July 14, 2024: Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn shine in the morning sky. Venus and Mercury appear after sunset. The gibbous moon, near Spica, moves eastward into the evening.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:29 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:25 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
Jupiter, Mars with Taurus
Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn are easily visible before sunrise. An hour before daybreak, bright Jupiter, moving eastward against the distant starfield, is nearly 20° up in the east and 4.9° to the upper left of Aldebaran, Taurus’ brightest star. Use a binocular to see the “V” of Taurus, an outline of the Bull’s head, made by Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster.
Mars, marching eastward near the Pleiades star cluster, is over 15° to Jupiter’s upper right. The Red Planet passes Eta Tauri, the stellar bundle’s brightest star, in a week.
Meanwhile, Mars is approaching Uranus. A binocular is needed to see the dimmer, more distant planet, 0.9° to the left of Mars. Tomorrow Mars passes Uranus and enters the same binocular field with the Pleiades star cluster.
Saturn in South
Saturn, retrograding in front of Aquarius, is less than halfway up in the southern sky. Use a binocular to watch the planet slowly move westward against the star field.
The star Fomalhaut is to the lower right of Saturn and nearly 20° above the southern horizon.
Evening Sky
Venus
About six weeks after its solar conjunction, Venus continues to make its way into the evening sky. Setting 42 minutes after the sun, the planet’s visibility suffers from long evening twilight during early summer and a low inclination of the solar system’s plane with the western horizon.
Mercury, Regulus
As Venus sets, Mercury is nearly 7° up in the west-northwest, over 11° to the lower right of Regulus, Leo’s brightest star. While they are too far apart to fit in to the same binocular field of view, the optical assist is needed to see them at this level of twilight.
Evening Gibbous Moon
Twenty minutes later, look for the gibbous moon, 61% illuminated, over 11° to the left of Spica. After last night’s occultation, the moon moved farther eastward. In this moonlight, look for the classic Scorpion’s claws, Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali, to the lunar orb’s upper left.
This evening the moon sets over four hours after sunset.
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