Ephemeris: 05/22/2024 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 9:12, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:06. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 5:42 tomorrow morning.

Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week, and see what planets are left. Jupiter now is too close to the direction of the Sun to be seen. It is on the morning side of the Sun, and by late June may be visible in the morning sky in twilight. By 5 tomorrow morning, about 66 minutes before sunrise, Saturn will be low in the east-southeast and Mars will be lower still 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. We won’t see the rings go exactly edge on because Saturn will be too close to the Sun in the sky on March 23rd next year. After that the rings will open up again.

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 may be seen in binoculars or a small telescope about 10:30 this evening, May 22nd 2024. Selected features are labeled. Shadows can be seen in some craters on the extreme east side of the Moon. The crater Tycho’s rays are especially prominent this time of the lunar month. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP. Information on the labels comes from Virtual Moon Atlas.

Saturn and Mars as they might be seen low in the southeastern horizon in 5 AM, or a bit more than an hour before sunrise, tomorrow morning May 23, 2024. Saturn will rise at 3:19 AM, Mars at 4:20 AM. Created using Stellarium.

The planet Saturn and its satellite Titan as might be seen in the telescope, although greatly enlarged from what would be seen in the small telescope since, Saturn is almost a billion miles away. It’s apparent diameter is 16.75″ (seconds of arc) and it’s rings span 39.3″. The rings, as can be seen, are very thin and present a 2° 22′ tilt to us. Mars is too small to be represented here, it’s 4.95″ in diameter . My usual policy is to show planets that are 10″ or greater because they will actually show a decent disc in a small telescope. 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, May 22nd 2024. The night ends on the left with sunrise tomorrow morning on the 23rd. The symbols of Jupiter and Venus overlap at this scale. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.