July 25, 2024: Three planets – Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn – and Moon are easily visible during nighttime hours. Orion continues to enter the eastern morning sky.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:38 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:16 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: Three Planets and Moon
An hour before sunup, the gibbous moon, 80% illuminated, is in the southern sky, halfway from the horizon to overhead, and 7.6° to Saturn’s upper left.
The Ringed Wonder is in front of dim Aquarius, washed out by the moon’s bright light this morning, although Deneb Kaitos and Fomalhaut, stars in neighboring constellations, are visible below the Saturn-Moon pair.
Jupiter and Mars
Farther eastward at this hour, Jupiter and Mars are in front of Taurus. Jupiter, nearly 30° above the eastern horizon, shines brighter than all the stars in this morning’s sky. It is slowly moving eastward 5.3° to Aldebaran’s upper left, the Bull’s brightest star.
Through a telescope at this hour, Jupiter’s globe is easy to see, along with its clouds that are whipped parallel to the planet’s equator by the world’s rapid rotation. Its four largest and brightest moons are lined up in the equatorial plane. This morning Ganymede and Io are east of the planet, while Europa and Callisto are to the west. The planet’s Great Red Spot is nearly in the middle of the planet in the southern hemisphere.
Mars, 9.9° to Jupiter’s upper right, marches eastward toward a conjunction with Jupiter on August 14th. The Red Planet is 5.5° below the Pleiades star cluster, muted by the moonlight.
Orion continues to climb into the eastern morning sky below the planets. The Hunter’s shoulders, Bellatrix and Betelgeuse, are below the planet pair.
Evening Sky: Saturn and Moon, No Venus or Mercury
The two inner planets, Venus and Mercury are hiding in bright sunlight. Mercury is overtaking Earth and moving toward a nice display in the morning sky during September.
Venus is headed toward a stint as the Evening Star in the west after nightfall. Anxious sky watchers can find it low in the western sky during bright twilight in about a week.
Saturn rises two hours after sundown. Rising earlier each evening, it appears above the horizon at one hour after nightfall on August 15th.
The moon rises over 30 minutes after the moon.
As the midnight hour approaches in the eastern regions of time zones (after the calendar changes for sky watchers farther westward in the time dividers), the lunar orb is low in the eastern sky, nearly 20° to Saturn’s lower left.
Look for the three bright planets and the moon before sunrise tomorrow.
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