December 15, 2023: Before sunrise, brilliant Venus approaches Zubenelgenubi, the Scorpion’s southern claw. The lunar evening crescent returns to the western sky after nightfall.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:11 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.
This is the final day for the earliest sunset time. This sunset time began on the 2nd. After this evening’s sundown, the sunset time grows later by one minute every two days. By month’s end, sunset time is 4:29 p.m.
Day’s length is nine hours, nine minutes, one minute longer than the shortest daylight that begins the 18th and carries through the 25th.
Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24
Here is today’s planet forecast:
Morning Sky
Venus and Claws
Brilliant Venus continues to gleam from the southeast during morning twilight. It is 3.3° above Zubenelgenubi, the Scorpion’s southern claw, today part of Libra. The northern claw is 9.3° to the lower left of the planet. The stars are about the brightness of those in the Big Dipper.
The Scorpion is reaching across the southeast horizon this morning. The creature’s forehead, Dschubba, is over 4° above the horizon, with Graffias, meaning “the crab,” 3.1° to the upper left. A binocular assists with the view.
Through a telescope, Venus’ phase is 73% illuminated, a morning gibbous.
Mars is slowly climbing into the morning sky. It is hiding in bright morning twilight, rising thirty-five minutes before the sun.
Evening Sky
Mercury is heading toward inferior conjunction between Earth and Sun in a week. The planet dims each evening as it speeds deeper into bright twilight. At sunset, the planet is less than 10° above the horizon.
Lunar Evening Crescent
The evening lunar crescent, 11% illuminated, is visible in the southwest as the sky darkens. An hour after sunset the lunar orb is nearly 15° up in the southwest. Each evening the moon is farther eastward and brighter. In two evenings, it is below Saturn.
Look for earthshine, the soft light between the moon’s cusps or horns, from sunlight reflected from Earth’s oceans, clouds, and land. The effect is there during the next few evenings.
Saturn
Saturn, nearly 30° to the upper left of the lunar crescent, is nearly 35° above the south-southwest horizon. The planet is moving eastward in front of Aquarius, generally heading toward Lambda Aquarii (λ Aqr on the chart), 10.0° to the planet’s upper left. The star Skat, the Aquarian’s leg, is 9.7° to the lower left. Use a binocular to see the dimmer stars, especially in urban and suburban settings. As the moon waxes, the reference stars are washed out for easy observing. Use the assist from a binocular.
The star Fomalhaut, meaning “the mouth of the southern fish,” is nearly 20° to Saturn’s lower left and about the same distance above the southern horizon.
Jupiter
Farther eastward, bright Jupiter is nearly 40° above the east-southeast horizon. The Jovian Giant is retrograding 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.
An imaginary line between the two stars serves as a reference for Jupiter’s motion against the sidereal backdrop and its eastward motion after retrograde ends on the 30th.
The crescent moon sets nearly three hours after night falls. Saturn follows nearly three hours later. Jupiter is south an hour before the Ringed Wonder sets. It sets before Venus rises tomorrow morning.
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