Archive
03/04/2013 – Ephemeris – The Winter Circle
Ephemeris for Monday, March 4th. The sun will rise at 7:14. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 6:34. The moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 2:34 tomorrow morning.
The winter skies are blessed with more first magnitude stars than any other season. Six of these stars lie in a large circle centered on the seventh. This circle is up all evening now that we are in the heart of winter. Starting high overhead is Capella in Auriga the charioteer. Moving clockwise and downward, we come to Aldebaran in the face of Taurus the Bull and brighter nearby Jupiter. Then down to Orion’s knee we find Rigel. Down and left is the brightest star of all Sirius the Dog Star in Canis Major Orion’s large hunting dog, lowest of these stars in the south. Moving up and left there is Procyon in Canis Minor Orion’s other hunting dog, Then above is Pollux in Gemini the twins. All are centered on Betelgeuse in Orion.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Winter Circle and Jupiter for March. Created using Stellarium.
03/01/2013 – Ephemeris – Astronomical events in Traverse City tonight
Ephemeris for Friday, March 1st. The sun will rise at 7:19. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 6:30. The moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 11:16 this evening.
Yours truly will present a talk, about the prospects for viewing Comet PanSTARRS at this evening’s meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory starting at 8 p.m. Comet PanSTARRS will appear low in the western sky starting about March 11th. It is turning out at this point in time to be somewhat dimmer than expected. But one thing about comets is that the do the unexpected. I’ll also look at the asteroid close approach and the destructive Russian meteor. Starting at 9 p.m. Is our February star party at the observatory. Highlights, if its clear will be the planet Jupiter and the wonders of the winter sky including the Great Orion Nebula. All are welcome.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 