2024, May 19: Moon-Spica Conjunction

May 19, 2023: Before sunrise, Fomalhaut is at heliacal rising.  After sundown, look for a Moon-Spica conjunction.

2024, May 19: Fomalhaut makes its first morning appearance in the southeast to Saturn’s lower right.
Chart Caption – 2024, May 19: Fomalhaut makes its first morning appearance in the southeast to Saturn’s lower right.

PODCAST FOR THIS ARTICLE

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:26 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:09 p.m. CDT.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Fomalhaut’s Heliacal Rising

Before sunrise, Fomalhaut makes its first morning appearance in the southeast. The star’s name means “the mouth of the Southern Fish.”  It is the 13th brightest star visible for sky watchers at the mid-northern latitudes.

At 45 minutes before daybreak, Fomalhaut is over 5° above the southeast horizon and nearly 25° to Saturn’s lower right. At this level a twilight, a binocular might be needed to see the star.

Fomalhaut is over 20°south of the plane of the solar system, known as the ecliptic, too far away for bright planets and the moon to appear close to it.  The star is prominent in the southern sky during autumn evenings.

Like other stars, the first morning appearance is dependent on local weather conditions and obstacles at the horizon.

Capella is the next bright star to appear in the north-northeast during predawn hours.

Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

Five Morning Planets

The five bright planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn – are west of the sun and technically morning planets.

Mercury rises 52 minutes before the sun.  Because its visibility suffers from a poorly inclined ecliptic with the horizon, the planet is less than 5° up in the east at 30 minutes before sunup.

Venus nears its solar conjunction on June 4th and rises only a few minutes before the sun.

After its solar conjunction yesterday, Jupiter rises before sunrise.

In four mornings, Venus passes Jupiter for a proximate or close conjunction, but they are too close to the sun for easy observations.

Mars and Saturn

2024, May 19: Mars and Saturn are in the eastern sky before sunrise.
Chart Caption – 2024, May 19: Mars and Saturn are in the eastern sky before sunrise.

That leaves Mars and Saturn.  One hour before sunrise, Saturn is nearly 20° above the east-southeast horizon.  It is not as bright as might be expected, but the yellow-orange planet is brighter than most stars in the sky this morning.

Mars, marching eastward, opens a wider gap with Saturn after their conjunction that occurred over a month ago.  Mars seems to struggle to climb higher into the eastern sky.  At this hour, it is nearly 10° above the horizon and over 26° to Saturn’s lower left.

Each morning, this planet pair is higher in the sky.  After Jupiter reappears in the morning sky in about a month, Mars passes by on August 14th.  They appear within the same telescopic field of view on that morning.

Evening Sky

Moon-Spica Conjunction

2024, May 19: The gibbous moon is near Spica after sunset.
Chart Caption – 2024, May 19: The gibbous moon is near Spica after sunset.

An hour after sundown, the bright gibbous moon, 89% illuminated, is in the south-southeast, 4.1° to Spica’s upper right.

Beginning next month, the moon begins a series of 20 monthly occultations or eclipses of Spica.  The first one is visible for sky watchers in western Asia.

North American sky watchers see the First Quarter moon pass in front of the star beginning on the night of July 13th.  The event ends early the next morning for those in the eastern time zones.

RECENT PODCASTS

LATEST ARTICLES