09/05/2018 – Ephemeris – It’s Wednesday and time to look at the bright planets

Ephemeris for Wednesday, September 5th. The Sun will rise at 7:09. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 2 minutes, setting at 8:12. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:08 tomorrow morning.

It’s Wednesday again and time to look at the bright planets. Four of them are visible in the evening sky. The brilliant Venus will be visible in the western twilight from about 8:30 p.m. until it sets at 9:24 p.m. Jupiter will be in the southwest as it gets dark. It is only outshone by Venus, and the Moon, and is the same brightness as Mars. Jupiter will set at 10:40 p.m. Saturn will start the evening low in the southern sky and will stay relatively low, above the Teapot of Sagittarius. It will be due south at 8:54 p.m. and will set at 1:19 a.m.. Mars will be low in the southeast as the skies darken tonight. and is now 43.6 million miles (70.2 million km) away. Mars will be due south at 10:52 p.m., and it will set at 3:02 a.m. Mercury will rise in the east-northeast at 5:58 a.m. and be visible until about 6:50 tomorrow morning.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The evening planets at 9 p.m. September 5, 2018. Click on image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.

Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars with the same magnification at 9 p.m. September 5, 2018. Mars is also shown enlarged. The global dust storm is abating, so the albedo features are beginning to be seen. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

Mercury and Moon in the morning at 6:30 a.m. September 6, 2018. Click on image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.

The crescent Moon as it should appear tomorrow morning. Created using Stellarium.

Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on September 5, 2018. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 6th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.