Ephemeris: 06/12/2024 – Where are the naked-eye planets this week?

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, June 12th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 9:29, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 1:49 tomorrow morning.

Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week, and see what planets are left. Venus and Mercury are too close to the direction of the Sun to be seen. Venus just entered the evening sky last week when it passed behind the Sun in conjunction. It will appear in the evening sky next month. Jupiter, the second-brightest planet still is a week or so from being spotted in the morning, since it rises about an hour before the Sun. By 5 tomorrow morning, or about an hour before sunrise, Saturn will be in the southeast and Mars will be lower in the east. In telescopes, Saturn will look fairly different this year and next with its rings nearly edge on to us. They will open up a bit through October before closing again. They are only 2 degrees from being edge on to us.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The moon as it might appear in binoculars or a small telescope at 11:00 PM tonight, June 12th 2024. Selected features are labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

Saturn and Mars as they might be seen low in the east and southeastern sky at 5 AM, or about an hour before sunrise,tomorrow morning June 13, 2024. Saturn will rise at 3:48 AM, Mars at 4:36 AM. Created using Stellarium.

A much enlarged telescopic view of Saturn, much larger than is available in the small telescope . I did this to better show the almost edge on rings. The apparent diameter of Saturn is 17.36″, and the rings extend to 40.44″. The tilt of the rings is only about 2° from being edge on . When the rings are tilted to their maximum extent, this was seven years ago, Saturn was much brighter because the rings can reflect more light from the sun than the planet does. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right tonight, June 12th 2024. The night ends on the left with sunrise tomorrow morning on the 13th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.