Archive
11/03/11 – Ephemeris – The moon tonight
Thursday, November 3rd. The sun will rise at 8:22. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 6:28. The moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 2:21 tomorrow morning.
In a telescope the moon will present some interesting features and craters. They will be seen near the terminator, the sunrise edge of the moon, where the shadows are longest. The moon is gray on gray, so the best way to see detail is by shadow. At the top or north end of the moon is a mountainous arc called the Alps. Mountain ranges on the moon are names after earthly mountain ranges. Cutting through the range is a fault called the Alpine Valley. Along the Alps at the terminator a crater will be coming into view this evening. It is the crater Plato. It is sometimes called a walled plain, since its floor is flat, or rather is slightly convex conforming to the shape of the lunar sphere. It’s cool watching the shadows of the walls recede as the sun rises.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Moon 1 day after first quarter. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas
11/02/11 – Ephemeris – Where are the planets this week?
Wednesday, November 2nd. The sun will rise at 8:21. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 6:30. The moon, at first quarter today, will set at 1:17 tomorrow morning.
Well 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 55 minutes after the sun and not really visible. Jupiter is now the prominent planet of the evening sky located in the east and is seen against the stars of the constellation Aries. It will pass due south at 1:05 a.m. In a telescope it will be accompanied by its 4 brightest moons. The moons and planetary features change from night to night and sometimes while you watch. Mars will rise at 1:46 a.m also in the east northeast and is moving between the constellations of Cancer and Leo. Mars is 145 million miles away and closing now ti will be closest to the earth March 3rd next year.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
11/01/11 – Ephemeris – Preview November Skies
Tuesday, November 1st. The sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 6:31. The moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 12:11 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the skies for the month of November. The sun is still moving south rapidly. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will drop from 10 hours and 11 minutes today to 9 hours 6 minutes on the 30th. The altitude, or angle, of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be at 30 degrees today and will descend to 23 and a half degrees on the 30th. The altitude of the sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower. Local noon, this month after we go back to standard time, will be about 12:30 p.m. Right now the planet Jupiter is rising in the east in the evening and Venus will soon be seen in the evening twilight. The Leonid meteor shower will be at its peak on the morning of the 18th.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 