2024, September 10: Look for Venus, Saturn, Nightly Planet Parade

September 10, 2024: Look for Venus and Saturn after sundown.  They lead the bright planet parade westward. The exhibition includes Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury.

2022, April 10: Venus, Mars, and Saturn are in the east-southeast during morning twilight.
Photo Caption – 2022, April 10: Venus, Mars, and Saturn are in the east-southeast during morning twilight.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:26 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:08 p.m. CDT.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Look for Venus, Saturn

The planet parade continues each night for nearly the next five evenings.  Mercury retreats into brighter sunlight, leaving the morning section of the parade to reappear in the evening sky during November.

Earth was between Venus and Saturn on August 18th, a Venus-Saturn opposition.  On that night they were in opposite directions in the sky, 180° apart.  Venus set as Saturn rose.

Look for Venus and Saturn after sundown
Chart Caption – 2024, September 10: Venus is in the western sky during bright twilight.

Venus’ visibility suffers from the solar system’s low angle with the western horizon after sunset at this season.  Tonight, the planet is 26° east of the sun – to the left in the northern hemisphere – but it is only 6° above the western horizon at 30 minutes after nightfall.

The Evening Star’s brilliance shines through the brighter sunlight.  To see it find a clear horizon looking in Venus’ direction.

Evening Saturn in Eastern Sky

Look for Venus and Saturn after sundown
Chart Caption – 2024, September 10: At 45 minutes after sundown, Saturn is in the east-southeast.

Fifteen minutes later, the planet is still 3° above the horizon.  The eastern sky is dark enough to see Saturn over 8° up in the east-southeast.

Venus sets after Nautical Twilight, when at sea the horizon and sky are barely detectable and darkness falls.  Astronomically, the sun is 12° below the horizon.  The sky is fully dark when the central star is 18° below the horizon.

Venus is migrating southward along the horizon, mirroring the sun’s southward shift in its autumn setting point.  During the next month, Venus gains nearly 25 minutes of setting time compared to sundown, making this Venus-Saturn observation easier.

Evening Moon with Scorpion

Nightly Planet Parade
Chart Caption – 2024, September 10: The moon is near Antares, the Scorpion’s brightest star after sundown.

While looking for the two evening planets, find the nearly-half full moon, nearly 20° up in the south-southwest.  The moon is at the First Quarter phase at 1:06 a.m. Central Time tomorrow.

This evening, the moon is 6.1° to the left of Antares, the Scorpion’s brightest star, marking the Scorpion’s heart in celestial artwork.  The forehead, Dschubba, is 7.6° to Antares’ right.

Earlier today, the moon occults or eclipses Antares from Australia during the night and southern Africa during the day.

This evening, Venus sets over an hour after the sun, followed by the moon over two hours later.  At moonset, Saturn is over 30° above the southeast horizon.

Saturn before Sunrise

Look for Venus and Saturn after sundown
Chart Caption – 2024, September 10: One hour before sunrise, Saturn is in the west-southwest.

Before sunrise, Saturn is low in the west-southwestern sky, less than 10° at an hour before daybreak.

Bright Jupiter, Mars

Look for Venus and Saturn after sundown
Chart Caption – 2024, September 10: Bright Jupiter and Mars high in the southeast during morning twilight.

Jupiter is the brightest starlike body in the sky before sunrise.  It is high in the southeast sky as morning twilight brightens.  It plods eastward in front of Taurus, nearly 11° to Aldebaran’s lower left, Taurus’ brightest star.  The Jovian Giant is between the Bull’s horns, Elnath and Zeta Tauri.

Mars, about the same brightness and color as Aldebaran, marches eastward near Castor’s foot.  The Red Planet is nearly 15° to Jupiter’s lower left and 1.1° above Propus, one of Castor’s toes.  Mars passes this star tomorrow morning. 

Mars marches into Gemini
Chart Caption – 2024, September 5-15: Through a binocular, Mars passes the star cluster Messier 35 and some Gemini stars.

Mars still appears in the same binocular field with the star cluster Messier 35, a stellar bundle with a few hundred stars that is nearly 3,000 light years distant.

Find Mercury before It Exits

Look for Venus and Saturn after sundown
Chart Caption – 2024, September 10: At 45 minutes before daybreak, Mercury is in the eastern sky below Regulus.

As Mercury descends into brighter morning twilight, it opens a gap with Regulus.  The speedy planet passed the star yesterday.  Look for them each morning. A binocular initially helps to find them over 5° above the east-northeast horizon.

Mercury’s September Morning Appearance
Chart Caption – 2024, September 10-14: Mercury’s changing separation from Regulus, Leo’s brightest star, as the innermost planet disappears into twilight.

Mercury is the highly variable factor in seeing the five bright planets during a single night.  It quickly moves from morning to evening sky and back to the predawn sky again.  Depending on local circumstances, such as weather and obstacles near the horizon, Mercury is visible for about another five days before it becomes veiled by bright twilight, leaving Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars easily visible during the night.

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