December 27, 2023: The Cold Moon is in the western sky before sunrise. Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn are visible during nighttime hours.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:17 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:26 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
Morning Cold Moon
The Morning Cold Moon is in the western sky before sunrise. On this Full moon night, the moon’s path somewhat replicates the sun’s path during early summer.
An hour before sunrise the lunar orb is nearly 20° above the horizon and below Castor and Pollux, the Gemini Twins. It is about the same altitude – height above the horizon – as bright Capella, meaning “the little she-goat,” that is in the northwest.
Another star, Procyon, is slightly lower than the moon and above the west horizon. Procyon, Pollux, Castor, and Capella make an arc across the western sky above the moon.
Venus
Farther eastward, Venus gleams in the southeast before sunrise. The Morning Star rises over three hours before sunup. It loses two minutes of rising time each morning compared to daybreak. In a month, it rises about two hours before the sun. Then we see the planet lower in the eastern sky during morning twilight.
At forty-five minutes before sunup this morning, Venus is over 20° above the southeast horizon. The planet steps eastward in front of Libra, to the lower left of Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali. On January 1st, the planet moves into Scorpius, passing to the upper left of Graffias, 6.4° to the planet’s lower left this morning.
The Scorpion takes many days to fully appear above the horizon before sunrise. The arachnid’s heart, Antares, is nearly 15° to the lower left of the planet and over 6° above the horizon. For mid-northern latitudes, the star is making its first morning appearance or heliacal rising. The star’s rosy color blends into the morning twilight, making it a somewhat challenging initial view without a binocular. During clear winter mornings, this star may twinkle wildly.
Mercury and Mars
Mercury and Mars are entering the eastern morning sky, although Mercury traverses its orbit considerably quicker than the Red Planet. The speedy planet rises nearly an hour before sunrise, eleven minutes earlier than Mars. It passes Mars in a wide conjunction this morning, but the planets are dim and hidden in bright twilight. They appear together again after Mercury’s greatest elongation and Mars is higher in the sky during morning’s early light later in January.
Evening Sky
Bright Evening Moon
The Cold Moon is low in the east-northeast after sunset. It traverses the sky overnight, appearing in the west-northwest before sunrise.
This evening, look for the lunar orb about two hours after sunset, when it is nearly 15° up in the east. Castor and Pollux, the Gemini Twins, are over 5° to the left of the lunar orb. To see the stars, extend your hand to block the moon’s glare as you would for the sun.
Jupiter
An hour earlier, Jupiter, the brightest starlike body in the sky this evening, is over halfway up in the southeast. The planet nears the end of its retrograde in front of Aries distant stars. A binocular might be needed to see Hamal, the Ram’s brightest star, 11.4° to Jupiter’s upper left, and Menkar, Cetus’ nostril, 14.5° to the lower left.
Saturn
Saturn, remarkably dimmer than Jupiter, is over 30° above the west-southwest horizon. It is over 20° to the upper right of Fomalhaut, the mouth of the southern fish.
Saturn sets less than five hours after sunset. It seems late, but with the early sunset times, this occurs shortly after 9 p.m. in Chicago.
Jupiter is south about an hour before Saturn sets. The planet sets after midnight and nearly ninety minutes before Venus rises. The Venus-Jupiter opposition occurred nearly three weeks ago, signaling when the two planets were last in the sky together for this morning appearance of Venus.
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