward in front of Aquarius, 7.9° to the upper left of Deneb Algedi, 10.3° to the lower right of Lambda Aquarii (λ Aqr on the chart), and 9.9° to the upper right of Skat.  Use a binocular to see the starfield, especially from urban or suburban settings.

Jupiter’s Nightly Waltz

Nightly Three-Planet Waltz
Chart Caption – 2023, December 12: Bright Jupiter is in the east-southeast during the early evening.

Bright Jupiter retrogrades in the east-southeast at this hour.  The planet’s dance occurs in front of Aries, 11.4° to the lower right of Hamal, the Ram’s brightest star, and 14.2° to the upper right of Menkar, Cetus’ nostril.  The planet is noticeably west of an imaginary line between the two stars.

Hamal is about the brightness of the Big Dipper’s stars, while Menkar is slightly dimmer than Hamal.  A binocular might be needed to see them, especially Menkar. 

While looking for the background stars, look for the Pleiades star cluster and the Hyades, part of Taurus, to the lower left of Jupiter.  Along with the star Aldebaran, the Hyades star cluster make a sideways letter “V” to form the Bull’s head.

During the night, the sky seems to shift westward from Earth’s rotation.  Saturn sets in the west-southwest less than six hours after sundown. Jupiter is south an hour before Saturn sets.  The Jovian Giant sets nearly four hours before sunrise and nearly fifteen minutes before Venus rises.

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