October 3, 2024: After sundown, Venus breaks into the southwestern sky. The Evening Star is visible during nighttime hours along with Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:50 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:28 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
Bright Jupiter
One hour before sunrise, bright Jupiter is high in the southwestern sky. Its eastward trek is slowing as it begins the illusion of retrograde in less than a week. The Jovian Giant is the brightest star in the sky this morning.
The planet is between the Bull’s horns, 6.3° to the lower left of Elnath, the northern horn, and 4.1° to Zeta Tauri’s lower right, the southern point. Jupiter is over 12° above Aldebaran, Taurus’ brightest star. In celestial artwork, Jupiter is in a precarious place.
Mars with Gemini
Mars, about one-tenth Jupiter’s brightness, is high in the southeast, nearly 25° east of Jupiter. The Red Planet marches eastward in front of Gemini, 9.6° to the right of Pollux, a Twin.
Evening Sky
Mercury
After its superior conjunction on September 30th, Mercury is now considered an evening planet although it sets about 10 minutes after the sun.
Venus Breaks into Southwestern Sky
Venus is breaking into the southwestern sky after nightfall. For several weeks it has been visible through the colorful hues of bright evening twilight. The Evening Star is four times brighter than Jupiter and gleams over 5° up in the west-southwest at 40 minutes after sundown.
Venus approaches Zubenelgenubi, the Scorpion’s southern claw, that is part of today’s Libra. The planet is 2.3° to the lower right of the star. A binocular may be needed to see the star. Venus passes Zubenelgenubi in two evenings.
Venus is 32° east of the sun, setting 76 minutes after sundown. The planet’s visibility suffers from our poor view of the solar system during the evening at this season. The solar system’s plane, known as the ecliptic, makes a low angle with the western horizon.
During mid-November, Venus passes an ecliptic milestone that is farthest south of the equator. When the sun is there, the day is named the winter solstice. Until then, Venus gains about an hour of setting time compared to sunset. During the subsequent 40 days, it gains another 86 minutes of setting time.
Through a telescope, Venus displays phases. Tonight, it is 84% illuminated, an evening gibbous Venus.
Saturn
At this hour, Saturn is over 15° above the east-southeast horizon. Only 2% of Venus’ brightness, the Ringed Wonder is the brightest star in the region.
It is retrograding in front of a dim Aquarius’ starfield.
Earth is seeing Saturn from a different perspective so that the rings are nearly viewed from the edge. The planet is tilted, like Earth, compared to the ecliptic. During its nearly 30-year orbit around the sun, we see the rings from the top and the bottom as well as from the edge.
As midnight approaches, Saturn is in the south-southwest as Jupiter is low in the east-northeast. Saturn sets about 90 minutes before sunrise, disappearing into the filtering and blurring effects of the atmosphere about 30 minutes earlier.
Tomorrow the moon begins its evening appearance as a thin crescent. In two nights, it joins a rare gathering of Venus and Zubenelgenubi.
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