December 19, 2023: Before sunrise, Venus appears below the Scorpion’s claws. After sundown, the moon is nearly midway from Saturn to Jupiter.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:14 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:22 p.m. CST. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
The moon is at its evening half-full phase, known as First Quarter, at 12:39 p.m. CST. From the eastern regions of the time zone, the lunar orb rises about thirty minutes earlier.
Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24
Here is today’s planet forecast:
Morning Sky
An hour before daybreak, brilliant Venus is “that bright star” in the southeast. It is over 20° above the horizon. The planet is stepping eastward through Libra. Venus appears below the Scorpion’s claws, 2.8° to the lower left of Zubenelgenubi, the Scorpion’s southern claw, and 6.6° to the lower right of Zubeneschamali, the northern claw. Tomorrow, the planet passes the second star in a wide conjunction.
Yesterday, Venus appeared between the claws. This morning it seems as though the creature has fumbled the planet and it is falling toward the horizon in comparison to the stellar pair.
While in Libra, some celestial art portrays a large scorpion with its claws reaching eastward. The arachnid’s head, Dschubba, is nearly 7° above the horizon and about 16° to the lower right of Venus. The star Graffias, meaning “the crab,” is to the upper left of the forehead star. While they are moderately bright use a binocular to spot Dschubba and Graffias.
Mars is slowly emerging from bright morning twilight into a darker sky. This morning it rises nearly forty minutes before the sun, but it is still washed out by the bright light.
Evening Sky
Mercury is moving toward inferior conjunction, between Earth and Sun, on the 22nd. By mid-January it is nicely placed in the southeastern sky over 10° to the lower left of Venus.
Step outside an hour after nightfall. The bright moon is halfway up in the south-southeast, nearly midway from Saturn to Jupiter. The Ringed Wonder is nearly 30° to the moon’s lower right and almost 35° above the south-southwest horizon.
Look for the star Fomalhaut, the mouth of the southern fish, about 20° to Saturn’s lower left, over 30° to the moon’s lower right, and about 20° above the southern horizon. The star is slightly dimmer than Saturn.
Bright Jupiter is nearly halfway up in the east-southeast and over 35° from the moon. Use a binocular to find Menkar, Cetus’ nostril 14.3° to Jupiter’s lower left. The Sea Monster’s tail, at least the southern part of it, Deneb Kaitos, is about 30° up in the south-southeast, over 18° to the moon’s lower left.
The star seems to have an older name, Diphda, meaning “the second frog.” Fomalhaut is the first.
During the night, the stars, moon and planets appear farther westward from Earth’s rotation. Saturn sets in the west-southwest long before midnight. The moon sets eight hours after the sun and shortly after the beginning of the new calendar day. Jupiter is south about an hour before Saturn sets and it leaves the sky in the west-northwest, over four hours before sunrise and nearly an hour before Venus appears in the east-southeast.
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