• Ray Ewing

No Evening Planets

It is an unusual event for those who love astronomy. We have no visible evening planets. Jupiter is so low in the southwestern sky after sunset as to be unobservable. Saturn disappeared late last month and is now hidden in the sun’s glare.

For so long we had Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Mercury and especially Venus hanging in our western sky. Now they are gone. All the action has shifted and will continue to shift to our morning sky.

If you are up early in the morning, you’ll see Venus high in the southeastern sky before sunrise. Not far away is Mars, much fainter and distinctly reddish by comparison.

Jupiter and Saturn are both too close to the sun to be visible. You will likely see Saturn in early March in the morning sky. Later in the month, Jupiter shows up in the morning light.

 

Sunrise and Sunset
Day Sunrise Sunset
Fri., Feb. 18 6:33 5:18
Sat., Feb. 19 6:32 5:19
Sun., Feb. 20 6:30 5:20
Mon., Feb. 21 6:29 5:22
Tues., Feb. 22 6:27 5:23
Wed., Feb. 23 6:26 5:24
Thurs., Feb. 24 6:24 5:25
Fri., Feb. 25 6:23 5:26
Temperatures and Precipitations
Day Max (Fº) Min (Fº) Inches
Feb. 11 52 30 0.00
Feb. 12 53 41 0.00
Feb. 13 54 34 0.00
Feb. 14 34 21 *0.28
Feb. 15 26 12 0.00
Feb. 16 36 12 0.00
Feb. 17 50 35 T

 

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 39º F

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