March 29, 2024: Before sunrise, the morning moon is near Scorpius in the south-southwest sky. After nightfall, Jupiter and Mercury are in the western sky.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:38 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:14 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
Morning Moon Approaches Scorpius
Find the gibbous moon, 85% illuminated, over 20° above the south-southwest horizon at one hour before daybreak. The moon is in front of Libra, 8.1° to the lower right of Dschubba, the Scorpion’s forehead or crown.
The Scorpion’s claws, Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali that are part of Libra, reach westward to the moon’s upper right. The arachnid’s body curves eastward from Dschubba through Antares and toward the southern horizon.
The moon closes in on another occultation with Antares, nearly 15° to the upper left, that is visible tomorrow for sky watchers in Micronesia and most of Polynesia.
Morning Planets
Three bright planets are in the growing twilight in the eastern sky. Mars rises 71 minutes before the sun. It picks up one minute of rising time every three days. At 40 minutes before daybreak, find it about 5° above the east-southeast horizon. Use a binocular to see it. The planet is not bright enough for visual observation at this level of morning twilight.
Saturn gains two minutes of rising time each morning. It moves eastward considerably slower than Mars. The sky is too bright to see the Ringed Wonder this morning.
The Red Planet overtakes it on April 10th for a conjunction during twilight.
Brilliant Venus shines from the sun’s glare at 15 minutes before sunrise, when it is about 3° above the east horizon. Theoretically it is visible, but this is a challenging view.
Evening Sky
Jupiter and Mercury
Step outside and look westward during evening twilight at 45 minutes after sundown. Jupiter is the bright star that is less than one-third of the way up in the sky. It outshines all other stars in the sky tonight, including Sirius, the night’s brightest star.
Jupiter shines by reflected sunlight. It is somewhat nearby, nearly 550 million miles away tonight. In comparison, Sirius is a star like the sun, making its light through nuclear fusion. The Dog Star is nearly 10 light years – nearly 60 trillion miles away, over 100,000 times farther away than the planet.
Jupiter is moving eastward in front of Aries. Hamal, the constellation’s brightest star is nearly 15° to Jupiter’s lower right.
Mercury is over 20° to the lower right of Jupiter and nearly 8° above the horizon. The speedy world is quickly exiting the western sky after its best evening appearance of the year. Use a binocular to see the innermost planet through the colorful hues of evening twilight. While Mercury is over 15 times brighter than Hamal, it is awash in evening light.
Mercury loses three to five minutes of setting time each evening. It is overtaking our planet, passing between Earth and Sun on April 11th. Then it moves into the eastern morning sky, but it hides in morning twilight, an unfavorable appearance, also known as an apparition.
Jupiter and Uranus through a Binocular
As the sky darkens further, look for Uranus in the same binocular field of view with Jupiter. Place Jupiter toward the bottom of the field. Look for up to four of Jupiter’s largest satellites.
Find the brighter stars on the accompanying chart. Locate Rho Arietis (ρ Ari on the chart) to Jupiter’s upper right. It is inside a triangle made by three dimmer stars. Delta Arietis (δ Ari) is toward the upper right. Stars 53 (53 Ari) and 54 (54 Ari) are to Delta’s lower left. Number 54 is about the same color as Delta, while 53 is bluish.
Aquamarine Uranus is to the upper left of 53 and to the left of 54. The planet is slightly brighter than those stars.
Jupiter is overtaking Uranus, passing the more distant planet on April 20th, but this is visible when the pair is less than 10° above the western horizon after sundown.
This evening Jupiter sets about three hours after sundown and long before midnight.
The moon rises tonight over five hours before sunrise. Tomorrow morning find it in the south-southwest to the right or west of Antares.
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