April 9, 2024: Mars approaches Saturn before their conjunction tomorrow morning, occurring low in the east-southeast during morning twilight.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:19 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:26 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 on Final Approach to Saturn
As the Saturn-Mars conjunction is imminent, the two planets are low in the east-southeast before sunrise. Mars is marching eastward, overtaking a slower moving Saturn. (As an aside, the practice that is used in these articles is to name the brighter planet first in a conjunction and planets are named before the moon and then the stars.)
The Red Planet’s color mixes with the rosy hues of morning twilight, making the planet a challenge to see. Use a binocular to find it over 5° above the east-southeast horizon at 45 minutes before sunrise.
Saturn is 1.0° to the lower left of Mars. The planet rises two minutes earlier each morning and appears higher at the same time interval before sunrise. This morning it rises 71 minutes before the sun. By month’s end, the interval is nearly two hours.
On that morning, the Ringed Wonder is nearly 15° above the horizon during morning twilight, and nearly 15° to Mars’ upper right. The Red Planet is only 8° above the horizon, but both are visible without optical help. On May 4th, the waning crescent moon is between the two planets.
While the two planets emerge from brighter twilight, use a binocular to see them. While no bright stars are in the region to guide us to the pair, Mars and Saturn fit into the same binocular field. Move the binocular along the east-southeast horizon slowly until they appear in the field.
Venus
A view of brilliant Venus is wiped out by the glare of the approaching sunrise. Earth’s Twin planet rises only 25 minutes before the sun. It is moving toward a conjunction with the sun during early June and then a wide swing into the western evening sky.
Evening Sky
Mercury
After its best evening appearance of the year, Mercury is still east of the sun, setting only 20 minutes after sunset. It passes between Earth and Sun – known as inferior conjunction – in two days.
Jupiter and Moon
Bright Jupiter is in the western sky as darkness falls. After yesterday’s solar eclipse, the razor-thin crescent moon, 2% illuminated, is less than 10° above the west-northwest horizon and 12.0° to the lower right of the planet.
Look for earthshine on the night portion of the moon. From reflected sunlight of Earth’s oceans, clouds, and land, the soft light gently illuminates the region between the moon’s cusps or horns. Photograph it with a tripod-mounted camera and exposures up to a few seconds.
Jupiter and Star Clusters
An hour after sundown, the Jovian Giant is nearly 15° up in the west. The Pleiades star cluster is 12.0° above the Jovian Giant. Taurus’ brightest star, Aldebaran, is over 20° to the planet’s upper left.
Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster outline a letter “V” in the stars that shows the Bull’s head. Inspect the Hyades and Pleiades with a binocular.
Jupiter and Uranus
With the optical assist, look for up to four of Jupiter’s largest moons. Through the binocular, they appear as stars near the planet.
While looking for the moons, find planet Uranus. It is in the same field of view with Jupiter. With Jupiter at the center of the field, dimmer Uranus is to the upper left, about halfway toward the 12 o’clock position in the circular view.
Aquamarine Uranus is dimmer than Delta Arietis (δ Ari on the chart), but brighter than stars 53 Arietis (53 Ari) and 54 Arietis (54 Ari). Through the binocular, the planet resembles a star and the globe is visible through a telescope with high magnifications.
Jupiter continues to trek eastward, passing Uranus on the 20th, but this occurs shortly after sundown when the planet pair is less than 10° above the horizon, an unfavorable viewing location.
This evening Jupiter sets over two hours after sunset, ending today’s planet display.
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