September 19, 2024: Four bright planets – Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn – are on display during the night. The gibbous moon rises later during the evening.
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by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:36 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:52 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 the planet forecast:
Morning Sky
Morning Gibbous Moon
An hour before daybreak, the bright gibbous moon, 98% illuminated, is about 30° above the west-southwest horizon. The moonlight washes across the morning sky creating a veil over the dimmer stars.
Jupiter and Mars
Farther eastward, bright Jupiter is high in the southeast. It is the brightest star in the sky this morning.
The Jovian Giant plods eastward in front of Taurus, between the horns. It is 6.5° to the lower right of Elnath, the northern horn.
Mars, marching eastward in front of Gemini, is over 15° to the upper right of the Twins, Castor and Pollux. Mars passes Alhena, meaning “the brand mark,” tomorrow. This morning the gap between them is 7.2°.
Alhena is the 30th brightest star visible from the mid-northern latitudes. It is the same brightness as Castor. At a distance of 110 light years, the star is nearly 160 times brighter than the sun.
The planets and moon do not pass closely to the star so it does not have the recognition as other brighter stars that are near the ecliptic. Watch the Red Planet pass widely and move away from the star toward a wide conjunction with Castor, then Pollux.
Mercury
Mercury races into morning twilight. At 30 minutes before sunrise, it is less than 4° above the horizon. The planet is bright, but challenging to see at this level of twilight and its low altitude. Mercury passes the sun at month’s end.
Evening Sky
Venus
Venus suffers from a poorly inclined solar system plane after sunset. At 30 minutes after nightfall, the Evening Star shines through evening twilight over 6° above the west-southwest horizon.
Through a binocular, Spica – Virgo’s brightest star – is 3.1° to Venus lower right. Depending on the clarity of the sky, the star is challenging to see and likely the last night to see it until it reappears in the eastern morning sky during early November.
Saturn
Thirty minutes later, Saturn is nearly 15° up in the east-southeast. The Ringed Wonder retrogrades in front of a dim Aquarius’ starfield.
Follow Saturn’s retrograde through a binocular.
Look farther eastward from Saturn for the gibbous moon near the horizon. An hour later, it is over 10° above the eastern horizon, over 40° to Saturn’s lower left.
During the night Saturn and the moon appear farther westward. Saturn sets several minutes before sunrise, while the gibbous moon is in the west-southwestern sky.
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