September 20, 2024: During the nighttime hours, the gibbous moon is near Hamal, Aries brightest star. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are visible during the nighttime.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:37 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:50 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
Moon with Aries
The gibbous moon shines in the sky throughout the night. By an hour before daybreak, the lunar orb, 92% illuminated, is nearly halfway up in the west-southwest, 11.1° to Hamal’s lower left, the brightest star in Aries. The moon shows its easterly motion from morning to morning. This morning it is over 50° west (to the right) of bright Jupiter.
Hamal, meaning “the full-grown lamb,” is nearly 10° above the ecliptic. None of the bright solar system bodies appears near the star. It is not among the 50 brightest stars visible from our planet. It is slightly dimmer than the brightest stars in the Big Dipper.
While not near the ecliptic, Hamal is an important marker to note the planets’ positions, especially Uranus and Neptune, when they are in the same binocular field or Hamal can be referenced to other stars in the field.
Hamal is 75 light years from the solar system and shines with a brightness of about 70 suns.
Jupiter and Mars
Jupiter is the bright star high in the east-southeast. It plods eastward in front of Taurus, 6.5° to the lower right of Elnath, the Bull’s northern horn.
After their conjunction over a month ago, Mars opened a wide gap to Jupiter. Now marching eastward in front of Gemini, the Red Planet is 18.4° to Jupiter’s lower left and over 15° to the right of Castor and Pollux, the Twins. This morning Mars passes 7.0° to the upper left of the star Alhena.
Mercury
Mercury rises 47 minutes before the sun and it is lost in bright morning twilight. It is in conjunction with the sun at month’s end.
Evening Sky
Venus
Venus’ visibility suffers from the solar system’s low angle with the western horizon. The planet is nearly 30° east of the sun, but it is only 6° above the west-southwest horizon at 30 minutes after nightfall. It shines through brighter evening twilight.
Venus displays phases like the moon. Through a telescope, the Venusian phase is 87% illuminated, an evening gibbous phase.
Saturn
Saturn rises about 30 minutes before sundown and by an hour after sundown, it is 15° up in the east-southeast. Saturn is visible at the same time as Venus as the sky darkens. Find a viewing spot to see Venus closer to the horizon and Saturn at the other side of the sky.
Evening Gibbous Moon with Aries
The gibbous moon, 87% illuminated, rises about two hours after the sun. An hour later it is over 15° above the eastern horizon, 8.5° below Hamal.
During the night Saturn and the moon appear farther westward from Earth’s rotation. As the calendar day ends, the moon is nearly halfway up in the east. Saturn is in the south, nearly 45° above the horizon. Jupiter is over 10° up in the east-southeast, nearly 40° to the moon’s lower left.
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