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10/31/2017 – Ephemeris – Previewing November skies
Ephemeris for Halloween, Tuesday, October 31st. The Sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 6:32. The Moon, half way from first quarter to full, will set at 4:58 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look ahead at the skies for the month of November. The sun is still moving south rapidly. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will drop from 10 hours and 10 minutes tomorrow to 9 hours 5 minutes on the 30th. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be at 30 degrees tomorrow and will descend to 23 and a half degrees on the 30th. The altitude of the Sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower. Local noon, this month, is about 12:30 p.m.
The Leonid meteor shower will reach a peak on the 16th and again on the 17th and is expected to be lackluster and will peak in our afternoon both days, and may only produce 10 meteors per hour.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
November Evening Sky Chart
Star Chart for November 2017 (9 p.m. November 15, 2017). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EDT in the evening and 6 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian. during EDT and 45 minutes behind our daylight standard time meridian. during EST). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes (Daylight Time) or 45 minutes (Standard Time) earlier than the current time if you are near your time meridian.
Note the chart times of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. are for the 15th. For each week before the 15th add ½ hour. For each week after the 15th subtract ½ hour. The planet positions are updated each Wednesday on this blog. For planet positions on dates other than the 15th, check the Wednesday planet posts on this blog.
November Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for November 2017 mornings based on 6 a.m. November 15th. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus and
- Follow the spike to Spica
- The Summer Triangle is in red
- LeoR is the Leonid meteor shower radiant. Peaks on November 16th and 17th.
Twilight
Evening nautical twilight ends at 7:39 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 6:16 p.m. EST on the 30th.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 8:13 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 6:51 p.m. EST on the 30th.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 6:47 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 6:19 a.m. EST on the 30th.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 7:21 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 6:55 a.m. EST on the 30th.
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
Date Time Event
Nov 01 We Venus: 16.8° W
02 Th 8:58 am Venus-Spica: 3.5° N
04 Sa 12:23 am Full Moon
05 Su 6:22 am South Taurid Shower: ZHR = 5
05 Su 7:09 am Moon Perigee: 361400 km
05 Su 9:19 pm Moon-Aldebaran: 0.7° S
07 Tu 8:28 pm Moon North Dec.: 19.8° N
09 Th 8:58 pm Moon-Beehive: 2.7° N
10 Fr 3:37 pm Last Quarter
10 Fr 5:40 pm Moon Ascending Node
11 Sa 11:07 am Moon-Regulus: 0.4° S
12 Su 5:39 am North Taurid Shower: ZHR = 5
12 Su 12:48 pm Mercury-Antares: 2.2° N
14 Tu 7:40 pm Moon-Mars: 3.4° S
17 Fr 11:56 am Leonid Shower: ZHR = 10
18 Sa 6:42 am New Moon
20 Mo 7:34 am Moon-Saturn: 3.3° S
21 Tu 1:52 pm Moon Apogee: 406100 km
21 Tu 9:06 pm Moon South Dec.: 20° S
23 Th 6:59 pm Mercury Elongation: 22° E
25 Sa 3:22 am Moon Descending Node
26 Su 12:03 pm First Quarter
29 We 9:27 am Mars-Spica: 3.1° N
Dec 01 Fr Venus: 9.4° W
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html
If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year
or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC November, 2017 Local time zone: EDT +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM | | | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN| +=======================================================================+ |Wed 1| 08:21a 06:31p 10:09 | 07:36p 07:16a | Set 06:08a 93%| |Thu 2| 08:22a 06:29p 10:07 | 07:34p 07:17a | Set 07:21a 98%| |Fri 3| 08:23a 06:28p 10:04 | 07:33p 07:18a | Set 08:36a 100%| |Sat 4| 08:25a 06:27p 10:01 | 07:32p 07:19a |Full Rise 07:18p 99%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ | EST | Time Change | | | |Sun 5| 07:26a 05:25p 09:59 | 06:31p 06:21a | Rise 07:01p 95%| |Mon 6| 07:27a 05:24p 09:56 | 06:30p 06:22a | Rise 07:52p 89%| |Tue 7| 07:29a 05:23p 09:53 | 06:29p 06:23a | Rise 08:49p 80%| |Wed 8| 07:30a 05:22p 09:51 | 06:27p 06:24a | Rise 09:52p 70%| |Thu 9| 07:32a 05:20p 09:48 | 06:26p 06:25a | Rise 10:59p 60%| |Fri 10| 07:33a 05:19p 09:46 | 06:25p 06:27a |L Qtr Rise 12:07a 48%| |Sat 11| 07:34a 05:18p 09:43 | 06:24p 06:28a | Rise 01:15a 38%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 12| 07:36a 05:17p 09:41 | 06:24p 06:29a | Rise 02:21a 28%| |Mon 13| 07:37a 05:16p 09:38 | 06:23p 06:30a | Rise 03:26a 19%| |Tue 14| 07:38a 05:15p 09:36 | 06:22p 06:31a | Rise 04:30a 12%| |Wed 15| 07:40a 05:14p 09:34 | 06:21p 06:33a | Rise 05:32a 6%| |Thu 16| 07:41a 05:13p 09:31 | 06:20p 06:34a | Rise 06:34a 2%| |Fri 17| 07:42a 05:12p 09:29 | 06:19p 06:35a | Rise 07:34a 0%| |Sat 18| 07:44a 05:11p 09:27 | 06:19p 06:36a |New Set 05:48p 0%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 19| 07:45a 05:10p 09:25 | 06:18p 06:37a | Set 06:24p 2%| |Mon 20| 07:46a 05:09p 09:23 | 06:17p 06:38a | Set 07:04p 6%| |Tue 21| 07:48a 05:09p 09:21 | 06:17p 06:40a | Set 07:50p 11%| |Wed 22| 07:49a 05:08p 09:19 | 06:16p 06:41a | Set 08:39p 17%| |Thu 23| 07:50a 05:07p 09:17 | 06:16p 06:42a | Set 09:33p 25%| |Fri 24| 07:51a 05:07p 09:15 | 06:15p 06:43a | Set 10:31p 34%| |Sat 25| 07:53a 05:06p 09:13 | 06:15p 06:44a | Set 11:31p 43%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 26| 07:54a 05:05p 09:11 | 06:14p 06:45a |F Qtr Set 12:33a 53%| |Mon 27| 07:55a 05:05p 09:09 | 06:14p 06:46a | Set 01:38a 63%| |Tue 28| 07:56a 05:04p 09:08 | 06:13p 06:47a | Set 02:45a 73%| |Wed 29| 07:57a 05:04p 09:06 | 06:13p 06:48a | Set 03:54a 82%| |Thu 30| 07:59a 05:03p 09:04 | 06:13p 06:49a | Set 05:07a 90%| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ * Nautical Twilight ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise
10/30/2017 – Ephemeris – Halloween preview: The Ghoul Star
Ephemeris for Monday, October 30th. The Sun will rise at 8:17. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 6:33. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 3:50 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow night is the spookiest night of the year, so lets preview the spookiest star of all. It’s Algol, from Ghoul Star or Demon Star. The Chinese had a name for it that meant ‘piled up corpses’. It’s the second brightest star in the constellation Perseus the hero, rising in the northeast this evening. The star is located where artists have drawn the severed head of Medusa, whom he had slain. Medusa was so ugly that she turned all who gazed upon her to stone. Algol is her still glittering eye. Astronomers finally found out what was wrong with Algol. It does a slow 6 hour wink every two days 21 hours, because it is two stars that eclipse each other. It began to dip this morning just before sunrise and it will again centered on 11:41 p.m. Friday night.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Perseus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda with Algol finder animation for Autumn evenings. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Animation of an eclipsing binary star like Algol. Credit: Wikimedia Commons h/t Earth and Sky
10/27/2017 – Ephemeris – Tomorrow night is International Observe the Moon Night in downtown Traverse City
Ephemeris for Friday, October 27th. The Sun will rise at 8:13. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 24 minutes, setting at 6:38. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 12:44 tomorrow morning.
The annual International Observe the Moon Night will be observed this Saturday evening. Members of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will be stationed on the north side of the 200 block of East Front Street. Starting at 7 p.m. near Orvis Streamside and will be moving our telescopes eastward from time to time to keep up with the westward sinking motion of the Moon over the single story buildings to the south as long as we can. The moon will be a day past first quarter with lots of craters and lunar seas visible in telescopes. The society will also have some giveaway items from NASA for the young and not so young. The event will be canceled due to heavy overcast or other inclement weather.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Moon about as it would appear tomorrow night, October 28, 2017 at 8 p.m. Credit: NASA/Ernie Wright.
10/26/2017 – Ephemeris – Jupiter at perihelion and 96P/Comet Machholz 1 rounds the Sun
Ephemeris for Thursday, October 26th. The Sun will rise at 8:12. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 27 minutes, setting at 6:39. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 11:48 this evening. | Today at 2:02 in the afternoon the planet Jupiter will be in conjunction with the Sun, moving from east to west with respect to the Sun. Leaving the evening sky to enter the morning sky. While invisible from the Earth’s surface. There are cameras recording the Sun at all times that will also pick up Jupiter. Two on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory perched a million miles sunward of the Earth. are chronagraphs, and contain disks that block out the light of the Sun creating total eclipses. The planet will pass above or north of the Sun. The easiest way to find these images is to go to spaceweather.com, go down to the link section and select Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and click on The Sun Now. The images to check out at the two LASCO images.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The current LASCO C3 image at this blog’s posting time Credit: ESA/NASA/SOHO.
Jupiter is about to be covered by the LASCO C3 coronagraph’s occulting disk. It will still be visible in the C2 field. As an extra bonus Comet 96P/Machholz entered the LASCO C3 field of view on the 25th and will exit on the 30th.
To follow Jupiter’s progress check out these animated GIFs: https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/LATEST/current_c3.gif and https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/LATEST/current_c2.gif.
Note that these animations will be current as of the date you click on them.
10/25/2017 – Ephemeris – Looking for the bright planets
Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 25th. The Sun will rise at 8:11. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 6:41. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 10:56 this evening.
Let’s take our weekly look at the bright planets. Jupiter, will leave the evening sky and enter the morning sky tomorrow as it moves behind the Sun though not directly behind. Saturn is sinking lower in the southwestern sky in the evening. Saturn’s rings are still spectacular in telescopes, but since Saturn is so low in the sky the turbulence of the thick atmosphere makes Saturn fuzzy and seemingly to go in and out of focus. Saturn will set at 9:27 p.m.
Tomorrow in the morning sky, Mars, heading away from the Sun will rise in the east at 5:29 a.m., Venus, is heading closer to the Sun, will rise at 6:34 in the east. Mercury has moved into the evening sky 10 days ago, but will not be easily visible even at its greatest elongation a month from now.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Saturn and the Moon at 8 p.m., October 25, 2017. Created using Stellarium
Saturn and Titan as it might be seen in a telescope. October 25, 2017. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
The Moon as it might be seen in binoculars at 8 p.m., October 25, 2017. Created using Stellarium.
Mars and Venus at 7:30 a.m. October 26, 2017. Create using Stellarium.
Planets at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on October 25, 2017. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 26th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
10/24/2017 – Ephemeris – Saturn and the Moon tonight
Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 24th. The Sun will rise at 8:09. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 6:42. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 10:09 this evening.
The crescent Moon will be in the southwest as it gets dark tonight. The planet Saturn will appear below and to the right of our satellite. Saturn has those gorgeous rings, which are visible at as low as 20 power scopes and hinted at lower magnifications. The Moon shows a fat crescent with two whole gray seas, Crises, nearest the limb, and below Fertility. Partially illuminated are Tranquility above and the small sea of Nectar. At the bottom end of that small sea is a horse shoe shaped crater called Fracastorius. It looks like the lava welling up from the Nectar asteroid impact washed down the walls of Fracastorius. The bottom part of the Moon is the lunar highlands of brighter rugged craters.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Moon and Saturn at 8 p.m. October 24, 2017. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon at 8 p.m. October 24, 2017 as it might be seen in binoculars. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas.
10/23/2017 – Ephemeris – The loneliest star in the sky
Ephemeris for Monday, 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, half way from new to first quarter, will set at 9:27 this evening.
There’s a bright star that appears for only seven and a half hours on autumn evenings from northern Michigan. It’s appearance, low in the south at around 10:30 p.m. tonight, is a clear indication of the autumn season. The star’s name is Fomalhaut, which means fish’s mouth. That’s fitting because it’s in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish. At our latitude it’s kind of the fish that got away, because Fomalhaut appears to be quite alone low in the sky. The faintness of the constellation’s other stars and location close to the horizon make the dim stars hard to spot. The earth’s thick atmosphere near the horizon reduces their brightness by a factor of two or more, so Fomalhaut, one of the brightest stars in the sky, keeps a lonely vigil in the south.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Fomalhaut in the south at 9:30 p.m. on October 23, 2017. Created using Stellarium.
10/20/2017 – Ephemeris – Last star party at Sleeping Bear Dunes this year is tomorrow night
Ephemeris for Friday, October 20th. The Sun will rise at 8:04. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 6:49. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 7:43 this evening.
A star party celebrating the 47th anniversary of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will be held tomorrow evening, October 21 2017, starting at 8 p.m. at the Dune Climb if it’s clear. This is a change in location from some of the earlier notifications. It will be hosted by the Park Rangers and the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society. The society invites all to come, especially those with telescopes willing to share the wonders of the Milky Way, which will span the skies from horizon to horizon. The park has one of the darkest skies in the Lower Peninsula, and the Milky Way is especially impressive in late summer and early autumn. Please call 231-326-4700, ext. 5005 if in doubt about weather conditions. A decision will be made by 2 hours before the event.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
10/19/2017 – Ephemeris – Bits of Halley’s Comet will rain down on Earth this weekend
Ephemeris for Thursday, October 19th. The Sun will rise at 8:03. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 47 minutes, setting at 6:50. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
The Orionid meteor shower is ramping up. This is the second of two visits of bits of Halley’s* comet this year, and every year, really. These are particles shed by the comet in past visits to the inner solar system. They are pretty much evenly strewn out along its orbit. The comet itself is now out past Neptune, and will reach aphelion, its farthest distance from the Sun around 2024, poised to head back to the inner solar system in 2061. It was last spotted in 2003 when it was just inside Neptune’s orbit. Anyway the Orionid meteors will appear to come from above the left side of constellation of Orion, about where the tip of his club is. They are best seen this weekend, in the early morning sky, with a possible 20 per hour visible.
Orionid meteor shower Saturday a.m.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location
* A contemporary of Edmund Halley, Samuel Pepys, spelled his name Hawley. We presume he pronounced it that way.
Addendum
The Orionid meteor shower radiant at 5 a.m. October 21, 2017. The radiant rises at 11 p.m., so the meteors will be visible from then into morning twilight. Dispite the lication of the radiant, the meteors will b e seen all over the sky. However true Orionids can be traced back to the radiant point. Created using Stellarium.
10/18/2017 – Ephemeris – Our weekly look at the naked eye planets
Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 18th. The Sun will rise at 8:01. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 6:52. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 7:39 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our weekly look at the bright planets. Jupiter, for all intents and purposes is gone from the evening sky. It will cross into the morning sky next week Thursday. Saturn too is sinking lower in the southwestern sky in the evening. Saturn’s rings are still spectacular in telescopes, but since Saturn is so low in the sky the turbulence of the thick atmosphere makes Saturn fuzzy and seemingly to go in and out of focus. Saturn will set at 9:52 p.m.
Tomorrow in the morning sky, Mars, heading away from the Sun will rise in the east at 5:33 a.m., Venus, is heading closer to the Sun, will rise at 6:16 in the east. Mercury has moved into the evening sky 10 days ago, but will not be easily visible even at its greatest elongation a month from now.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Saturn and the constellations of the evening tonight at 8:00 p.m., October 18, 2017. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn and its brightest moons on the evening of October 18, 2017. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Mars and Venus at 7 a.m. October 19, 2017. Create using Stellarium.
Planets at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on October 18, 2017. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 19th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 