Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Thursday, December 29th.  The sun will rise at 8:18.  It’ll be up for 8 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:10.   The moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 11:00 this evening.

Let’s look at the best astronomical events of 2011.  To my mind Comet Lovejoy’s survival near the sun is one.  The announcements from the Kepler satellite keep coming in.  Over 2000 planets in other solar systems suspected including a planet 2.4 times the size of the earth in its star’s habitable zone, two planets of another star about the size of the earth and a planet with two suns.  A fourth moon of Pluto was discovered, worrying scientists operating the New Horizons spacecraft that will reach Pluto in 3 and a half years that there may be a debris field around the dwarf planet.  This year the MESSENGER satellite gained orbit of the innermost planet Mercury, and the Dawn spacecraft began orbiting the asteroid Vesta.  Those are just a sample.

* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.