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Archive for September, 2019

09/04/2019 – Ephemeris – Looking for the bright planets this week

September 4, 2019 Comments off

Ephemeris for Wednesday, September 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 8:14, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:09. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 11:32 this evening.

Let’s look at the planets for this week. Mars, Venus and Mercury are too close to the Sun to be seen. Venus and Mercury are on the evening or east side of the Sun, Mars is on the west or morning side. Bright Jupiter will be in the south-southwestern sky as it gets dark. With steadily held binoculars a few of the 4 largest satellites of Jupiter can be seen. Three of the four of Jupiter’s Galilean satellites can be spotted in telescopes early this evening tonight. However the innermost moon Io will move from in front of the planet at 10:15 p.m. Jupiter will set at 12:11 a.m. Saturn, the ringed planet, will be in the southern sky in the evening. It will pass the meridian, due south at 9:48 p.m. and will set at 2:14 a.m.

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

Addendum

Evening Planets

Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon with the bright stars of the southern summer sky at 10 p.m. September 4, 2019. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.

Binocular Moon

The crescent Moon as it might appear in binoculars or a small telescope tonight at 10 p.m. September 4, 2019. Created using Stellarium.

Telescopic planets

Telescopic views of Jupiter and Saturn with the same magnification at 10 p.m. September 4, 2019. Io started a transit at 8:03 p.m. or 0:03 tomorrow UT, not visible from here. The shadow begins to cross Jupiter at 9:21 p.m., 01:21 UT. The transit ends at 10:15 p.m., 2:15 UT. The shadow leaves the planet at 11:33 p.m., 3:33 UT. The moons are much dimmer than what shows here so spotting the moon and shadow against the face of Jupiter is difficult. The Great Red Spot will cross Jupiter’s central meridian at 10:17 p.m., 2:17 UT.  Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

Planets and the Moon on a single night

Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on September 4, 2019. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 5th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Planets Tags: , , , , ,

09/03/2019 – Ephemeris – Yesterday and today conjunctions of Mars and Mercury with the Sun

September 3, 2019 Comments off

Ephemeris for Tuesday, September 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 8:16, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:08. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 10:59 this evening.

Yesterday morning Mars passed in conjunction with the Sun. For astronomers Mars was either just north or south of the Sun. In this case it was north of the Sun, moving from the evening or east side of the Sun to the west or morning side. Later this evening Mercury will pass in superior conjunction with the Sun. Mercury, being an inferior planet, that is one whose orbit is within Earth’s orbit of the Sun can pass between the Earth and the Sun in what we call an inferior conjunction or around the back side of the Sun in superior conjunction. In doing so Mercury is moving from the morning to the evening sky. Today the SOHO satellite will show both planets, the Sun and even Venus in its coronagraph.

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

Addendum

Mars in the C2 coronagraph

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) LASCO C2 Coronagraph image of the solar atmosphere at 8:24 p.m. September 2, 2019. A disk, called an occulting disk covers the bright Sun. The white circle is the size of the Sun’s photosphere. The white dot just about directly above the Sun is Mars, which is slowly heading to the right (west).

Venus and Mercury in the C2 coronagraph

SOHO LASCO C3 Coronagraph image of the solar atmosphere at 8:14 p.m. September 2, 2019. A disk, called an occulting disk covers the bright Sun. The white circle is the size of the Sun’s photosphere. Venus is the bright object to the left. It passed superior conjunction of the Sun back on September 14th. Mercury is just to the upper right of the occulting disk.  Both planets are heading to the left (east).

Categories: Conjunction, Ephemeris Program Tags: , , ,

09/02/2019 – Ephemeris – Previewing September Skies

September 2, 2019 Comments off

Ephemeris for Labor Day, Monday, September 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 8:18, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:07. The Moon, half way from new to first quarter, will set at 10:29 this evening.

Let’s look at to the skies of September which started yesterday. The Sun will moving at its greatest speed in its retreat to the south. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area will drop from 13 hours and 11 minutes today to 11 hours 46 minutes on the 30th. The altitude of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 53 degrees today, and will descend to 42 degrees on the 30th. The Straits area will see the Sun a degree lower. The season of summer is getting short, so enjoy it while you can. Summer ends and autumn begins at 3:49 a.m. on September 23rd. Mars is in conjunction with the Sun today and Mercury will be in conjunction with the Sun tomorrow.

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

Addendum

September Evening Star Chart

September Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for September 2019 (10 p.m. EDT September 15, 2019). Click on image to  enlarge.Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EDT in the evening and 5 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian, West 75° longitude. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.

September Morning Star Chart

September Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for September mornings 2019 (6 a.m. EDT September 15, 2019). Click on image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.

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.
  • Leaky dipper drips on Leo.
  • Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus.
  • The Summer Triangle is in red.

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

EDT
Traverse City Morning twilight Evening twilight Dark night Moon
Date Astro. Nautical Nautical Astro. Start End Illum.
2019-09-01 5h25m 6h04m 21h29m 22h08m 22h08m 5h25m 0.08
2019-09-02 5h27m 6h05m 21h27m 22h05m 22h29m 5h27m 0.17
2019-09-03 5h28m 6h06m 21h25m 22h03m 23h00m 5h28m 0.27
2019-09-04 5h30m 6h08m 21h23m 22h01m 23h33m 5h30m 0.37
2019-09-05 5h31m 6h09m 21h21m 21h59m – 5h31m 0.48
2019-09-06 5h33m 6h10m 21h19m 21h56m 0h10m 5h33m 0.59
2019-09-07 5h35m 6h12m 21h17m 21h54m 0h52m 5h35m 0.69
2019-09-08 5h36m 6h13m 21h15m 21h52m 1h40m 5h36m 0.78
2019-09-09 5h38m 6h14m 21h13m 21h50m 2h32m 5h38m 0.86
2019-09-10 5h39m 6h16m 21h11m 21h48m 3h29m 5h39m 0.92
2019-09-11 5h41m 6h17m 21h09m 21h45m 4h29m 5h41m 0.92
2019-09-12 5h42m 6h18m 21h07m 21h43m 5h30m 5h42m 0.96
2019-09-13 5h43m 6h20m 21h05m 21h41m – – 0.99
2019-09-14 5h45m 6h21m 21h03m 21h39m – – 1
2019-09-15 5h46m 6h22m 21h01m 21h37m – – 0.99
2019-09-16 5h48m 6h23m 20h59m 21h35m – – 0.96
2019-09-17 5h49m 6h25m 20h57m 21h33m 21h33m 21h45m 0.91
2019-09-18 5h51m 6h26m 20h55m 21h30m 21h30m 22h11m 0.85
2019-09-19 5h52m 6h27m 20h53m 21h28m 21h28m 22h42m 0.77
2019-09-20 5h53m 6h29m 20h51m 21h26m 21h26m 23h19m 0.67
2019-09-21 5h55m 6h30m 20h49m 21h24m 21h24m – 0.57
2019-09-22 5h56m 6h31m 20h47m 21h22m 21h22m 0h03m 0.46
2019-09-23 5h57m 6h32m 20h45m 21h20m 21h20m 0h57m 0.35
2019-09-24 5h59m 6h34m 20h43m 21h18m 21h18m 2h01m 0.24
2019-09-25 6h00m 6h35m 20h41m 21h16m 21h16m 3h12m 0.14
2019-09-26 6h01m 6h36m 20h39m 21h14m 21h14m 4h30m 0.07
2019-09-27 6h03m 6h37m 20h37m 21h12m 21h12m 5h49m 0.02
2019-09-28 6h04m 6h39m 20h35m 21h10m 21h10m 6h04m 0
2019-09-29 6h05m 6h40m 20h33m 21h08m 21h08m 6h05m 0.01
2019-09-30 6h07m 6h41m 20h32m 21h06m 21h06m 6h07m 0.06

Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2018/09/27/.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

     Date   Time    Event
Sep  1 Su           Venus: 5.2° E
     2 Mo  6:18 am  Mars Conjunction
     3 Tu  9:26 pm  Mercury Superior Conj.
     5 Th 11:10 pm  First Quarter
     6 Fr  2:52 am  Moon-Jupiter: 2.4° S
     8 Su  5:39 am  Moon South Dec.: 22.5° S
     8 Su  9:53 am  Moon-Saturn: 0°
     8 Su  1:35 pm  Moon Descending Node
    10 Tu  2:18 am  Neptune Opposition
    13 Fr  9:32 am  Moon Apogee: 406400 km
    14 Sa 12:33 am  Full Moon
    20 Fr 12:14 pm  Moon-Aldebaran: 2.8° S
    21 Sa 10:41 pm  Last Quarter
    22 Su  9:54 pm  Moon North Dec.: 22.7° N
    23 Mo  2:30 am  Moon Ascending Node
    23 Mo  3:49 am  Autumnal Equinox
    24 Tu  5:15 pm  Moon-Beehive: 0.4° S
    27 Fr 10:27 pm  Moon Perigee: 357800 km
    28 Sa  2:26 pm  New Moon
    29 Su 12:13 am  Mercury-Spica: 1.3° N
Oct  1 Tu           Venus: 13.1° E

All event times are given for UTC-4 hr: Eastern Daylight Saving Time.

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
 September, 2019    Local time zone: EDT
 +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
 | DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
 |      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
 +=======================================================================+
 |Sun  1| 07:04a  08:19p  13:14 | 09:26p  05:58a |      Set  10:00p   10%|
 |Mon  2| 07:06a  08:18p  13:11 | 09:24p  05:59a |      Set  10:29p   18%|
 |Tue  3| 07:07a  08:16p  13:08 | 09:22p  06:01a |      Set  10:59p   28%|
 |Wed  4| 07:08a  08:14p  13:05 | 09:20p  06:02a |      Set  11:32p   38%|
 |Thu  5| 07:09a  08:12p  13:02 | 09:18p  06:03a |F Qtr Set  12:09a   49%|
 |Fri  6| 07:10a  08:10p  12:59 | 09:15p  06:05a |      Set  12:52a   59%|
 |Sat  7| 07:11a  08:08p  12:56 | 09:13p  06:06a |      Set  01:39a   69%|
 +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
 |Sun  8| 07:13a  08:07p  12:53 | 09:11p  06:07a |      Set  02:32a   77%|
 |Mon  9| 07:14a  08:05p  12:50 | 09:09p  06:09a |      Set  03:29a   85%|
 |Tue 10| 07:15a  08:03p  12:47 | 09:07p  06:10a |      Set  04:29a   91%|
 |Wed 11| 07:16a  08:01p  12:44 | 09:05p  06:11a |      Set  05:29a   96%|
 |Thu 12| 07:17a  07:59p  12:41 | 09:03p  06:13a |      Set  06:30a   99%|
 |Fri 13| 07:19a  07:57p  12:38 | 09:01p  06:14a |      Set  07:31a  100%|
 |Sat 14| 07:20a  07:55p  12:35 | 08:59p  06:15a |Full  Rise 08:36p   99%|
 +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
 |Sun 15| 07:21a  07:53p  12:32 | 08:57p  06:17a |      Rise 08:58p   97%|
 |Mon 16| 07:22a  07:51p  12:29 | 08:55p  06:18a |      Rise 09:21p   93%|
 |Tue 17| 07:23a  07:50p  12:26 | 08:53p  06:19a |      Rise 09:45p   87%|
 |Wed 18| 07:24a  07:48p  12:23 | 08:51p  06:21a |      Rise 10:11p   80%|
 |Thu 19| 07:26a  07:46p  12:20 | 08:49p  06:22a |      Rise 10:42p   71%|
 |Fri 20| 07:27a  07:44p  12:17 | 08:47p  06:23a |      Rise 11:19p   62%|
 |Sat 21| 07:28a  07:42p  12:14 | 08:45p  06:24a |L Qtr Rise 12:03a   51%|
 +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
 |Sun 22| 07:29a  07:40p  12:10 | 08:43p  06:26a |      Rise 12:57a   40%|
 |Mon 23| 07:30a  07:38p  12:07 | 08:41p  06:27a |      Rise 02:01a   30%|
 |Tue 24| 07:32a  07:36p  12:04 | 08:40p  06:28a |      Rise 03:13a   20%|
 |Wed 25| 07:33a  07:34p  12:01 | 08:38p  06:29a |      Rise 04:30a   11%|
 |Thu 26| 07:34a  07:33p  11:58 | 08:36p  06:31a |      Rise 05:49a    5%|
 |Fri 27| 07:35a  07:31p  11:55 | 08:34p  06:32a |      Rise 07:09a    1%|
 |Sat 28| 07:36a  07:29p  11:52 | 08:32p  06:33a |New   Set  07:56p    0%|
 +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
 |Sun 29| 07:38a  07:27p  11:49 | 08:30p  06:34a |      Set  08:25p    2%|
 |Mon 30| 07:39a  07:25p  11:46 | 08:28p  06:36a |      Set  08:55p    7%|
 +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
 * Nautical Twilight
 ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset

Generated using my LookingUp for DOS program.

 

 

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Month preview