The Planets, Dwarf Planets and Asteroids

Each planet and dwarf planet has a table that provides the following information: the rising or setting time, the constellation it is located, if it is in the morning or evening sky and if it is visible, in the Sun glow, in the twilight or not visible. The “Evening / Morning” column will say “All Night” when the object is up from sunset until sunrise. The “Hours in Astro Night” column represents how long the object is visible during astronomical night. The co-ordinates (“R.A.” and “Dec.”), “Angle with Sun” and “Magnitude” are also shown as of 12am EST (1am EDT) on the date listed. All co-ordinates are displayed at epoch 2000. This information is provided for 7 days during the month: 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30.

The visible column has five options: Yes, No, Twilight, Sun Glow and All Night. “No” is specified if the object either sets within 30 minutes after sunset or rises within 30 minutes before sunrise. The planet or dwarf planet is in the “Twilight” if it sets between 30 minutes and 1:15 hour after sunset or if it rises between 1:15 hour and 30 minutes before sunrise. It is in the “Sun Glow” in it sets between 1:15 hour after sunset and the beginning of astronomical night or if it risers between the end of astronomical night and 1:15 hour before the sunrise. If the object sets or rises during astronomical night, it is visible. If it is up during the full duration of astronomical night then “All Night” is shown.

Planets

Mercury

Date	Rise / Set / All Night	Constellation	Evening /Morning	Visible	Hours in Astro Night	R.A.	Dec.	Angle with Sun	Magnitude
1	Rise 6:08am	Sagittarius	Morning	Sun Glow	None	19h 17.1m	-21º 58.1m	24.3º W	-0.1
5	Rise 6:13am	Sagittarius	Morning	Twilight	None	19h 38.8m	-21º 47.7m	23.3º W	-0.1
10	Rise 6:19am	Capricornus	Morning	Twilight	None	20h 08.0m	-21º 08.1m	21.6º W	-0.2
15	Rise 6:24am	Capricornus	Morning	Twilight	None	20h 38.6m	-19º 57.1m	19.5º W	-0.2
20	Rise 6:28am	Capricornus	Morning	No	None	21h 10.1m	-18º 13.7m	16.9º W	-0.3
25	Rise 6:30am	Capricornus	Morning	No	None	21h 42.4m	-15º 57.4m	14.0º W	-0.5
28	Rise 6:30am	Aquarius	Morning	No	None	22h 02.0m	-14º 20.0m	12.0º W	-0.7

Mercury is not visible this month. It enters Capricornus on the 9th at 9:28pm and Aquarius on the 27th at 12:18pm.

Venus

Date	Rise / Set / All Night	Constellation	Evening /Morning	Visible	Hours in Astro Night	R.A.	Dec.	Angle with Sun	Magnitude
1	Set 5:31pm	Capricornus	Evening	No	None	21h 19.3m	-17º 01.7m	5.0º E	-3.9
5	Set 5:42pm	Capricornus	Evening	No	None	21h 39.2m	-15º 30.2m	6.0º E	-3.9
10	Set 5:56pm	Aquarius	Evening	Twilight	None	22h 03.6m	-13º 26.3m	7.2º E	-3.9
15	Set 6:10pm	Aquarius	Evening	Twilight	None	22h 27.6m	-11º 13.3m	8.3º E	-3.9
20	Set 6:23pm	Aquarius	Evening	Twilight	None	22h 51.2m	-8º 52.8m	9.6º E	-3.9
25	Set 6:37pm	Aquarius	Evening	Twilight	None	23h 01.4m	-6º 26.6m	10.8º E	-3.9
28	Set 6:45pm	Aquarius	Evening	Twilight	None	23h 28.2m	-4º 56.7m	11.5º E	-3.9

Venus is not visible most of this month. By month’s end, it can be spotted low in the southwest shortly after sunset. On the 16th at 6pm, Venus is 0.6 degree south of Jupiter. This event is more easily observed with binoculars since it is very close to the horizon. Venus enters Aquarius on the 8th at 11:55pm.

Mars

Jupiter

Jupiter is visible only for the first part of this month. On the 16th at 6pm, Venus is 0.6 degree south of Jupiter. This event is more easily observed with binoculars since it is very close to the horizon. Jupiter is in conjunction on the 28th.

Saturn

Date	Rise / Set / All Night	Constellation	Evening /Morning	Visible	Hours in Astro Night	R.A.	Dec.	Angle with Sun	Magnitude
1	Rise 9:28pm	Virgo	Morning	Yes	8:13	12h 19.3m	0º 34.3m	127.8º W	0.7
5	Rise 9:12pm	Virgo	Morning	Yes	8:25	12h 18.8m	0º 38.6m	132.0º W	0.7
10	Rise 8:51pm	Virgo	Morning	Yes	8:40	12h 18.0m	0º 44.9m	137.3º W	0.7
15	Rise 8:30pm	Virgo	Morning	Yes	8:54	12h 17.1m	0º 51.9m	143.6º W	0.7
20	Rise 8:09pm	Virgo	Morning	Yes	9:07	12h 16.1m	0º 59.7m	147.9º W	0.6
25	Rise 7:47pm	Virgo	Morning	Yes	9:21	12h 15.0m	1º 08.1m	153.2º W	0.6
28	Rise 7:34pm	Virgo	Morning	Yes	9:29	12h 14.3m	1º 13.3m	156.4º W	0.6

Saturn rises in the evening sky and is visible until morning. At 11pm on the 2nd, Saturn is 9.5 degrees north of the Moon.

Uranus

Date	Rise / Set / All Night	Constellation	Evening /Morning	Visible	Hours in Astro Night	R.A.	Dec.	Angle with Sun	Magnitude
1	Set 8:45pm	Pisces	Evening	Yes	1:54	23h 39.4m	-3º 01.1m	42.0º E	5.9
5	Set 8:31pm	Pisces	Evening	Yes	1:35	23h 40.1m	-2º 56.5m	38.1º E	5.9
10	Set 8:12pm	Pisces	Evening	Yes	1:09	23h 41.0m	-2º 50.6m	33.3º E	5.9
15	Set 7:54pm	Pisces	Evening	Yes	0:45	23h 41.9m	-2º 44.5m	28.5º E	5.9
20	Set 7:36pm	Pisces	Evening	Yes	0:20	23h 42.9m	-2º 38.1m	23.7º E	5.9
25	Set 7:18pm	Pisces	Evening	Sun Glow	None	23h 43.9m	-2º 31.6m	19.0º E	5.9
28	Set 7:07pm	Pisces	Evening	Sun Glow	None	23h 44.5m	-2º 27.6m	16.1º E	5.9

Uranus is visible in the evening and sets soon after the Sun.

Neptune

Date	Rise / Set / All Night	Constellation	Evening /Morning	Visible	Hours in Astro Night	R.A.	Dec.	Angle with Sun	Magnitude
1	Set 6:14pm	Capricornus	Evening	Twilight	None	21h 51.7m	-13º 24.8m	13.4º E	8.0
5	Set 6:00pm	Capricornus	Evening	Twilight	None	21h 52.2m	-13º 21.8m	9.5º E	8.0
10	Set 5:41pm	Capricornus	Evening	No	None	21h 53.0m	-13º 18.0m	4.7º E	8.0
15	Rise 7:11am	Capricornus	Morning	No	None	21h 53.7m	-13º 14.2m	0.5º S	8.0
20	Rise 6:48am	Capricornus	Morning	No	None	21h 54.4m	-13º 10.5m	5.1º W	8.0
25	Rise 6:29am	Capricornus	Morning	No	None	21h 55.2m	-13º 06.8m	9.9º W	8.0
28	Rise 6:17am	Capricornus	Morning	No	None	21h 55.6m	-13º 04.3m	12.8º W	8.0

Neptune is not visible this month. It is in conjunction on the 14th.

Dwarf Planets

Pluto

Date	Rise / Set / All Night	Constellation	Evening /Morning	Visible	Hours in Astro Night	R.A.	Dec.	Angle with Sun	Magnitude
1	Rise 4:50am	Sagittarius	Morning	Yes	0:52	18h 17.7m	-18º 17.6m	38.1º W	14.1
5	Rise 4:35am	Sagittarius	Morning	Yes	1:03	18h 18.3m	-18º 17.2m	42.0º W	14.1
10	Rise 4:15am	Sagittarius	Morning	Yes	1:17	18h 18.8m	-18º 16.9m	46.9º W	14.1
15	Rise 3:56am	Sagittarius	Morning	Yes	1:29	18h 19.4m	-18º 16.5m	51.8º W	14.1
20	Rise 3:37am	Sagittarius	Morning	Yes	1:41	18h 19.9m	-18º 16.1m	56.7º W	14.1
25	Rise 3:18am	Sagittarius	Morning	Yes	1:52	18h 20.4m	-18º 15.7m	61.6º W	14.1
28	Rise 3:06am	Sagittarius	Morning	Yes	1:59	18h 20.6m	-18º 15.4m	64.6º W	14.1

Pluto rises late at night and is visible in the morning sky. Pluto is hard to find this month since it lies inside the Sagittarius star cloud M24 all month.