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12/27/11 – Ephemeris – The constellation of Eridanus the river
Tuesday, 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, 3 days past new, will set at 8:49 this evening.
One of the more obscure constellations around is Eridanus, which depicts a river. The river starts near the lower right corner of Orion, near the bright star Rigel and flows to the right then down near the southwestern horizon, then it meanders along the horizon to the south before turning below the horizon. One has to travel to the far south to see the southern terminus of the river, the bright star Achernar. Writers over the ages have seen here the Nile and the earth circling river Ocean of the flat earth days. Achernar was recently discovered to be the flattest star, due to its rapid spin. The dimensions of Achernar have been determined to be twice as wide across its equator than from pole to pole. It’s 139 light years away.
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.
Addendum
The constellation Eridanus the river, both above and below the horizon. Created using Cartes du Ciel.
The light curved line with the directions SE and S s the horizon from Traverse City, MI.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 