Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Friday, October 18th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 6:53, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:03. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 9:59 this evening.

For those with the advantage of a low northeastern horizon, will see a bright star slowly rising, much slower than the stars in the east, or notice its change in position from night to night, moving in the northeast. The star is Capella, northernmost of the bright winter stars. It never quite sets for locations north of the latitude of Ludington (44° N), meaning it’s circumpolar like the Big Dipper. It’s slow motion, due to its position close to the north pole of the sky sometimes makes it seem odd. I’ve gotten several calls about it over the years. Capella is the brightest star in the constellation Auriga the charioteer, a constellation I see as a pentagon, with a small triangle of three stars on one side.

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

Addendum

Capella rising animation at half hour intervals from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. October 18th. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.