October 10, 2024: Each night, four bright planets are easily visible. Venus and Saturn are in the evening sky, while Jupiter and Mars are visible before sunrise.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:58 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:16 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 the planet forecast:
Morning Sky
Morning Planet Lineup
Jupiter and Mars are visible high in the sky during morning twilight. One hour before daybreak, bright Jupiter is high in the southwest, nearly between Taurus’ horns, Elnath and Zeta Tauri. The planet slowly retrogrades, appears to move westward against the starfield, 12.1° to the upper left of Aldebaran, the Bull’s brightest star.
Mars and Triple Conjunctions
Mars, marching eastward in front of Gemini, one constellation east of Taurus, is high in the southeastern sky. It is near the Twins, Castor and Pollux. Mars has a wide conjunction, 9.3°, with Castor in two mornings. This is the first of a series of three conjunctions, known as a triple conjunction. The second occurs on January 31, 2025, followed by the third on March 21st.
The first Pollux conjunction occurs on the 19th, followed by January 22, 2025, and March 31.
This morning the Red Planet is 6.9° to the lower right of Pollux and 9.4° to the lower right of Castor.
The triple conjunction occurs because Mars’ opposition, when Earth is between the planet and the sun, occurs January 15, 2025. The first conjunction occurs when the planet is moving eastward. Retrograde begins December 6th as Earth overtakes Mars. As the planet seems to move backwards, it passes the stars again. When retrograde ends on February 23, the planet begins its direct or eastward march again passing the stars for the third time.
Evening Sky
Evening Lineup
Mercury slowly moves into the evening sky. This evening it sets during bright twilight, 17 minutes after sunset. It is visible next month, although only through a binocular.
Brilliant Venus continues to climb into the evening sky. At 40 minutes after sunset, the Evening Star is over 5° up in the southwestern sky. It steps eastward in front of Libra as it approaches the Scorpion’s head. Use a binocular to identify Dschubba and Graffias.
Venus is nearly 20° to the lower right of Antares’ the Scorpion’s heart. The planet passes the star on the 25th. Watch Venus cut the gap to the star during the next two weeks.
The half-full evening moon (First Quarter) is over 20° up in the south to the east of Sagittarius. The First Quarter phase occurs today at 1:55 p.m. Central Time. With this moonlight, find the Teapot, Sagittarius’ brighter stars. The moon is about midway from Venus to Saturn.
The Ringed Wonder is nearly 20° above the east-southeast horizon. While not dazzling like Venus and Jupiter, it is the brightest star in the region. The planet is retrograding in front of Aquarius.
Lineup Moves Westward
As Earth rotates, Venus sets 83 minutes after the sun. About 40 minutes later, the moon is low in the southwest. Four hours after nightfall, Saturn is less than halfway up in the south and Jupiter is low in the east-northeast.
As the midnight hour approaches, Mars is crossing the east-northeast horizon and Jupiter is higher in the sky.
Saturn sets nearly three hours before sunrise, but it disappears into the atmosphere’s haze nearly 30 minutes earlier.
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