January 25, 2024: The Wolf moon is visible during the nighttime hours. Look for Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:10 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:57 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
Wolf Moon, January’s Bright Moon
An hour before sunrise, the bright Wolf moon is over 10° above the west-northwest horizon. The lunar orb is at the official Full moon mark at 11:54 a.m. CST, when it is below the horizon in the western hemisphere.
Look carefully for Pollux, 8.6° to the lower right of the moon. The proximity of the moon may overwhelm the star and nearby Castor. To see the stars, block the moon with your hand as you would to shield your vision from the sun’s glare.
Venus
Venus is visible at this hour, but wait another fifteen minutes to see it higher in the sky. This morning, the brilliant planet rises nearly two hours before sunup.
Venus is “that bright star” in the southeast before sunrise. During morning twilight, it is over 10° above the horizon. It easily outshines all other starlike bodies in the sky. Only the sun and moon are brighter.
The brilliant planet is stepping eastward in front of Sagittarius. The constellation’s brightest stars are about the brightness of those in the Big Dipper. Venus passes Kaus Borealis, known as Lambda Sagittarii, in three mornings and Nunki, known as Sigma Sagittarii, on February 2nd.
This morning, look for Kaus Borealis with a binocular. It is 5.0° to the lower left of Venus. Place Venus toward the upper right portion of the field of view. The star appears toward the lower left.
Mercury and Mars
Mercury retreats into brighter morning twilight. At thirty minutes before sunup, the speedy planet is over 5° above the southeast horizon. Find it with a binocular. Mercury passes dimmer Mars in two mornings. This morning Mercury is 1.4° to the upper right of the Red Planet.
From an observing spot with an open horizon and an exceptionally clear sky, try to see Mars. This is a challenging observation.
Evening Sky
Evening Bright Moon
An hour after sundown, the Wolf moon is over 10° above the east-northeast horizon. Pollux, over 15° to the upper right of the lunar orb, and Castor are easier to see this evening with the moon farther away. The bright lunar disk is in the sky nearly all night, setting nearly an hour after sunrise tomorrow morning.
Jupiter
This evening, Jupiter is high in the south, slightly west of the south cardinal direction. The Jovian Giant is 11.1° to the lower left of Hamal, Aries’ brightest star, and 13.9° to the upper right of Menkar.
Through a telescope at 9:50 p.m. CST, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is at the center of the planet in the southern hemisphere. The long-lived atmospheric disturbance appears at the eastern edge of the planet after 8 p.m. and departs about 11:40 p.m., when Jupiter is only about 10° above the horizon from the American Midwest.
At one hour after sundown, Saturn is over 15° above the west-southwest horizon. The planet is lower in the sky each evening, setting two hours, thirty-minutes after nightfall.
This might be the last evening to easily see Fomalhaut, the mouth of the southern fish, less than 5° above the southwest horizon and nearly 20° to the lower left of Saturn. After its wide solar conjunction on March 3rd, it returns to the morning sky during mid-May.
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