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01/23/2015 – Ephemeris – Checking on Comet Lovejoy and the Moon.
Ephemeris for Friday, January 23rd. The sun will rise at 8:11. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 27 minutes, setting at 5:38. The moon, half way from new to first quarter, will set at 9:59 this evening.
The crescent moon is growing brighter but shouldn’t bother binocular views of Comet Lovejoy, now between the Pleiades and the small constellation of Triangulum, a narrow pointy triangle. Tonight only it’s above the crescent Moon. The Moon in binoculars or a small telescope is revealing more of its surface nightly. The Sea of Crises or Mare Crisium is now fully in sunlight and The Sea of Fertility Or Mare Fecunditatis is now half in sunlight, with the odd pair of craters Messier and Messier A right at the terminator near the center of the sea. Check these craters after a few days and an odd ray pattern will appear. Apparently the body or bodies that created them came in at a very low angle and threw material forward in a couple of streaks.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Comet Lovejoy appearing tonight only above the Moon. This is for 8 p.m. January 23, 2015. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts)
The Moon through a telescope at low power. 8 p.m., January 23, 2015. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas and Gimp.
The Craters Messier A and B from Apollo 11. NASA
01/23/2015 – Jupiter will experience three simultaneous total solar eclipses tonight!
Total solar eclipses on Jupiter are nearly a daily occurrence on Jupiter. However what we’ll see is the shadows of the moons crossing the face of the planet. Shadows of the Jovian moons on the fave of Jupiter are difficult to see with small telescopes. The look like tiny inky black dots.
Another way to watch the event is via Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. The link is here. Their event starts at 11:30 p.m. EST because Jupiter rises later there. The email I received from them says the next triple shadow event on Jupiter won’t occur until 2032,
Here’s the schedule: Moons: I = Io, II = Europa, IV = Callisto; SHA = Shadow, Tra = Transit (a moon crossing disk of Jupiter)
Moon Event UT Date hh:mm EST Date Time IV: Sha start: 24 Jan 2015 3:11 23 Jan 2015 10:11 p.m. I: Sha start: 24 Jan 2015 4:36 23 Jan 2015 11:36 p.m. I: Tra start: 24 Jan 2015 4:56 23 Jan 2015 11:56 p.m. IV: Tra start: 24 Jan 2015 6:20 24 Jan 2015 1:20 a.m. II: Sha start: 24 Jan 2015 6:28 24 Jan 2015 1:28 a.m. I: Sha end : 24 Jan 2015 6:53 24 Jan 2015 1:53 a.m. II: Tra start: 24 Jan 2015 7:08 24 Jan 2015 2:08 a.m. I: Tra end : 24 Jan 2015 7:13 24 Jan 2015 2:13 a.m. IV: Sha end : 24 Jan 2015 8:02 24 Jan 2015 3:02 a.m. II: Sha end : 24 Jan 2015 9:23 24 Jan 2015 4:23 a.m. Note: All three shadows will be on Jupiter at the same time from 1:28 to 1:53 a.m. EST. Times provided by the Jevent.exe DOS program downloaded from http://www.projectpluto.com/
Here’s an animation of what the event might look like at half hour intervals look like starting at 9:45 p.m.
Animation of Jupiter’s satellite shadows starting at 9:45 p.m. and ending at 4:45 a.m. Created using Cartes du Ceil Sky Charts) and GIMP. The circle in the center of Jupiter is an artifact of the program. Click for a larger view.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 