December 25, 2024: Five bright planets are visible in a Christmas planet display. Mars, Mercury, and the moon shine on Christmas morning. Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars are visible on Christmas night.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:17 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 4:25 p.m. CST. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
During the night the five bright planets are visible after sunset until sunrise the next morning.
Morning Christmas Planet Display
Before sunrise Mars, Mercury, and the moon are easy to see. At forty-five minutes before sunrise, the crescent moon, 24% illuminated, is about 30° up in the south-southeast and 8.3° to Spica’s lower left, Virgo’s brightest star. The lunar slice is 13.4° to the upper right of Zubenelgenubi, the “Scorpion’s southern claw,” part of today’s Libra.
Earthshine
Look for earthshine on the moon. This is sunlight reflected from Earth’s oceans, clouds, and land that gently lights the lunar night. Photograph it with a tripod-mounted camera and exposures up to a few seconds.
Speedy Mercury is nearly 10° above the southeast horizon and 6.9° to Antares’ upper left, Scorpius’ brightest star, that is emerging from bright morning twilight. The star’s color mixes with a colorful hues of morning twilight. Use a binocular to see it. The optical assist is also helpful to initially see Mercury.
Mercury is bright, the second brightest starlike body in the sky this morning, after Mars.
Mars
At this hour, the Red Planet is over 30° up in the east and over 10° to Pollux’s upper left, a Gemini Twin. The planet retrogrades in front of the dim stars of Cancer. Use a binocular to spot it 4.6° to the lower right of the Beehive star cluster.
Evening Planet Display
The display of five bright planets begins each evening with Venus and ends before sunrise tomorrow with Mercury’s appearance.
Brilliant Venus is easily visible in the south-southwest as early as 30 minutes after sunset. The planet outshines all celestial bodies this evening. At an hour after sunset, it is in front of Capricornus, 2.8° to the lower right of Deneb Algedi, Capricornus’ tail. The Venus-star conjunction occurs in two evenings. Venus continues to close the gap to Saturn, over 20° to the Evening Star’s upper left.
Saturn slowly plods eastward in front of Aquarius. Venus crosses in front of that constellation on the 31st, when it is less than 17° from Saturn.
The Ringed Wonder is about 20° above Fomalhaut, the mouth of the Southern Fish.
Jupiter
At this hour, bright Jupiter is over 25° above the eastern horizon. Nearly three weeks after opposition, it retrogrades in front of Taurus, 6.0° to Aldebaran’s upper left, the constellation’s brightest star. Find the Bull’s horns, Elnath and Zeta Tauri, about 11° to the planet’s lower left.
Unlike Saturn, Jupiter is in front of a brighter starfield, making its apparent motion easy to see from week to week. The Jovian Giant’s retrograde ends on February 4th when it is 5.1° to Aldebaran’s upper left.
Mars
Mars rises in the east-northeast two hours after sundown. An hour later it is nearly 10° up in the east, 10.5° below Pollux.
See the Evening Christmas Planet Display
Four bright planets span the sky from Venus, low in the west-southwest, to Mars, in the east-northeast. Jupiter is over halfway up in the east-southeast, while Saturn is to Venus’ upper left, less than 30° above the southwest horizon. The planetary quartet seems to hang along an arc, known as the ecliptic, the solar system’s plane.
Mars and Beehive Later
Mars is best viewed near the Beehive star cluster when it is high in the sky, after midnight and around five hours before sunrise.
Find this pretty Christmas display of five planets and the moon. Especially look for the four planets around three hours after nightfall.
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