2024, December 2: December’s Nightly Planet Display 

December 2, 2024: Four bright planets are visible in a nightly planet display.  Look for Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars during the nighttime hours.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:00 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 4:20 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 Display

Four bright planets are visible during the nighttime hours.  It begins each evening after sunset and ends before sunrise.  Mercury joins the display before daybreak later during the month.

Morning Sky

This morning, December’s nightly planet display ends during the predawn hours with Jupiter and Mars.

Nightly Planet Display
Chart Caption – 2024, December 2: An hour before sunrise, Jupiter is in the western sky with Taurus.

Each morning bright Jupiter is lower in the western sky as opposition approaches.  The bright planet is 15° above the west-northwest horizon, below the Bull’s horns and above Aldebaran.

Nightly Planet Display
Chart Caption – 2024, December 2: During morning twilight, Mars is high in the west-southwest, east of Castor and Pollux and above Procyon.

Mars trails Jupiter.  At this hour it is over halfway up in the west-southwest, to the left of Castor and Pollux and above Procyon.

Evening Sky

Venus Leads the Nightly Planet Display

Nightly Planet Display
Chart Caption – 2024, December 2: Venus is in the southwest after sunset, approaching the star Algedi, known as “The Kid.”

The nightly planet display begins each evening after sunset.  Brilliant Venus stands above the southwestern horizon as the sky darkens until it sets over three hours after sundown.  An hour after nightfall, the planet stands over 15° above the horizon.

Venus steps eastward each night compared to the starry background.  It is heading toward Algedi, meaning “The Kid,” marking Capricornus’ head, 13.1° above Venus.  Their conjunction occurs on the 10th, when Venus passes 9.3° to the star’s lower left.

In the long view, Venus is overtaking slow-moving Saturn, nearly 50° to the Evening Star’s upper left.  Their conjunction occurs January 18th.

Saturn

Nightly Planet Display
Chart Caption – 2024, December 2: An hour after sunset, Saturn is in the southern sky above the star Fomalhaut.

The Ringed Wonder is less than halfway up in the southern sky.  It crawls eastward in front of Aquarius.  The planet is noticeably dimmer than normal.  We are seeing the rings nearly edge on so that we receive less sunlight from the icy ring particles than during an average appearance.

Look for the star Fomalhaut about 20° below Saturn.  While the star is among the brightest in the night skies of Earth, Saturn is slightly brighter tonight.

Jupiter

Nightly Planet Display
Chart Caption – 2024, December 2: Two hours after nightfall, bright Jupiter is in the east-northeast with Taurus.

At this hour, bright Jupiter is less than 10° up in the east-northeast. Notice that Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus are along an imaginary arc stretching from the east-northeast to the southwest.  This is the plane of the solar system, known as the ecliptic.

By two hours after nightfall, The Jovian Giant is nearly 20° above the horizon and Venus is still visible in the southwest, less than 10° up.

Jupiter is nearing opposition on the 7th, when Earth passes between it and the sun.  It continues to retrograde between the Bull’s horns, Elnath and Zeta Tauri, and 8.2° to Aldebaran’s lower left, Taurus’ brightest star.

Mars

Nightly Planet Display
Chart Caption – 2024, December 2: Five hours after sunset, Mars is in the east-northeast below Pollux, a Gemini Twin.

The fourth bright planet in this display, Mars, rises nearly four hours after Jupiter. By five hours after sunset, the Red Planet is about 10° above the east-northeast horizon and over 13° to Pollux’s lower left, one of the Twins.

Mars Regtrogrades
Chart Caption – 2024, December 1-10: Mars appears to reverse its direction from east to west, beginning to retrograde. Spot the Beehive star cluster near Mars.

Mars’ eastward march is slowing and the illusion of retrograde begins on the 6th.  Use a binocular to locate it near the Beehive star cluster.  Asellus Australis, Asellus Borealis, Eta Cancri (η Cnc on the chart) and Theta Cancri (θ Cnc) form an irregular box around the star cluster.  Look each clear night to note Mars’ changing place near Eta Cancri.

During the night, Earth rotates and Venus and Saturn set.  By tomorrow morning Jupiter and Mars are nearly in the same places they are this morning.

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