2023, December 30:  Sirius, Dog Star, South Near Midnight, Morning Star

December 30, 2023: Sirius, the Dog Star, is south near the midnight hour at year’s end.  Morning Star Venus gleams before sunrise.

The constellation Orion rises into view during the early evening hours of February each year.
Photo Caption – The constellation Orion rises into view during the early evening hours of February each year.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois:  Sunrise, 7:18 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:29 p.m. CST.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Sirius South Near Midnight

Sirius, Dog Star, South Near Midnight, Morning Star
Chaart Caption – 2023, December 30: Sirius is south near the midnight hour.

As the calendar is about to click into the new year, the bright stars of the Orion region of the Milky Way enter the sky during the early evening. With this season of holiday celebration, conviviality, and goodwill, these stars are in the south as a new day begins.

The night’s brightest star, Sirius, is south near the midnight hour.  Tonight, the Dog Star is south a few minutes before midnight.  The next time it is south is a few minutes after midnight on New Year’s morning. 

Sirius, Procyon, known as the Little Dog Star, and Betelgeuse, Orion’s arm, make a large shape, known as the Winter Triangle.

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

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

Sirius, Dog Star, South Near Midnight, Morning Star
Chart Caption – 2023, December 30: Brilliant Morning Star Venus is in the southeast before sunrise.

Morning Star Venus

The Morning Star, Venus, shines from the southeast before sunrise.  At one hour before daybreak, it is less than 20° above the horizon and 2.9° to the upper right of Graffias, meaning “the crab,” that is part of Scorpius.  Stepping eastward in front of Libra’s stars, Venus moves into Scorpius and passes Graffias in two mornings.

Through a telescope, Venus shows a morning gibbous phase that is 77% illuminated.

Scorpius is reaching across the horizon during the predawn hours of early winter.  Its classic claws, Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali, are westward.  The forehead, Dschubba, is to the lower right of Graffias.  Antares, the constellation’s brightest star, represents the Scorpion’s heart in celestial artwork.  This morning it is over 11° below Venus and over 6° above the horizon, and likely twinkling wildly in the early light of twilight.  Venus passes the star in a wide conjunction on January 5th.

2023, December 30: The moon is in the western sky, near the Sickle of Leo, before daybreak.
Chart Caption – 2023, December 30: The moon is in the western sky, near the Sickle of Leo, before daybreak.

Farther westward, the bright moon, 89% illuminated, is in the western sky, over 12° to the lower right of Regulus, Leo’s brightest star.  The moonlight overwhelms the dimmer stars, so use a binocular to find the “Sickle of Leo,” the head of the westward-facing Lion.

Mercury and Mars are entering the morning sky at different speeds.  Mercury rises 80 minutes before sunrise and gains about five minutes of rising time each morning.  It is becoming easier to see. Slower Mars, rises about fifty minutes before daybreak, gaining one minute of rising time, compared to sunrise, every two days.

Evening Sky

Jupiter’s Retrograde Ends

2023, December 30: Bright Jupiter is high in the southeast during early evening hours.
Chart Caption – 2023, December 30: Bright Jupiter is high in the southeast during early evening hours.

Jupiter and Saturn are easily visible after sunset.  Jupiter is consistently the fourth brightest celestial body, after the sun, moon, and Venus, although on occasion Mars outshines it.  Step outside about an hour after nightfall, the Jovian Giant is over halfway up in the southeastern sky.  Its retrograde ends tonight, 11.4° to the lower right of Hamal, Aries brightest star, and 14.4° to the upper right of Menkar, Cetus’ nostril.  The planet is west of an imaginary line between the two stars.  As the planet appears to pick up eastward speed, it moves closer to that line.

Saturn with Aquarius

2023, December 30: Saturn is in the west-southwest after sundown.
Chart Caption – 2023, December 30: Saturn is in the west-southwest after sundown.

Saturn, considerably dimmer than Jupiter, but brighter than most stars tonight, is about 30° above the south-southwest horizon.  It is plodding slowly eastward in front of Aquarius’ dim stars.  Use a binocular to find Skat, the Aquarian’s leg, 8.9° to the Ringed Wonder’s lower left, and Lambda Aquarii (λ Aqr on the chart) 8.8° to the upper left.  The three make nearly an equilateral triangle.

Find Fomalhaut, the mouth of the Southern Fish, about 20° to the lower left of the planet.

Moon and Leo

2023, December 30: The moon is near Eta Leonis (η Leo) during the night.
Chart Caption – 2023, December 30: The moon is near Eta Leonis (η Leo) during the night.

The moon rises about four hours after nightfall, when Saturn is near the west-southwest horizon, and Jupiter is in the south-southwest.  An hour later, about 9:30 p.m. in Chicago, the moon is nearly 15° above the east horizon, and 1.9° to the upper right of Eta Leonis (η Leo on the chart).  Use a binocular to see the star with the lunar orb.

Jupiter sets after midnight and long before Venus rises tomorrow morning.  The waning gibbous moon is in the west-southwest above Regulus in the morning when Venus is in the southeastern sky.

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