2024, June 3: See Mars, Moon before Sunrise

June 3, 2024: The Mars and the crescent moon are in the eastern sky before daybreak.  At the same time, Saturn is in the southeast.

2024, February 7: Venus, Mars and Moon with earthshine.
Chart Caption – 2024, February 7: Venus, Mars and Moon with earthshine.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:17 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:21 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, Moon in East

2024, June 3: Mars and the crescent moon are in the eastern sky before sunrise.
Chart Caption – 2024, June 3: Mars and the crescent moon are in the eastern sky before sunrise.

The solar system’s bright bodies are west of the sun, meaning they are in the eastern sky before sunrise, although three of them are in bright predawn light.

One hour before sunrise, the crescent moon, 12% illuminated, is over 10° above the east horizon.  It is moving toward its New phase on the 6th and reappearance as an evening razor-thin crescent in the western sky on the 7th.

Venus, Mars, Moon, October 17, 2017
Chart Caption – Venus, Mars, Moon, October 17, 2017

This morning, look for earthshine on the nighttime portion of the moon, between the lunar cusps or horns.  This is from sunlight reflected from Earth’s features that softly lights the lunar night.

2024, June 3: Mars and the crescent moon tightly fit into the same binocular field of view.
Chart Caption – 2024, June 3: Mars and the crescent moon tightly fit into the same binocular field of view.

This morning Mars is near the lunar crescent, 7.1° to the moon’s upper right.  The Red Planet is not bright at this point in its appearance.  The pair tightly fits into the same binocular field of view in middle America.  For locations farther westward, they are too far apart to see them together, while the view is easier for sky watchers eastward of Chicago’s longitude.  The difference is from the moon’s eastward orbital motion opening a gap between the moon and planet.

For example, from Tokyo, Japan, the lunar crescent is slightly thicker and 1.9° above Mars during morning twilight, easily in the same binocular field.

Saturn in Southeast

2024, June 3: Saturn is in the southeast before daybreak.
Chart Caption – 2024, June 3: Saturn is in the southeast before daybreak.

From middle America, Saturn is over 25° above the southeast horizon and over 35° to the upper right of Mars.  Slightly fainter than Mars, the Ringed Wonder is brighter than most stars in the sky, but not as bright as Venus or Jupiter, both in bright twilight this morning.

Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury

Jupiter's volcanically active moon Io casts its shadow on the planet in this dramatic image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. As with solar eclipses on the Earth, within the dark circle racing across Jupiter's cloud tops one would witness a full solar eclipse as Io passes in front of the Sun. (NASA Photo)
Photo Caption – Jupiter’s volcanically active moon Io casts its shadow on the planet in this dramatic image from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. As with solar eclipses on the Earth, within the dark circle racing across Jupiter’s cloud tops one would witness a full solar eclipse as Io passes in front of the Sun. (NASA Photo)

Tomorrow Venus passes on the sun’s far side, known as superior conjunction, starting a wide evening apparition in the western sky.

Jupiter is emerging from its solar conjunction into the eastern morning sky.  Look for it in a few weeks.

Mercury reaches its superior conjunction 10 days after Venus.  This morning it rises only five minutes before Jupiter.

Evening Sky

Amalthea, Jupiter’s Moon

Amalthea, seen in two images of Jupiter captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft on March 7, 2024. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS. Image processing by Gerald Eichstäd)
Photo Caption – Amalthea, seen in two images of Jupiter captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on March 7, 2024. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS. Image processing by Gerald Eichstäd)

With the bright solar system bodies in the morning sky, let’s consider some recent space news:

The robot spacecraft Juno spotted the tiny, potato-shaped moon Amalthea on its 59th close passage of Jupiter. The spacecraft is on a long-looping orbital path that takes it closest to Jupiter, known as perijove, every 53 days.

One of the images shows the moon silhouetted against Jupiter’s Red Spot, a long-lived atmospheric disturbance.

With dimensions of 79 miles by 155 miles, Amalthea is the 5th largest Jovian moon, after the four largest – Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, and Io – known as the Galilean satellites for Galileo Galilei.  It is one of nearly 100 moons revolving around Jupiter. This moon was first spotted by E.E. Barnard in 1892.  The moon does not appear to be a solid mass, but it seems to be a jumbled mass of debris.

 Amalthea revolves not far above Jupiter’s cloud tops, less than half of Io’s distance.  It revolves three times faster than the closest Galilean.                                                                                                                                             

See more about Juno and Amalthea on the NASA web site.

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