Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Monday, September 30th.  The sun will rise at 7:39.  It’ll be up for 11 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 7:24.   The moon, half way from last quarter to new, will rise at 4:07 tomorrow morning.

The stars of the autumn skies slowly are replacing the summer stars from the east.  Look in the northeastern sky by 9 p.m. and you can find the W shaped constellation of Cassiopeia the queen.  Cassiopeia is so far north that it never sets for us in Michigan.  It is opposite the pole star Polaris from the Big Dipper.  There’s a dim star that appears above the middle star of the W which turns the W into a very crooked backed chair.    Cassiopeia, in Greek mythology, represents a queen of ancient Ethiopia, the W represents the profile of her throne.  She enters in to the great autumn story whose other characters are also seen in the stars as the constellations Andromeda, Pegasus, Perseus, Cetus and her husband Cepheus.

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

Addendum

Cassiopeis, in the northeast is opposite Polaris from the Big Dipper. For 9 p.m. on September 30th. Created using Stellarium. Artistic credit: Johan Meuris.  Click to enlarge.