Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Friday, November 16th.  The sun will rise at 7:41.  It’ll be up for 9 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 5:13.   The moon, 3 days past new, will set at 8:11 this evening.

Midway up the sky in the east northeast at 9 p.m. You will find the bright star Capella.  It is above and left of the bright planet Jupiter.  Capella is located at one corner of a pentagon of stars that is the constellation Auriga the Charioteer.  Capella represents a little she goat, while a slim triangle of stars are her kids.  That triangle is known as the Kids.  Capella is circumpolar for locations north of Ludington, meaning that this winter star doesn’t set, even in summer.  Capella is a close binary star of stars with the same color as the sun, but much brighter.  They orbit each other in 104 days.  It looks like a single star in most telescopes.  Spotting it low on the northern horizon at midnight in July is a reminder that winter will come soon enough.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Capella in Auriga with the Kids at 9 p.m. on November 16, 2012. Created using Stellarium.