2024, May 31:  Saturn-Moon Conjunction

May 31, 2024:  Before sunrise, the moon is beside Saturn in a close conjunction.  Mars is in the eastern sky.

2019, March 1: This morning the moon is moon is nearly 3 degrees to the upper right of Saturn, partly obscured by a cloud.
Photo Caption – 2019, March 1: This morning the moon is moon is nearly 3 degrees to the upper right of Saturn, partly obscured by a cloud.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:18 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:19 p.m. CDT.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Daylight is longer than 15 hours at Chicago’s latitude.  During May, daylight increased over and hour. The solstice is 20 days away and day’s light increases only several minutes until that date.

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

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

Saturn-Moon Conjunction

2024, May 31: Mars, Saturn, the thick crescent moon are in the eastern sky before sunrise.
Chart Caption – 2024, May 31: Mars, Saturn, the thick crescent moon are in the eastern sky before sunrise.

An hour before sunrise a spectacular Saturn-Moon conjunction is visible in the southeast.  The moon, 42% illuminated, is 1.4° to the Ringed Wonder’s lower left.  At first glance, Saturn might be missed.  It is not dazzling like Venus or Jupiter, but it is brighter than most stars in the sky this morning.

2024, May 31: Through a binocular Saturn and the moon appear close together.
Chart Caption – 2024, May 31: Through a binocular Saturn and the moon appear close together.

A binocular helps with the view of the lunar disk standing to Saturn’s lower left.

For sky watchers in southern South America, the moon occults or eclipses the planet before sunrise this morning.

Mars in East

Mars is farther eastward from the Saturn-Moon pair.  It is over 10° above the eastern horizon and over 35° to the moon’s lower left.

Rising before the beginning of morning twilight, reddish Mars is slightly brighter than Saturn.  It marches eastward through its orbital path quicker than Saturn.  It has opened a wide gap with the more-distant planet since their conjunction on April 10th.

Tomorrow morning, the moon is between Mars and Saturn.

Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter in Bright Twilight

Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter are west of the sun, but they rise during bright twilight.  Mercury and Venus are heading toward their respective solar conjunctions.  Venus passes behind the sun on June 4th, followed by Mercury 10 days later. 

Venus makes a wide swing into the western evening sky, but Mercury’s evening apparition, like the recent morning appearance, is disappointing.  It sets after mid-twilight on its best evenings.

Jupiter is moving the opposite direction from the inner planets.  Its first morning appearance occurs about solstice time.

Evening Sky

Coma Berenices

2024, May 31: Coma Berenices appears between Leo and Arcturus.
Chart Caption – 2024, May 31: Coma Berenices appears between Leo and Arcturus.

One of the fainter constellations is between Leo and Arcturus in the western sky after sunset.  Urban and suburban sky watchers need a binocular to see its faint stars.

Coma Berenices – meaning “the hair of Bernice” – is largely a faint star cluster nearly 300 light years away.  It is visible from a dark location without a binocular’s optical assist and it nearly fills the binocular field.

2024, May 31: The star cluster Coma Berenices through a binocular.
Chart Caption, 2024, May 31: The star cluster Coma Berenices through a binocular.

The constellation is a window to the distant universe. While the plane of the Milky Way provides beautiful views, it drowns sighting the distant galaxies.  A telescope and a dark sky are needed to see them.  One is identified on the accompanying star chart, but challenging to see with a binocular, which can visualize celestial bodies 50 times dimmer than the unaided human eye can perceive.

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