2024, June 18: Moon Visits Scorpion

June 18: The moon visits Scorpius after sundown.  Three planets – Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn – are visible before sunrise.

Venus and Jupiter in the morning sky, July 21, 2012
Photo Caption -2012, July 21: Brilliant Venus, Jupiter, Aldebaran, and the Pleiades rise into the morning sky.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:15 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:29 p.m. CDT.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

Look for Mars and Saturn

2024, June 18: Mars and Saturn are in the eastern sky one hour before daybreak.
Chart Caption – 2024, June 18: Mars and Saturn are in the eastern sky one hour before daybreak.

Mars and Saturn are easily visible during mid-twilight, an hour before sunrise.  Saturn is nearly 35° above the southeast horizon.  Appearing as a yellow-orange star, the planet is in front of Aquarius.

Red-orange Mars is nearly 20° up in the east and nearly 50° to Saturn’s lower left.

The Red Planet is marching eastward in front of Aries, over 11° to the lower right of Hamal, the Ram’s brightest star.  Mars passes 11.0° from the star in two mornings.

Jupiter Appears in Brighter Twilight

2024, June 18: At 45 minutes before sunrise, Jupiter is low in the east-northeast. Use a binocular to see Mars, to Jupiter’s upper right.
Chart Caption – 2024, June 18: At 45 minutes before sunrise, Jupiter is low in the east-northeast. Use a binocular to see Mars, to Jupiter’s upper right.

Bright Jupiter is visible at this hour, above the east-northeast horizon. Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn span over 75°.  Wait another 15 minutes until it is a little higher.  The Jovian Giant’s brightness helps with its visibility when it is lower in the sky.  At this time, it is over 5° above the horizon. Under this level of twilight, use a binocular to see Mars, less than 30° to the solar system’s largest planet’s upper right.

Each morning Jupiter is higher in the east-northeast during the middle of morning twilight, joining Mars and Saturn in the eastern sky.

Evening Sky

Venus, Mercury in Bright Twilight

Venus and Mercury are east of the sun, setting after nightfall, although they are hidden in bright evening twilight.  Venus sets about 20 minutes after the sun and Mercury sets 10 minutes later.  Mercury appears farthest from the sun in about a month, but its appearance suffers from a poor view of the solar system toward the western sky after sundown.

Moon Visits Scorpius

2024, June 18: The moon is in the south-southeast with the Scorpion’s stars after sundown. With the bright moon, use a binocular to trace the shape.
Chart Caption – 2024, June 18: The moon is in the south-southeast with the Scorpion’s stars after sundown. With the bright moon, use a binocular to trace the shape.

The bright gibbous moon, 91% illuminated, is in the south-southeast after sundown.  As darkness falls, the lunar orb is about 25° up in the south-southeast. It is in front of Libra, part of the classic Scorpion, nearly 10° to the lower left of Zubenelgenubi, the southern claw.

Scorpius rises into the eastern evening sky during late spring.  While the moonlight overwhelms the dimmer stars, use a binocular to trace most of the outline from the claws, Zubeneschamali and Zubenelgenubi, past Dschubba, the forehead, to Antares, marking the heart.  The creature does not fully rise until three hours after sunset and near the beginning of the new calendar day.

On solstice night, the moon occults or eclipses Antares from eastern parts of Asia.

Tonight, the moon sets less than two hours before sunrise.

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