11/28/2018 – Ephemeris – Bright planets and comets tonight

Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 28th. The Sun will rise at 7:56. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 5:04. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 11:05 this evening.

Let’s look at the bright planets for tonight. Two of them are visible in the evening sky. Saturn will be briefly visible very low in the southwestern sky and from about 6 p.m. and will set at 7:10 p.m. Mars will be in the south as the skies darken tonight. Mars will be due south at 6:52 p.m., and it will set at 12:17 a.m. Mars is moving eastward, crossing the constellation of Aquarius this month. It’s currently about midway through Aquarius, moving eastward and northward, so its setting time won’t change much over this month. Venus, our brilliant morning star, will rise at 4:33 a.m. in the east southeast. The blue-white star Spica is still to the right and a bit above it. There are two comets entering our sky. More on that tomorrow.

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

Addenda

Planets and the Moon

Mars, and Saturn seen at 6 p.m. tonight November 28, 2018. Created using Stellarium.

Venus and the Moon in the morning sky at 7 a.m. November 29, 2018. Note the bluish star Spica to the right of it. Created using Stellarium.

The waning gibbous Moon as it should appear tomorrow morning in binoculars. Created using Stellarium.

Telescopic view of Venus tomorrow morning November 29, 2018. Created using Stellarium.

Planets, two comets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on November 28, 2018. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 29th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.

Bright comets

Comet C/2018 V1 (Machholz-Fijikawa-Iwamoto) in twilight starting tonight November 28, 2018. The comet won’t climb that deramatically at 6 p.m. on the rest of the nights because the stars in the field will set 4 minutes earlier each successive evening. The latest magnitude estimate of the comet on December 1 is 5.2, two magnitudes brighter than shown here. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

Comet 46P/Wirtanen positions for the next week. Positions are marked with month-date and magnitude. The latest magnitude prediction for December 1st is 4.6, 5.1 magnitudes brighter than shown here. The comet may make magnitude 3 by mid-December. Star field position is for 9 p.m. on the 28th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).