Archive
11/30/11 – Ephermeris – The location of the planets tonight
Wednesday, November 30th. The sun will rise at 7:57. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 5:04. The moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 11:08 this evening.
It’s Wednesday and time again to take a look at the whereabouts of the bright planets. The planet Venus is low in the southwestern sky just after sunset setting at 6:44, and should be visible by 5:45. Jupiter is now the prominent planet of the evening sky located in the southeast and is seen against the stars of the constellation Aries. It will pass due south at 10:33 p.m. In a telescope it will be accompanied by its 4 brightest moons. It will set at 4:48 a.m.. Mars will rise at 12:07 a.m in the east northeast and will be left of the star Regulus in the constellation Leo tomorrow morning.. It is 122 million miles away and closing. Saturn will rise at 4:10 a.m. just to the left of the bright star Spica in the east southeast.
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.
11/29/11 – Ephemeris – The moon tonight – The craters Messier A and B
Tuesday, November 29th. The sun will rise at 7:56. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 5:04. The moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 10:02 this evening.
The moon tonight is a fat crescent with the small circular Sea of Crises visible near the upper edge. Below that is the larger Sea of Fertility. In a small telescope a double light streak will be visible on the floor of Fertility. At the head of the streaks are two small odd shaped craters named Messier A and B. Named after Charles Messier, comet hunter, and creator of the Messier catalog of some of the best deep sky objects for the amateur astronomer. Anyway, the craters though small are distinctive and relatively new, less than a billion years ago. The pair of small asteroids that hit the moon did so at a low angle to cause the spray of material to form those linear streaks. A most interesting feature to explore on the moon,
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.
Addendum
The moon featuring the craters Messier A and B. Chart created using Virtual Moon Atlas
The Craters Messier A and B from Apollo 11. NASA
11/28/11 – Ephemeris – There may be an aurora tonight
Monday, November 28th. The sun will rise at 7:55. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 5:05. The moon, 3 days past new, will set at 8:53 this evening.
Last Saturday afternoon the sun let loose with an explosion that is sending a cloud of particles toward the earth. It was called a Coronal Mass Ejection or CME for short. As usual for these things, it takes about 48 hours give or take for the cloud of particles to reach the earth. The expected arrival time for the cloud is about noon, give or take 7 hours. If the cloud is a bit late we could get a display of the northern lights or aurora borealis. The sun is getting more active now after a prolonged minimum that lasted over 2 years. The sun is ramping up for a peak in sun spot numbers possibly in 2013. Although the numbers of aurorae occur mostly after peak, so we’re just starting our auroral season, so there will be more opportunities to come.
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.
11/25/11 – Ephemeris – The mythology of Taurus the bull
Friday, November 25th. The sun will rise at 7:51. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 5:06. The moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
Low in the east at 9 p.m. is the constellation of Orion the giant hunter. Above him is Taurus the bull. His face is a letter V shape of stars lying on its side with the bright orange-red star Aldebaran at the bottom tip of the V as its angry blood-shot eye. Orion is depicted in the sky facing with club in one hand and a shield in the other the approaching and in some depictions charging Taurus. The V of stars is a star cluster called the Hyades. The Pleiades are in his shoulder above. Taurus in Greek mythology was the guise the god Zeus when he carried off the maiden Europa. Europa’s still with him, sort of, as the intriguing satellite orbiting Zeus’ Roman equivalent Jupiter. In fact the moons around the planet Jupiter are generally named for Jupiter’s lovers and friends.
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.
Addendum
The constellations Taurus and Orion and the Pleiades. Created using Cartes du Ciel.
11/24/11 – Ephemeris – The Pilgrim’s voyage
Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 24th. The sun will rise at 7:50. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 5:07. The moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 8:22 tomorrow morning.
We get the celebration of Thanksgiving from the Pilgrims who celebrated their first harvest, but at the wrong place. They were originally heading for the mouth of the Hudson River, which was considered North Virginia in back then. Navigation in those days was rather imprecise. Latitude was easy to determine at night or at noon but only if it was clear. Longitude was a guess. Generally in the age of sail sailors picked a latitude where the winds blew in the right direction to take them to the Americas, then would sail north or south to the latitude they wanted to go. Storms pushed the Mayflower off course and the Pilgrims ended up near Cape Cod several hundred miles north of their target, an easy mistake to make back then. Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.
11/23/11 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Wednesday, November 23rd. The sun will rise at 7:49. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 18 minutes, setting at 5:08. The moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 7:09 tomorrow morning.
It’s Wednesday and time again to take a look at the whereabouts of the bright planets. The planet Venus is still rather close to the sun in the evening setting at 6:33, and should be visible by 5:45 low in the southwest. Jupiter is now the prominent planet of the evening sky located in the southeast and is seen against the stars of the constellation Aries. It will pass due south at 10:33 p.m. In a telescope it will be accompanied by its 4 brightest moons. It will set at 5:18 a.m.. Mars will rise at 12:18 a.m in the east northeast and will be left of the star Regulus in the constellation Leo tomorrow morning. [It is 128 million miles away and closing.] Saturn will rise at 4:34 a.m. just to the left of the bright star Spica in the east southeast.
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. Bracketed passage was omitted from the audio program due to time constraints.
11/22/11 – Ephemeris – The constellation Auriga the charioteer
Tuesday, November 22nd. The sun will rise at 7:47. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 5:08. The moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 5:51 tomorrow morning.
Rising in the east northeast is the bright star Capella and its pentagonal constellation Auriga the Charioteer. Auriga appears to be hunched down in his chariot carrying 4 goats. Capella is the mother goat, and a slim triangle of stars near her are her kids. Perhaps the kids in the chariot were such a distraction that he crashed. So maybe the gods placed them in the sky as a warning. In fact that triangle is an asterism widely known as the Kids. The Milky Way runs through Auriga and it is the home of several star clusters that appear as fuzzy spots in binoculars. Capella for us in northern Michigan never sets. It is a winter star that can be seen year round. It’s disconcerting to spot it scraping the northern horizon in July.
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.
Addendum
The Constellations Cassiopeia, Perseus and Auriga. Cartes du Ciel
11/21/11 – Ephemeris – The constellation Perseus the hero
Monday, November 21st. The sun will rise at 7:46. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 5:09. The moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:32 tomorrow morning.
High in the east at 9 p.m. and below the letter W shaped constellation of Cassiopeia the queen is Perseus the hero. It’s kind of a odd shape for a hero, To me it looks like a chicken or the cartoon roadrunner. Perhaps its shape is like the Greek letter pi. It’s two brightest stars are Mirfak and Algol the demon star. Look at the area around Mirfak with binoculars and you will see a large group of stars just below unaided eye visibility. It’s called the Alpha Persei association. That because Mirfak is alpha Persei. The group is about 560 light years away, which means, though close, are farther away than the Pleiades, below right of them.
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.
Addendum
The Constellations Cassiopeia, Perseus and Auriga. Cartes du Ciel
11/18/11 – Ephemeris – Pleiades, Hyades and Orion
Friday, November 18th. The sun will rise at 7:42. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 5:12. The moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 12:48 tomorrow morning.
The Pleiades or Seven Sisters star cluster is now quite high in the east at 9 p.m. To the Greeks they were the daughters of the god Atlas. Their half sisters, the Hyades is seen below them as the letter V shape of stars that form the face of Taurus the bull, with the bright orange star Aldebaran at one corner. Both are being chased by the giant hunter Orion, now mostly risen in the east. His three belt stars in a row are now oriented vertically. The reddish star Betelgeuse is to their upper left, while blue-white Rigel to the lower right. Rigel may suffer some by being very close to the horizon at the time, but it will come into its own as it rises higher. [Here is our preview of the glories of the winter sky. There is more to come as the night wears on.]
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. Bracketed passage was omitted from the audio program due to time constraints.
Addendum
The eastern sky at 9 p.m.
11/17/11 – Ephemeris – The constellation Pisces
Thursday, November 17th. The sun will rise at 7:41. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 31 minutes, setting at 5:12. The moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 11:37 this evening.
High in the south at 9 p.m. are the four bright stars of the Great Square of Pegasus, the upside down flying horse. Lying along the left and bottom sides of that square is the constellation of Pisces the fish, one of the 12 constellations of the Zodiac that lie along the path of the sun, moon and planets. Even though the constellation is called the fish, the fish themselves are not represented in the stars. What can be traced in the stars is the rope, that’s tied to their tails, anchored at the extreme southeastern part of the constellation. Jupiter now is located just left of Pisces. The right or western end of the Pisces is the asterism, or informal constellation, of the Circlet. It’s the loop of 5 stars, the rope around the tail of one of the two fish.
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.
Addendum
Pisces and Jupiter. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts)
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 