Archive
12/31/10 – Ephemeris – Space exploration events in 2011
New Years Eve, Friday, December 31st. The sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 52 minutes, setting at 5:11. The moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 5:54 tomorrow morning.
The year 2011 will be a great one for exploration of the solar system. Three NASA spacecraft will reach their targets. On Valentine’s Day the Stardust spacecraft will pass close to Comet Tempel 1, to see the changes in that comet in the 5 and a half years since the Deep Impact spacecraft hit that comet with a 600 pound chunk of copper. On March 18th, the MESSENGER spacecraft will attempt to enter orbit around Mercury after a seven year long journey. On July 16th the ion powered Dawn spacecraft will gently assume orbit of the asteroid Vesta. Vesta is one of the bigger asteroids, being second most massive and the brightest. It will orbit Vesta for a year before leaving for the dwarf planet Ceres.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
12/30/10 – Ephemeris – The bright star Procyon
Thursday, December 30th. The sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:11. The moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 4:46 tomorrow morning.
Visible in the east southeast above and left of Sirius the brightest night time star which is low in the southeast at 9 p.m. tonight is the bright star Procyon in the constellation Canis Minor, or lesser dog. Only one other star can be found in Canis Minor. Perhaps it’s a hot dog. If Sirius is the Dog Star then Procyon should be the Little Dog Star. Procyon is an interesting name. It means “Before the dog”, which is an allusion to the fact that Procyon, though east of Sirius actually rises before it. This is due to Procyon’s more northerly position. This effect doesn’t work south of the equator, however. Procyon is a star much like Sirius but farther away. It’s 11.41 to Sirius’ 8.6 light years away. And like Sirius it even has a small white dwarf star in its system.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
12/29/10 – Ephemeris – The bright planets this week
Wednesday, December 29th. The sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:10. The moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:34 tomorrow morning.
Lets take a look at the bright planets for the last time this year. Mars is very low and lost in the evening twilight. The planet Jupiter is up in the south southwestern sky in the early evening. It is a spectacular sight in a telescope with its four satellites, shifting their positions from night to night, and the cloud bands running in the directions of the satellites. Jupiter is the brightest starlight object in the evening. It’s located below the Circlet in Pisces now and will set at 11:49 p.m. The ringed planet Saturn will rise at 1:27 a.m. in the east southeast. It’s located in the constellation Virgo this year. It’s rings are opening nicely for telescopic observers. Venus is brilliant in the morning sky and will rise at 4:27 a.m. in the east southeast.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
12/28/10 – Ephemeris – Orion’s hunting dogs
Tuesday, December 28th. The sun will rise at 8:18. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 5:09. The moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 2:20 tomorrow morning.
The great winter constellation or star group Orion the Hunter, is located in the southeastern sky at 9 p.m. His elongated rectangle of a torso is almost vertical. In the center of the rectangle are three stars in a line that make his belt. As a hunter, especially one of old, he has two hunting dogs. The larger, Canis Major can be found by following the three belt stars of Orion down and to the left. There lies the brilliant star called Sirius, also known as the Dog Star. It’s in the heart of a stick figure dog facing Orion that appears to be begging. The smaller dog can be found by extending a line through Orion’s shoulder stars to the left. We find a bright star called Procyon. It and one other star make up the hot-dog shaped constellation of Canis Minor, the little dog.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
12/27/10 – Ephemeris – Orion and the Great Orion Nebula
Monday, December 27th. The sun will rise at 8:18. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 5:08. The moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 1:06 tomorrow morning.
At 9 in the evening the constellation Orion will appear in the southeast with its seven brightest stars brighter than those of the Big Dipper. Orion’s upright rectangle of stars will lean to the left before midnight, when it will be upright. In the morning hours it will lean to the right. The rectangle is the torso of this mythical hunter. Inside the rectangle is a line of three stars, his belt, and an easy way for find him, because it is the only line of three bright stars in the sky. Below the belt appear another three stars, though fainter, in a line, his sword. Binoculars will reveal more than three stars and a bit of haze around the small group that appear as the middle star. Telescopes will reveal much more. This is the Great Orion Nebula where stars even now are bring born.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Merry Christmas!
Have a very merry and safe Christmas from this old astronomer. I hope Santa is good to you.
Wishing you clear skies to you and Santa.
12/24/10 – Ephemeris – Musings on the Star of Bethlehem
Friday, December 24th. The sun will rise at 8:17. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:06. The moon, half way from full to last quarter, will rise at 9:21 this evening.
Before the moon rises tonight the planet Jupiter will shine brightly as our Christmas star. The actual Star of Bethlehem, if it was a natural phenomenon, was not the bright star that we imagine. The Chinese, who were excellent observers and catalogers of novae and comets recorded nothing unusual in the time period of the Nativity. The Magi, if that’s the correct translation of the visitors, were astrologers who saw significance in the mundane movement and patterns of the planets. They were the only ones who did. The Chinese had a whole other system of astrology. The Jews themselves had Biblical prohibitions against astrology. So the Star remains a mystery. Have a merry Christmas.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
12/23/10 – Ephemeris – Saturnalia
Thursday, December 23rd. The sun will rise at 8:17. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:06. The moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 8:05 this evening.
Winter began 2 days ago. That’s when the sun reached the winter solstice, when the sun stopped its southward motion and began to head back up north. It was greeted with great relief by the ancients, who didn’t understand what was really going on. What if the sun continued southward and stayed below the horizon, even at noon? The joy over the turning of the sun northward was the impetus for the Roman festival of Saturnalia, whose celebrations were not very unlike today’s goings on of the quote… “Holiday Season.” with garlands of holly and mistletoe, gift giving and revelry. The early Christians apparently placed their celebration of the birth of Christ during this period so their joy would blend in with the pagan celebrations of that time.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
12/22/10 – Ephemeris – The bright planets visible this week
Wednesday, December 22nd. The sun will rise at 8:16. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:05. The moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 6:49 this evening.
Lets take a look at the bright planets for Christmas week. Mars is very low and lost in the evening twilight. The planet Jupiter is up in the southwestern sky in the early evening. It is a spectacular sight in a telescope with its four satellites, shifting their positions from night to night, and the cloud bands running in the directions of the satellites. Jupiter is the brightest starlight object in the evening, becoming our Christmas Star this year . It’s located below the Circlet in Pisces now and will set at 12:13 a.m. The ringed planet Saturn will rise at 1:53 a.m. in the east southeast. It’s located in the constellation Virgo this year. It’s rings are opening nicely for telescopic observers. Venus is brilliant in the morning sky and will rise at 4:23 a.m. in the east southeast.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
12/21/10 – Ephemeris – Winter solstice
Tuesday, December 21st. The sun will rise at 8:16. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:05. The moon, at full today, will rise at 5:37 this evening.
Today autumn will end and winter will start. The exact moment will be at 6:38 this evening. That’s when the sun will appear directly over the Tropic of Capricorn at 23 ½ degrees south latitude. After that moment the sun will appear to inch northward. Winter will end as the sun crosses the equator on March 20th next year. The sun’s low appearance in our skies and the fewer hours of daylight now, due to the earth’s tilt has caused the rapid decrease in temperatures we are experiencing. Unfortunately with the increased amount of solar heat we in the northern hemisphere will be getting starting tomorrow, it will take until mid January before the sun’s effect begins to show with warmer days. It’s hard to believe but winter is the shortest season.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 