2023, December 20:  Morning Star, Evening Moon Nears Jupiter

December 20, 2023: Brilliant Venus is in the southeast before daybreak.  After nightfall the gibbous moon nears Jupiter in the southeast sky.

Venus, December 3, 2020
Photo Caption – 2020, December 3: One hour before sunrise, Venus – low in the east-southeast – is 1.3° to the upper left of Zubenelgenubi.

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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.

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

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

Venus, Morning Star

2023, December 20: Venus is near Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali in the southeast before sunrise.
Chart Caption – 2023, December 20: Venus is near Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali in the southeast before sunrise.

That bright star in the southeast before sunrise is Venus.  The Morning Star is over 20° above the horizon at one hour before daybreak.  It steps eastward in front of Libra, 3.8° to the lower left of Zubenelgenubi, and 6.4° to the lower right of Zubeneschamali, Libra’s brightest stars.  Tomorrow, the planet passes the second star in a wide conjunction.

Through a telescope, Venus displays a morning gibbous phase that is 74% illuminated.

Dschubba, the Scorpion’s head, is nearly 10° above the horizon and nearly 15° to the lower left of Venus, and 3.0° to the lower right of Graffias, meaning “the crab.”

Mars continues its slow climb into the eastern predawn sky.  The planet rises forty minutes before the sun, not yet early enough to easily see it.

Evening Sky

Moon Nears Jupiter - 2023, December 20: The moon nears Jupiter after nightfall.
Chart Caption – 2023, December 20: The moon nears Jupiter after nightfall.

Mercury reaches inferior conjunction, between Earth and Sun in two days.  Still east of the sun, it sets twenty-five minutes after the sun.  The planet is at perihelion today, moving fastest through its orbital path.  It quickly overtakes our planet and moves into the southeastern sky before sunrise during mid-January.

Moon Nears Jupiter

As darkness falls, the bright gibbous moon, 64% illuminated, is over halfway up in the south-southeast sky and over 20° to the right of bright Jupiter.

Jupiter is nearing the end of its retrograde against Aries’ distant stars.  Tonight, the planet is 11.4° to the lower right of Hamal, the Ram’s brightest star, and 14.4° to the upper right of Menkar, part of Cetus.  The planet does not fit into a binocular field of view with either star.  An optical assist may be necessary to see the two stars in this moonlight.

2023, December 20: Saturn is in the south-southwest sky after sunset.
Chart Caption – 2023, December 20: Saturn is in the south-southwest sky after sunset.

Saturn in South-Southwest

Saturn, not as bright as Jupiter, is over 30° above the south-southwest horizon and over 40° to the lower right of the moon.  The Ringed Wonder is over 20° to the upper left of Fomalhaut.

During the night, the stars, moon, and planets appear farther westward.  Saturn sets in the west-southwest about five hours after sundown.

Jupiter
Photo Caption – Jupiter (NASA Photo)

At 9:59 p.m. CST, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is visible through a telescope at the center of the planet in the southern hemisphere.  Io, one of Jupiter’s four largest satellites, is visible silhouetted against the planet to the upper left of the long-lived storm. By 10:30 p.m., the moon’s shadow is projected on the cloud tops.  An hour later, the spot is disappearing around the west edge of the planet as Io is again visible against the dark velvet of the sky. As Io revolves around the planet, the shadow leaves the cloud deck nearly thirty-five minutes into the new calendar day in the Central Time zone.  The lunar orb sets nearly six hours before the sun and Jupiter follows ninety minutes later.

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