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11/30/2017 – Ephemeris – Previewing December skies
Ephemeris for Thursday, November 30th. The Sun will rise at 7:58. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 5:03. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 5:07 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow starts the last month of the 2017. We are now in the holiday season and about to celebrate the southernmost travel of the Sun in the sky and its return northward. The Sun will stop its travel south, the winter solstice on the 21st at 11:29 a.m. That will make that day the shortest day in terms of daylight hours. However the earliest sunset and latest sunrise don’t coincide with that date. The reason is the Earth is closer to the sun than average and moving faster in its orbit of the sun than it normally does. It skews the sunrise and sunset times, making them later than they would be on average. That makes the sunset times bottom out about December 9th. at 5:02 p.m. And that latest sunrise will top out on January 2nd at 8:20 a.m.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
December Evening Sky Chart
Star Chart for December 2017 (9 p.m. December 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.
December Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for December 2017 mornings based on 6 a.m. December 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.
- The Summer Triangle is in red
- GemR is the Geminid meteor shower radiant. Peaks on December 14th, the Moon will not interfere this year.
Twilight
Evening nautical twilight ends at 6:16 p.m. EST on the 1st, decreasing to 6:21 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 6:51 p.m. EST on the 1st, decreasing to 6:56 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 6:20 a.m. EST on the 1st, and increasing to 6:35 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 6:56 a.m. EST on the 1st, and increasing to 7:10 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
Date Time Event
Dec 01 Fr Venus: 9.4° W
03 Su 8:00 am Moon-Aldebaran: 0.8° S
03 Su 10:47 am Full Moon
04 Mo 3:42 am Moon Perigee: 357500 km
05 Tu 6:43 am Moon North Dec.: 20° N
07 Th 4:30 am Moon-Beehive: 2.5° N
07 Th 7:39 pm Moon Ascending Node
08 Fr 5:25 pm Moon-Regulus: 0.7° S
10 Su 2:51 am Last Quarter
12 Tu 8:40 pm Mercury Inferior Conjunction with the Sun
13 We 11:27 am Moon-Mars: 4.5° S
14 Th 1:07 am Geminid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 120!
14 Th 9:26 am Moon-Jupiter: 4.7° S
18 Mo 1:31 am New Moon
18 Mo 8:27 am Moon Apogee: 406600 km
19 Tu 4:31 am Moon South Dec.: 20.1° S
21 Th 11:29 am Winter Solstice
21 Th 3:18 pm Saturn Conjunction with the Sun
22 Fr 5:04 am Moon Descending Node
22 Fr 10:00 am Ursid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 10
Note: The Ursid radiant is near the Little Dipper’s
bowl
26 Tu 4:20 am First Quarter
30 Sa 7:25 pm Moon-Aldebaran: 0.7° S
Jan 01 Mo Venus: 1.9° 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 an entire year
or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC December, 2017 Local time zone: EST +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM | | | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN| +=======================================================================+ |Fri 1| 08:00a 05:03p 09:03 | 06:12p 06:50a | Set 06:22a 96%| |Sat 2| 08:01a 05:03p 09:01 | 06:12p 06:51a | Set 07:38a 99%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 3| 08:02a 05:02p 09:00 | 06:12p 06:52a |Full Rise 05:36p 100%| |Mon 4| 08:03a 05:02p 08:59 | 06:12p 06:53a | Rise 06:32p 97%| |Tue 5| 08:04a 05:02p 08:57 | 06:12p 06:54a | Rise 07:35p 92%| |Wed 6| 08:05a 05:02p 08:56 | 06:12p 06:55a | Rise 08:43p 84%| |Thu 7| 08:06a 05:02p 08:55 | 06:12p 06:56a | Rise 09:54p 75%| |Fri 8| 08:07a 05:02p 08:54 | 06:12p 06:57a | Rise 11:04p 64%| |Sat 9| 08:08a 05:02p 08:53 | 06:12p 06:58a | Rise 12:13a 54%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 10| 08:09a 05:02p 08:52 | 06:12p 06:59a |L Qtr Rise 01:19a 43%| |Mon 11| 08:10a 05:02p 08:51 | 06:12p 06:59a | Rise 02:23a 33%| |Tue 12| 08:11a 05:02p 08:51 | 06:12p 07:00a | Rise 03:25a 24%| |Wed 13| 08:11a 05:02p 08:50 | 06:12p 07:01a | Rise 04:27a 16%| |Thu 14| 08:12a 05:02p 08:49 | 06:13p 07:02a | Rise 05:27a 10%| |Fri 15| 08:13a 05:02p 08:49 | 06:13p 07:02a | Rise 06:26a 5%| |Sat 16| 08:14a 05:03p 08:49 | 06:13p 07:03a | Rise 07:22a 2%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 17| 08:14a 05:03p 08:48 | 06:14p 07:04a | Rise 08:16a 0%| |Mon 18| 08:15a 05:03p 08:48 | 06:14p 07:04a |New Set 05:46p 1%| |Tue 19| 08:16a 05:04p 08:48 | 06:14p 07:05a | Set 06:34p 3%| |Wed 20| 08:16a 05:04p 08:48 | 06:15p 07:05a | Set 07:27p 6%| |Thu 21| 08:17a 05:05p 08:48 | 06:15p 07:06a | Set 08:23p 12%| |Fri 22| 08:17a 05:05p 08:48 | 06:16p 07:06a | Set 09:22p 19%| |Sat 23| 08:18a 05:06p 08:48 | 06:16p 07:07a | Set 10:22p 27%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 24| 08:18a 05:06p 08:48 | 06:17p 07:07a | Set 11:24p 36%| |Mon 25| 08:18a 05:07p 08:48 | 06:18p 07:08a | Set 12:28a 46%| |Tue 26| 08:19a 05:08p 08:49 | 06:18p 07:08a |F Qtr Set 01:35a 56%| |Wed 27| 08:19a 05:08p 08:49 | 06:19p 07:08a | Set 02:43a 67%| |Thu 28| 08:19a 05:09p 08:50 | 06:20p 07:09a | Set 03:55a 77%| |Fri 29| 08:19a 05:10p 08:50 | 06:20p 07:09a | Set 05:08a 86%| |Sat 30| 08:19a 05:11p 08:51 | 06:21p 07:09a | Set 06:22a 93%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 31| 08:20a 05:12p 08:52 | 06:22p 07:09a | Set 07:32a 98%| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ * Nautical Twilight ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise
11/29/2017 – Ephemeris – The Bright planets this week
Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 29th. The Sun will rise at 7:57. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 7 minutes, setting at 5:04. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 3:54 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our weekly look at the bright planets. Mercury is dropping back to the Sun and is fading as its phase changes to a crescent It will be below and left of Saturn tonight and actually brighter than Saturn. Saturn is sinking low in the southwestern sky. It is becoming harder to spot each evening. Tonight it will set at 6:24 p.m. The morning sky is now host to three planets, though Venus, the brightest will rise at 7:03 this morning and will be fighting twilight as it rises. It’s way on the other side of the Sun, and very tiny in telescopes, though nearly fully illuminated. It’s 156 million miles (251 million km) away. First to rise in the morning is Mars which will rise in the east at 4:07 a.m. tomorrow, Jupiter, will follow and rise at 5:34 a.m. tomorrow.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mercury and Saturn at 5:45 p.m., about 45 minutes after sunset, November 29, 2017. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon as it might be seen in binoculars at 7 p.m., November 29, 2017. Created using Stellarium.
Mars and Jupiter at 7 a.m., November 30, 2017. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its 4 Galilean moons as they might be seen in a telescope at 7 a.m. November 30, 2017. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on November 29, 2017. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 30th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
11/28/2017 – Ephemeris – Though it appears bright, the Moon is pretty dirty
Ephemeris for Tuesday, November 28th. The Sun will rise at 7:56. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 5:04. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 2:44 tomorrow morning.
The Moon tonight is a waxing gibbous phase, and each night until it’s full it will get brighter and brighter, drowning out the fainter stars. The Moon is almost too bright to comfortably view in a telescope. One can get a moon filter for the eyepiece, or wear sunglasses or opt for higher magnification. It is after all daytime on the Moon and it’s essentially the same distance from the Sun as we are. A saving grace is that the Moon isn’t white. It’s a dirty gray, reflecting on average only 13.6 percent of the light it gets from the Sun. Just think how bright it would appear if it were 100% reflective, over 7 times brighter than it appears now. The face of the Moon hasn’t appeared to change at all since before we landed there 48 years ago.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Moon albedo comparison. Actually about 50% vs. 100%. The Moon is less reflectant than that.. Sunday’s super moon image created via Stellarium.
11/27/2017 – Ephemeris – Ross 128b the second closest known exoplanet
Ephemeris for Monday, November 27th. The Sun will rise at 7:54. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 5:05. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 1:37 tomorrow morning.
The second closest exoplanet to the solar system has been discovered. That was earlier this year around a star named Ross 128. It’s name is Ross 128 small letter b. The star Ross 128 is a nearby red dwarf star, whose distance is a shade under 11 light years away, The star is thought to be twice the age of the Sun, We’d be in big trouble if the Sun were that old, but Ross 128 is just getting started. The exoplanet is about 35% more massive than the Earth. It’s distance from the star averages 4.6 million miles and its year is a bit under 10 Earth days. At that rate I’d be over 28 hundred years old. Astronomers don’t know the size or the density of the planet since it doesn’t pass in front of its star. These measurements will have to wait on larger telescopes.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The star Ross 128. It’s actually much fainter than is suggested here in the diagram from Sky and Telescope magazine’s website.. Mars’ position is for November 2017.
11/24/2017 – Ephemeris – Fomalhaut, the loneliest star, has a little buddy
Ephemeris for Friday, November 24th. The Sun will rise at 7:51. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 5:07. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 10:30 this evening.
The lonely bright star low in the south at 8 p.m. these evenings is Fomalhaut the harbinger of autumn in my book, and about to leave as winter approaches. Fomalhaut means fishes mouth and is located at the head of Piscis Austrinus, a very dim constellation. Fomalhaut is a young white star only about 400 million years old with a disk of dust surrounding it. Near an outer dust ring, 15 years ago the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a spot. Four years later astronomers discovered that the spot moved along the dust lane and announced the first direct discovery of an exoplanet. In 2010 and 2012 the planet now dubbed Fomalhaut b or Dagon was observed again and it really does orbit Fomalhaut in a very eccentric orbit.
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 8 p.m. on November evenings. Created using Stellarium.
Fomalhaut b and it’s path around its star. Credit: NASA, ESA, and P. Kalas (University of California, Berkeley and SETI Institute)
11/23/2017 – Ephemeris – Mercury is at it’s greatest eastern elongation tonight
Ephemeris for Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 23rd. The Sun will rise at 7:49. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 17 minutes, setting at 5:07. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 9:33 this evening.
Mercury is going to reach its greatest elongation or apparent separation from the Sun this evening. It will be 22 degrees east of the Sun. Because Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, it is never seen far from it. And because it has the most eccentric orbit of all the planets its greatest elongations are between 17 and 27 degrees from the Sun. Other than that the best times of the year to see Mercury are late winter and early spring evenings and late summer and early autumn mornings. Being an autumn evening means that Mercury is almost too low to spot after sunset. The southern hemisphere is in spring, so Mercury tonight will be much easier seen. Also their best view is when Mercury is farther from the Sun.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
There are rather clinical charts. The horizontal line through the W (western compass point) is the horizon. Grid marks are 10 degrees apart.
Diagram showing the poor placement of Mercury at greatest eastern elongation tonight in autumn from 45 degrees north latitude. Mercury is about 8.5 degrees altitude at sunset. The orange line is the ecliptic, the path pf the Sun on the celestial sphere. Created using Stellarium.
Diagram showing the great placement of Mercury at greatest eastern elongation tonight in southern hemisphere spring from 45 degrees south latitude. Mercury is nearly 19 degrees altitude at sunset. The orange line is the ecliptic, the path pf the Sun on the celestial sphere. Created using Stellarium.
11/22/2017 – Ephemeris – A look at the bright planets for Thanksgiving week
Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 22nd. The Sun will rise at 7:48. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 19 minutes, setting at 5:08. The Moon, half way from new to first quarter, will set at 8:39 this evening.
Let’s take our weekly look at the bright planets. Mercury is briefly visible in binoculars in the southwest in the evening, setting at 6:11 p.m., and will reach it’s greatest elongation from the Sun tomorrow evening. Saturn is sinking low in the southwestern sky. Saturn’s rings are still spectacular in telescopes, but since Saturn is so low in the sky the thick atmosphere makes Saturn fuzzy and seemingly to go in and out of focus. Saturn will set at 6:49 p.m. Tomorrow in the morning sky, Mars, heading away from the Sun will rise in the east at 4:11 a.m., Jupiter, also moving away from the Sun, will rise at in the east-southeast at 5:54 a.m., leaving Venus behind after their conjunction 9 days ago, which will rise at 6:47 a.m..
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mercury, Saturn and the Moon at 5:45 p.m., a bit more than a half hour after sunset, November 22, 2017. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn as it might be seen in a telescope tonight. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Star Charts).
The Moon as it might be seen tonight. Created using Stellarium.
The morning planets Mars, Jupiter and Venus at 7:15 a.m. November 23, 2017, about a half hour before sunrise on a really flat horizon. Created using Stellarium.
Planets at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on November 22, 2017. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 22nd. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
11/21/2017 – Ephemeris – The constellation of the fish has me looking for the fish
Ephemeris for Tuesday, November 21st. The Sun will rise at 7:47. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 5:09. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 7:50 this evening.
High in the south at 8 or 9 p.m. are the four bright stars of the Great Square of Pegasus, the upside down flying horse. Lying along the left and bottom sides of that square is the constellation of Pisces the fish, one of the 12 constellations of the Zodiac that lie along the path of the sun, moon and planets. Even though the constellation is called the fish, the two fish themselves are not represented in the stars, at least that’s how I see it. What can be traced in the stars is the rope, that’s tied to their tails, anchored at the extreme southeastern part of the constellation. The right or western end of the Pisces is the asterism, or informal constellation, of the Circlet. It’s the loop of 5 stars, the rope around the tail of one of the two fish. The other end, without a loop, ends up under Andromeda. Artists have always supplied the fish.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Animated Pisces finder chart base at November 21, at 9 p.m. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
11/20/2017 – Ephemeris – The Moon is near Saturn tonight and the approaching signs of winter
Ephemeris for Monday, November 20th. The Sun will rise at 7:46. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 5:09. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 7:04 this evening.
Tonight the two day old Moon will appear near Saturn. The ringed planet will appear to the left and a bit below the thin crescent Moon before they set about an hour later. The approaching winter season and the resumption of standard time have dropped sunset to 5:09 in the Interlochen/Traverse City area. Our sunset will drop another 11 minutes before slowly recovering 19 days from now. Two to three hours later another sign of the approaching winter season will appear, as the constellation of the giant hunter Orion rises in the east. He is resplendent with his nearly vertical belt of three stars rising, framed to the left and right by the bright stars reddish Betelgeuse and bluish Rigel. He will dominate our evening skies until April.
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 6 p.m. November 20, 2017. Created using Stellarium.
Finder chart for the rising Orion at 9 p.m., November 30, 2017. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
11/17/2017 – Ephemeris – Capricornus the sea-goat
Ephemeris for Friday, November 17th. The Sun will rise at 7:42. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 5:12. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 7:34 tomorrow morning.
This morning, if it’s clear the exceedingly thin crescent Moon will appear to the right of Venus at 7 a.m. or later with Jupiter above them. This evening, however we look to the constellation Capricornus the sea-goat and member of the Zodiac. 2000 years ago the southernmost of the constellations of the zodiac was Capricornus. That’s why the latitude on the earth where the Sun is overhead on the winter solstice is called the Tropic of Capricorn. Not any more, Sagittarius, one constellation west, has that honor today. Capricornus is large, but made up of dim stars. To me it looks like a 45 degree isosceles triangle, long side up, but which all the sides are sagging low in the southwest at 8 p.m. and tilted a bit from the upper left to the lower right The image that is supposed to be represented by the stars is that of a goat whose hind quarters are replaced by a fish’s tail.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter, Venus and the Moon at 7 a.m. November 17, 2017. Created using Stellarium. The Moon’s crescent is too thin to record, however the earth shine glow is and will be visible.
Animated Capricornus finder chart for 9 p.m. November 17, 2017. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 