2024, February 13: February Crescent Moon Approaches Jupiter

February 13, 2024: After sundown, the February crescent moon approaches Jupiter in the southwestern sky.

Jupiter, Saturn and the moon, November 18, 2020
Photo Caption – 2020, November 18: The crescent moon is low in the southwest, 6.8° to the lower right of Jupiter. Saturn is 3.4° to the upper left of Jupiter.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:50 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:21 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

2024, February 13: Venus appears low in the southeast before sunrise.
Chart Caption – 2024, February 13: Venus appears low in the southeast before sunrise.

Before sunrise, Venus is in the southeast.  At forty-five minutes before daybreak, the Morning Star is about 5° above the horizon, stepping eastward in front of Sagittarius.

Venus rises later each morning compared to sunrise.  This morning it crosses the horizon eighty-three minutes before the sun.

Venus is approaching Mars for a conjunction on the 22nd.  The gap between them is 0.6°, slightly larger than the apparent diameter of the moon.

Venus and Mars

2024, February 13: Through a binocular Venus approaches Mars before daybreak.
Chart Caption – 2024, February 13: Through a binocular Venus approaches Mars before daybreak.

This morning, use a binocular to find the two planets 4.2° apart at thirty minutes before sunrise. Venus is to the upper right of the Red Planet.

Mercury is awash in bright sunlight, rising nineteen minutes before the sun.  It reaches superior conjunction, with the sun between Mercury and Earth on the 28th.

Evening Sky

Saturn is moving toward its solar conjunction at month’s end.  By forty-five minutes after nightfall, the planet is low in the west-southwest, not visible without an optical assist.

February Crescent Moon Approaches Jupiter

February Crescent Moon Approaches Jupiter
Chart Caption – 2024, February 13: After sundown, the crescent moon is to the lower right of Jupiter.

After sunset, look for the crescent moon, 22% illuminated, less than halfway up in the west-southwest.  The moon is waxing, appearing farther eastward each evening and with more of the lunar surface in sunlight.  Daylight washes across the lunar orb through the month’s Full (Snow) moon on the 24th.  On the 16th, the moon reaches the evening half or First Quarter phase.

2023, May 22: Brilliant Venus and the crescent moon, with earthshine,
Photo Caption – 2023, May 22: Brilliant Venus and the crescent moon, with earthshine,

Look for earthshine on the night portion of the moon, between the cusps or horns.  The soft light seems to complete the round shape of the moon.  It is from sunlight reflected from Earth’s oceans, clouds, and land.  This is a pretty view through a binocular.  Look for this effect for another evening.

Bright Jupiter is high in the southwest, nearly 20° to the upper left of the lunar crescent.  The planet slowly moves eastward in front of Aries and it is approaching an imaginary line from Hamal to Menkar.

Tomorrow evening, the moon is close enough to Jupiter for them to fit into the same binocular field of view.

This evening, the moon sets five hours after sundown, followed by Jupiter about ninety minutes later.

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