08/19/2020 – Ephemeris – Looking at the naked-eye planets for this week

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 8:41, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:51. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 9:30 this evening.

Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week. Jupiter and Saturn are both low in the south-southeastern sky at 10 pm. Jupiter is the very bright one. To the left of it will be Saturn. They now seem to be separating a bit due to the Earth’s motion now, but they will cross paths in December. Both planets will be up most of the night with Jupiter setting first at 3:32 tomorrow morning and Saturn following at 4:15 am. The next planet visible will be Mars which will rise at 10:59 pm. Its now down to 51.3 million miles (82.6 million kilometers) away, as the Earth slowly overtakes it at the rate of about 3.0 million miles (4.9 million kilometers) a week. Brilliant Venus will rise at 3:09 am and is moving ahead of the Earth in its orbit.

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

Addendum

Jupiter and Saturn with three constellations of the zodiac at 10 pm tonight August 19, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

Venus and Mars finder animation as seen at 6 am or about an hour before sunrise tomorrow morning August 20, 2020 with and without the lines delineating nearby constellations. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

The planets as seen in a telescope (north up) with the same magnification Apparent diameters: Jupiter, 45.64″; Saturn, 18.21″, rings, 42.42″. Mars, 17.17″, and Venus 21.81″. Mars also displays an enlargement showing surface detail. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on August 19, 2020. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 20th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.