Archive
04/30/2012 – Ephemeris – Preview May Skies
Ephemeris for Monday, April 30th. The sun rises at 6:33. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 8:46. The moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 3:41 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow we’ll start the month when the promise of spring is finally fulfilled. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area will increase from 14 hours and 15 minutes tomorrow to 15 hours 19 minutes on the 31st. The altitude, or angle, of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will ascend from 60 degrees today to 67 degrees at month’s end. The altitude of the sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower than that but your daylight will be a few minutes longer. Local apparent noon this month, when the sun passes due south, will be about 1:38 p.m. The big event of this month will be a partial eclipse of the sun on Sunday May 20th, where we’ll see about 45 minutes of the eclipse as the sun sets.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
04/27/2012 – Ephemeris – Astronomy Day and other viewing opportunities this weekend
Ephemeris for Arbor Day, Friday, April 27th. The sun rises at 6:37. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 4 minutes, setting at 8:42. The moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 2:10 tomorrow morning.
The moon’s crescent is getting fatter each day as it moves eastward. There are two events scheduled to take with the moon and the bright spring planets, and one to show the sun this weekend. Tonight the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will hold a star party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It will be held at Platte River Point, west of Honor starting at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday is International Astronomy Day. Some of us will take our telescopes to the Open Space in Traverse City to view the sun with our new solar telescope and other scopes. That’s from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. That evening starting at nine with be a star party at the Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
04/26/2012 – Ephemeris – Three astronomical viewing opportunities this weekend
Ephemeris for Thursday, April 26th. The sun rises at 6:39. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 2 minutes, setting at 8:41. The moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 1:33 tomorrow morning.
The moon is getting ready to take over the night sky. It’s crescent is getting fatter each day as it moves eastward. There are two events scheduled to take with the moon and the bright spring planets, and one to show the sun this weekend. Tomorrow the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will hold a star party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It will be held at Platte River Point, west of Honor starting at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday is International Astronomy Day. Some of us will take our telescopes to the Open Space in Traverse City to view the sun with our new solar telescope and other scopes. That’s from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. That evening starting at nine with be a star party at the Rogers Observatory.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
04/25/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 25th. The sun rises at 6:41. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 8:40. The moon, half way from new to first quarter, will set at 12:52 tomorrow morning.
Let’s see what’s happening with the bright planets for this week. Jupiter is very low in the twilight in the west and may be visible by 9:15 p.m. It will set at 9:44 p.m. Venus is high in the west as it gets dark. Enjoy it now, because it will be gone in 6 weeks. Venus will set at 12:37 a.m. in the west northwest. Venus is 44.8 million miles away and closing. Mars is high in the south in the evening with its unmistakable bright reddish color. It’s in the constellation Leo the lion now. It is 84 million miles from us and moving away. Mars will pass due south at 9:53 p.m. and will be setting in the west at 4:44 a.m. Saturn will be rising in the east southeast as twilight fades tonight just to the left of the bright star Spica. It will pass due south at 1:03 a.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Looking west at Jupiter, Venus and the moon at 9 p.m. on April 25, 2012. Created with Stellarium.
Planets and stars at 10 p.m. on April 25, 2012. Created with Stellarium.
04/24/2012 – Ephemeris – The moon appears near Venus tonight
Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 24th. The sun rises at 6:42. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 56 minutes, setting at 8:39. The moon, 3 days past new, will set at 12:05 tomorrow morning.
This evening the moon will appear near Venus with the brilliant planet above and right of the moon. The moon should still exhibit earthshine. On the 30th Venus will attain its greatest brightness of -4.6 magnitude. Only the moon and sun are brighter. In a telescope Venus has a crescent phase and as you view Venus for the next month its phase will get thinner and its size gets larger. This is as it approaches us as it moved more closely between us and the sun. It’s quite a show to watch for. Folks with a low western horizon and clear skies should be able to follow Venus to within a few days of its transit across the face of the sun. Then in bright twilight Venus will have the thinnest of crescents, and appear larger than Jupiter.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus and the moon at 9 p.m. April 24, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
There’s an auroral glow in the north at 10:41 p.m. April 23, 2012
I’m near 45 degrees north latitude. spaceweather.com issued an email earlier in the evening that there was a minor geomagnetic storm in progress, and that there will be a possibility of an aurora. Yes there is a glow in the north that needs checking over this evening for possible outbursts.
04/23/2012 – Ephemeris – The moon will appear near the Pleiades tonight
Ephemeris for Monday, April 23rd. The sun rises at 6:44. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 53 minutes, setting at 8:37. The moon, 2 days past new, will set at 11:13 this evening.
This evening the thin crescent moon will appear near the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters. They will appear just to the right of the thin sliver of the moon. If you look closely at the moon the entire Moon will be visible. That’s because the nearly full Earth is shining on it. The phase of the earth in the moon’s sky is exactly the opposite of the moon’s phase in the earth’s sky. The effect is called earth shine and was first explained by Leonardo DaVinci. For future astronauts spending a two week night on the moon’s near side, the full earth in its skies will be much brighter than the full moon looks in our skies. The earth covers 16 times the sky as the moon and is more than twice as reflective as the moon. The moon will continue to move eastward and will be near Venus tomorrow.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The moon and the Pleiades on April 23rd at 10 p.m. Created using Stellarium.
Note that Stellarium shows a photograph for the Pleiades. The blue reflection nebula is not visible to the eye, and the stars of the Pleiades aren’t that bright in comparison to the moon.
04/20/2012 – Ephemeris – The Lyrid meteor shower peaks this weekend.
Ephemeris for Friday, April 20th. The sun rises at 6:49. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 45 minutes, setting at 8:34. The moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 6:41 tomorrow morning.
The Lyrid meteor shower is reaching a peak soon. With the nearly new moon, the moon will not interfere with the display. While this a major annual shower, it usually produces only 15 meteors an hour at peak, although in some years as many as 90 an hour have been spotted. The Lyrids are so named because the seem to come from the direction of the constellation Lyra the harp, one of the more famous summer constellations. Well, they seen to come from between Lyra and Hercules to the west. The peak of the shower occurs just after midnight on Sunday morning the 22nd. The radiant point is up all night. In the evening the meteors will come from the northeast from near the bright star Vega. The numbers of meteors will increase through the night until dawn.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Lyrid meteor radiant. The bright star is Vega
04/19/2012 – Ephemeris – Stories of Leo the lion
Ephemeris for Thursday, April 19th. The sun rises at 6:50. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 8:32. The moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 6:13 tomorrow morning.
The constellation of Leo the lion is seen in the south at 10 p.m. Mars lies on its underside just left of Leo’s brightest star Regulus. Regulus lies at the bottom of a backwards question mark of stars that are his head and mane. To the left beyond Mars is a triangle of stars that are his haunches. As the lion is the kink of beasts it is fitting that its brightest star Regulus means “Little King Star”. It was thought in ancient Egypt that the heat of summer, when the sun was in Leo drove the lions to drink the waters of the Nile. The lion was also the symbol of the Israelite tribe of Judah, from Jacob’s prophesy in Genesis, and may have played a part in the origin of the Star of Bethlehem. One Egyptian philosopher thought the sun was in Leo at the creation of the world.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Leo and Mars at 10 p.m. on April 19, 2012 Created using Stellarium.
04/18/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets tonight?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 18th. The sun rises at 6:52. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 39 minutes, setting at 8:31. The moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 5:47 tomorrow morning.
Let’s see what’s happening with the bright planets for this week. Jupiter has dropped far below brilliant Venus in the west, since their apparent paths crossed a month and a half ago. Jupiter will set at 10:03 p.m. followed by Venus at 12:39 a.m. Venus is 49.6 million miles away and closing. Mars is high in the south in the evening with its unmistakable bright reddish color. It’s in the constellation Leo the lion now. It is 79.4 million miles from us and moving away. Mars will pass due south at 10:18 p.m. and will be setting in the west at 5:15 a.m. Saturn will be rising in the east southeast as twilight fades tonight just to the left of the bright star Spica. It will pass due south at 1:32 a.m. All the bright planets except Mercury are now visible in the evening.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The sky and the evening planets at 9:30 p.m. on April 18, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 