November 13, 2024: Five bright planets are visible before midnight – a nightly planet parade. Dimmer planets Uranus and Neptune are in the sky as well.
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by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:39 a.m. CST; Sunset, 4:31 p.m. CST. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
Nightly Planet Parade through 19th
Beginning tomorrow and continuing through at least the 19th, the five bright planets are in a western trekking parade that begins after sunset and lasts until midnight. During morning twilight, only two of the planets are visible, the end of the parade. The five planets are not visible simultaneously, but as many as three are visible at the same time. The moon is also part of this parade.
In this order, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars are visible after sundown and before midnight – a nightly planet parade. Dimmer planets Uranus and Neptune are in the scene as well, but they are awash in bright moonlight, making them a challenge to see through a binocular.
Mercury is Visible, 30 Minutes after Sunset
The nightly planet parade begins 30 minutes after sunset with Mercury’s appearance. The planet’s visibility suffers from a poorly inclined ecliptic with the western horizon. Mercury is 22° east of the sun, but only 4° above the southwest horizon at 30 minutes after sundown. A clear horizon and a binocular are needed to see the speedy planet.
Mercury is over 18° to the lower right of Venus, standing nearly 15° above the horizon. Even in this bright twilight, the Evening Star is easy to locate.
Evening Star Venus
As Earth rotates, Mercury sets one hour after nightfall. At that time, Venus is easier to see over 10° above the horizon. Venus steps eastward in front of Sagittarius, the Archer.
Use a binocular to see the star Kaus Borealis, also known as Lambda Sagittarii, 4.0° to Venus’ upper left. Venus appears close to the star on the 16th and 17th as it seems to pass by.
Saturn
With brilliant Venus in the southwest, Saturn is over 30° above the south-southeast horizon. The Ringed Wonder’s retrograde ends in a few evenings and it begins to appear to move eastward against Aquarius’ dim, distant starfield.
Saturn is not as bright as Venus, but it is the brightest starlike body in the region. Tonight, it is the dimmest of the five bright planets – in order Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn.
Look for the star Fomalhaut, the mouth of the Southern Fish, about 20° to Saturn’s lower right.
Neptune is a Challenging View
Neptune is east of Saturn, but the bright moon in the eastern sky overwhelms Neptune’s brightness. The planet is in a dim Pisces starfield without any bright stars to use as a reference. Use a binocular to search for it on moonless nights or during this parade when the lunar orb is farther to the east. During the night, Saturn parades westward, setting after midnight, six hours before sunrise.
Moon near Hamal
The moon, 95% illuminated, is 25° up in the east, over 15° to the lower right of Hamal, Aries’ brightest star. The Full moon, this month known as the Beaver moon, occurs on the 15th.
See Venus, Jupiter Simultaneously
Jupiter rises nearly 90 minutes after sunset and 50 minutes before Venus sets. They are bright enough to shine through the filtering and blurring effects of the atmosphere near the horizon. With a clear view toward their respective horizons, Venus and Jupiter are visible simultaneously, along with Saturn and the moon until Venus sets.
Jupiter is in the sky until it disappears into bright twilight tomorrow morning. Three hours after the sun sets, the Jovian Giant is 15° above the east-northeast horizon, to the lower left of Aldebaran, Taurus brightest star, and to the upper right of the horns, Elnath and Zeta Tauri.
By three hours after sundown, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Moon, and Jupiter have appeared, but by now, Mercury is below the southwest horizon.
Look for Uranus though a Binocular
Planet Uranus is near the Pleiades star cluster, riding on the Bull’s back. It fits into the same binocular field of view with the cluster, near the stars 13 Tauri (13 Tau on the chart) and 14 Tauri (14 Tau). Like Neptune, moonlight diminishes Uranus’ brightness, but this view is possible this evening.
Mars follows Jupiter across the horizon over three hours after Jupiter sets and nearly five hours after sundown. An hour later, Mars is nearly 15° up in the east, 10.6° below Pollux.
With the early sunsets, the seven planets in the modern solar system model are visible parading westward.
During the night Jupiter and Mars appear farther westward. The lunar orb sets 90 minutes before sunrise.
Jupiter, Mars before Sunrise
At one hour before daybreak, bright Jupiter is over 30° up in the west, while Mars is high in the southern sky. It approaches the Beehive star cluster, part of Cancer, that is visible through a binocular.
Tomorrow this planet parade continues, although the moon is farther eastward. The view of the five bright planets continues until approximately the 19th as Mercury disappears into evening twilight. Regardless during this span, Mercury appears during bright evening twilight, when a binocular is required to see it.
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