2024, November 24: Morning Crescent Moon, Nightly Planet Parade

November 24, 2024:  The morning crescent moon is with Leo.  Each night, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars parade westward.

Rare Venus, Moon, Star Gathering
Photo Caption – Venus, Moon, Zubenelgenubi, October 5, 2024

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:52 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 4:23 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

Venus from Galileo (NASA photo)
Photo Caption – Venus as viewed from the Galileo spacecraft (NASA photo)

Each night, four bright planets parade westward.  Venus leads the way when it appears in the southwestern sky after sundown.  The planet is the brightest starlike body in the sky and rivals the brightness of low-flying airplanes’ lights. 

Jupiter
Image Caption – A Hubble Space Telescope view of Jupiter (NASA photo)

The Evening Star sets nearly three hours after sundown, when Jupiter is easily visible in the east-northeast. Look for both planets for about 30 minutes beginning at 80 minutes after sunset.

Saturn
Image Caption – This NASA Hubble Space Telescope photo of Saturn reveals the planet’s cloud bands and a phenomenon called ring spokes.

During this time, Saturn is in the southern sky.  Not as bright as either Venus or Jupiter, it is the brightest star in the region.  Saturn is slowly moving eastward in front of Aquarius.

Jupiter retrogrades between Taurus’ horns.  The planet appears to move westward during the nighttime hours. 

2007, December 1: Late winter in the northern hemisphere shows clouds above the northern polar cap and some above the southern cap.
Photo Caption – 2007, December 1: Late winter in the northern hemisphere shows clouds above the northern polar cap and some above the southern cap. (NASA Photo)

Mars rises about three hours after Jupiter.  By the end of the calendar day it is in the eastern sky; Jupiter is high in the southern sky; and Saturn is disappearing into the thicker atmosphere near the west-southwest horizon that dims and blurs celestial bodies.

By morning twilight, Jupiter is in the western sky, while Mars is high in the south-southwest.

Tonight’s Highlight: Morning Crescent Moon

Morning Crescent Moon Nightly Planet Parade
Chart Caption – 2024, November 24: An hour before sunrise, the waning crescent moon is to the lower right of Denebola, Leo’s tail.

An hour before sunrise, the crescent moon, 36% illuminated, is over halfway up in the south-southeast. The moon is nearly 12° to the lower right of Denebola, Leo’s tail. The lunar orb is still bright enough to illuminate terrestrial features and cast shadows.  Begin looking for earthshine tomorrow morning.

Leo is to the west of the moon, with Denebola as the westernmost bright star in the constellation.  The head is marked by a half-dozen stars appearing as a backwards question mark, named the Sickle of Leo.  The shape resembles an agricultural tool for harvesting grain. 

Regulus, the Lion’s brightest star, is at the bottom of the sickle.  This star appears near the ecliptic, the plane of the solar system.  The sun seems to pass by annually, along with monthly passages of the moon.  The planets pass by at repeating intervals.

Future Regulus Conjunctions

A Mars-Regulus conjunction occurs on June 16, 2025, followed by a passage of Venus on September 19th.  On that morning, the crescent moon, joins the Morning Star and Regulus.  They fit into a circle 1.2° across, easily in the same binocular field.

Mercury passes Regulus on September 2, 2025, but this occurs in bright morning twilight.

The slower-moving outer planets do not pass Regulus for several years.  Jupiter passes by on July 26, 2027.  Saturn’s slow-moving conjunction occurs October 20, 2036.

Look for the morning crescent moon and the nightly planet parade.

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