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10/22/2013 – Ephemeris – Misinformation about Comet ISON: It ain’t Nibiru
Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 22nd. The sun will rise at 8:07. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 38 minutes, setting at 6:45. The moon, half way from full to last quarter, will rise at 9:19 this evening.
Don’t believe a lot of what you hear about Comet ISON from friends or the Internet. YouTube, for instance, has some good information, and some really nutty stuff. A couple of items to debunk right here. No, Comet ISON is not the rogue planet Nibiru. Nibiru was a Babylonian astronomical term, probably for the summer solstice point in the sky, not a planet. Ill-informed people want to frighten you by attaching the name to about any bright comet that comes along. I can tell because their knowledge of astronomical terms and planetary orbits is way off base. While the head of a comet can swell up to be greater than the size of the earth, it’s still a pretty good vacuum. We’ve sent spacecraft into cometary heads which have all survived.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
10/23/2013 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets and Comet ISON for this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 23rd. The sun will rise at 8:08. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 35 minutes, setting at 6:44. The moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:08 this evening.
Time again to check out the bright planets. Venus is brilliant in the west southwest after sunset. It will set at 8:44 p.m. The next planetary action will have to wait till after 11 p.m. The giant planet Jupiter will rise at 11:21 p.m. in the east northeast. It’s cruising against the stars of Gemini now. It will pass due south at 6:57 a.m. Mars will rise at 3:14 a.m. also in the east northeast. Reddish Mars is below and left of the slightly brighter star Regulus in Leo now. It’s in the east at 6 a.m. Comet ISON is a bit less than half the distance below Mars that Mars is below Regulus and in line with the two. The bright moon will interfere with spotting it. My guesstimate for magnitude is about 9.5, probably visible in telescopes if the moon wasn’t out.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum:
Venus low in the west southwest at 7:30 p.m. on October 23, 2013. Created using Stellarium
Jupiter, Mars and the Moon with the Winter and some spring constellations at 6:30 a.m. on October 24, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
The moon’s phase the morning of October 24, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Mars and Comet ISON daily track from October 24th to the 30th, 2013. Be sure to match Mars dates with the comet dates. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 