April 5, 2024: Mars and the morning crescent moon are in the east-southeast before sunrise. After sundown, bright Jupiter is in the western sky.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:26 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:21 p.m. CDT. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
During Monday’s eclipse, look for Mars and Saturn to the lower right of Venus. As totality approaches, the sky darkens, planets and brighter stars are visible. Venus and Jupiter are easily visible during such times. In addition to spotting the brighter planets, look for Saturn and Mars west or to Venus’s lower right. Jupiter is about 30° to the upper left, while Venus is about 15° to the lower right. Dimmer Mars and Saturn are nearly 20° to the lower right of Venus. They are about the same distance from the sun as Jupiter, but in the other direction.
In addition, look for Orion’s Betelgeuse and Rigel, low in the east-southeast.
Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24
Here is today’s planet forecast:
Morning Sky
Mars and Morning Crescent Moon
At 45 minutes before daybreak, the morning crescent moon, 15% illuminated, is low in the east-southeastern sky.
Look for earthshine on the lunar night portion between the lunar cusps or horns. This soft illumination is from sunlight reflecting from Earth’s features. It is visible to the unaided eye, but the effect is easily spotted through a binocular or captured with a camera using exposures lasting up to a few seconds.
Mars may be visible this morning without a binocular’s assist, depending on the clarity of the sky. At this hour, it is about 5° above the horizon and over 11° to the moon’s lower left, too far away for both to fit into the same binocular field.
The Red Planet continues its slow climb into the morning sky after its solar conjunction during November 2023. It is overtaking Saturn, to its lower left – but Saturn is too dim and too low in the sky for easy visibility. Mars passes the Ringed Wonder in five mornings.
Venus is not easily visible. It rises only 27 minutes before the sun and is in very bright twilight when it is higher in the sky.
Evening Sky
Bright Jupiter Treks Eastward
Mercury is speeding to overtake our planet. It leaves the evening sky, although it is east of the sun, setting 54 minutes after nightfall.
Bright Jupiter is easily visible in the west as darkness falls. It slowly moves eastward in front of Aries, clearly east or above a line from the Ram’s Hamal to the Sea Monster’s Menkar.
Use a binocular to look at the Pleiades star cluster, as well as the Hyades that, along with bright topaz Aldebaran, make a “V” shape representing Taurus’ head.
Through the binocular look for up to four of Jupiter’s largest moons, resembling stars, that closely hug the planet.
Jupiter and Uranus through a Binocular
Planet Uranus is in the same binocular field with Jupiter and fairly easy to see as an aquamarine star. After looking for Jupiter’s moons, move the binocular slightly so that Jupiter moves toward the bottom of the field, about halfway toward the edge.
Identify the brighter stars in the field, such as Rho Arietis (ρ Ari on the chart) that is to the lower right of Jupiter near the edge of the field of view. Topaz Delta Arietis (δ Ari) and blue-white Zeta Arietis (ζ Ari) are toward the upper right edge. Note their contrasting hues.
Dimmer 53 Arietis (53 Ari), about the same color as Zeta, and 54 Arietis, similar to Delta’s color, are between Jupiter and Delta. Uranus is near the center of the field of view, to the upper left of 53 and 54. To see the planet’s globe, a telescope with high magnifications is needed.
Jupiter sets less than three hours after the sun.
Tomorrow morning during bright twilight, the crescent moon gathers with Mars and Saturn in the same binocular field.
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