March 15, 2024: Mercury, bright Jupiter, and waxing crescent moon are in the western sky after sundown. Jupiter and Uranus appear in the same binocular field of view.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:02 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:58 p.m. CDT. 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
Mars, Venus, and Saturn
The sky has no bright planet that is easily visible before sunrise. Three of them hide in brighter sunlight.
Mars rises first, 67 minutes before the sun. After solar conjunction during November 2023, its emergence from twilight into a darker morning sky seems to be painfully slow. The Red Planet is dim and a binocular is needed to attempt to see it nearly 6° above the east-southeast at 30 minutes before sunup.
Venus follows Mars across the horizon, 25 minutes later. The Morning Star is quite bright, but only 3° above the horizon. It is visible with a view toward a clear, uncluttered horizon.
Saturn is lost in bright morning light, rising only 22 minutes before the sun.
Evening Sky
Mercury
It is a different story after sundown. Two bright planets and a dimmer one, along with the moon, are visible.
Mercury is moving toward its best evening appearance of the year. It gains five to six minutes of setting time compared to sunset each evening so that it appears higher in the sky at the same time interval after nightfall.
At 45 minutes after sunset, the speedy planet is over 5° above the west horizon. Shining through the haze at the horizon, the planet is bright enough to be found without a binocular, although the optical assist helps with the initial identification.
At this hour bright Jupiter, less than halfway up in the west, is over 30° to Mercury’s upper left. Look for Hamal, 12.3° to the lower right of the Jovian Giant. The crescent moon, 33% illuminated, is nearly another 30° to the upper left of Jupiter.
Bright Jupiter and Waxing Crescent Moon
As the sky darkens further, more stars are visible. The moon is bright enough to light up the ground and cast shadows. The lunar orb is nearly 10° to the upper right of topaz Aldebaran.
Together, Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster make a letter “V,” outlining Taurus’ head. Explore the shape with a binocular along with the Pleiades star cluster.
Bright Jupiter and Uranus appear in the same binocular field of view. Place Jupiter toward the lower right portion of the field. Dimmer aquamarine Uranus is to the upper left. It is near the star 53 Arietis (53 Ari on the chart).
Notice the star Rho (ρ Ari) that appears inside a triangle made by three dimmer stars.
As Jupiter ambles eastward, it passes stars in the field of view. It passed Omicron (ο Ari) a few nights ago. Each clear night, use the binocular to watch it move toward Sigma (σ Ari) and pass it in several nights.
This evening a few of Jupiter’s four largest moons are visible in the binocular. They appear as stars near the planet and shine with about the same brightness as Omicron and Sigma in Aries.
Jupiter sets in the west over four hours after sunset and before midnight. The moon sets nearly three hours later.
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