May 17, 2023: After sundown, the gibbous moon appears in front of Virgo. Mars expands a gap to Saturn before sunrise.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:28 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:07 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 and Saturn
Mars and Saturn are the only bright planets visible during nighttime hours at mid-month. An hour before sunrise, Saturn is nearly 20° above the east-southeast horizon. It rises two minutes earlier each morning. From week to week, it is higher in the sky at this time interval before sunrise. This morning, it is not high enough above Earth’s blurring effects for a clear telescopic view.
Mars, slightly brighter than Saturn, is nearly 10° above the eastern horizon and almost 25° to Saturn’s lower left. Last month, Mars passed the Ringed Wonder in a close conjunction. Since then, it opened a gap with Saturn that broadens each morning.
The Red Planet has been hanging low in the eastern sky for several weeks, rising only one minute earlier every two to three days. Now it rises one to two minutes earlier each morning. Beginning on the 30th, it rises before the beginning of morning twilight, becoming easier to see.
This morning, its red hue mixes with the colors of morning twilight. Use a binocular to see it.
Evening Sky
Jupiter
Tomorrow, Jupiter passes behind the sun and moves toward a reappearance in the eastern morning sky in about a month.
Gibbous Moon
After sundown, the gibbous moon, 74% illuminated, is over halfway up in the south. Tonight, it is nearly 12° below Denebola, the Lion’s tail and over 14° to the upper right of Porrima, part of Virgo. Use a binocular to see Zavijava, also known as Beta Virginis, 1.5° to the lunar orb’s lower left.
Tomorrow morning, sky watchers in western North America see the moon occult or eclipse Zavijava.
The moon sets tomorrow morning, over two hours before sunrise.
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