Archive
10/03/2019 -Ephemeris – The Moon tonight
Ephemeris for Thursday, October 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 37 minutes, setting at 7:20, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:44. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 10:46 this evening.
The planet Jupiter will appear below and right of the crescent Moon tonight. This evening one of the striking lunar craters will be seen at the sunrise line or terminator on the Moon. The crater might just be glimpsed in steadily held or tripod mounted binoculars, and definitely in a small telescope. The crater is Theophilus, some 61 miles (101 km) in diameter located south of the Sea of Tranquility. At lunar sunrise the central peak of the crater catches the Sun of the lunar sunrise way before the floor is illuminated showing a point of light within the circular crater rim against the black floor of the crater. That should happen before the Moon sets at quarter to 11 p.m. The central peak extends 650 feet (200 m) above the crater walls.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Crater Theophilus on the Moon’s terminator at10 p.m. October 3, 2019, Created using Virtual Moon Atlas.
10/02/2019 – Ephemeris – A look at the bright planets for this week
Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 40 minutes, setting at 7:21, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:42. The Moon, 3 days before first
quarter, will set at 10:04 this evening.
Let’s look at the bright 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 low in the southwestern sky as it gets dark. With steadily held binoculars a few of the 4 largest satellites of Jupiter can be seen. All four: Ganymede, Io and Europa on the east and Callisto far to the west of the planet can be easily spotted in telescopes this evening. Jupiter will set at 10:29 p.m. Saturn, the ringed planet, will be in the south-southwestern sky in the evening, and set at 12:24 a.m. Jupiter is approaching Saturn in our sky. They will cross paths late next year, something they do about every 20 years.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon at 9 p.m. October 2, 2019. Created using Stellarium.
The crescent Moon as it might appear in binoculars or a small telescope tonight at 9 p.m. October 2, 2019. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic views of Jupiter and Saturn with the same magnification at 9 p.m. October 2, 2019. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on October 2, 2019. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 3rd. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
10-01-2019 – Ephemeris – Previewing October skies
Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 43 minutes, setting at 7:23, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:41. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 9:28 this evening.
Let’s look at the skies for the month of October. The sun will still be moving south rapidly. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area will drop from 11 hours and 43 minutes today to 10 hours 14 minutes on the 31st. The altitude of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 42 degrees today, and will descend to 31 degrees on Halloween, also in the Interlochen area. The Straits area will have the Sun a degree lower. Local noon, when the Sun is due south will be about 1:30 p.m. in Interlochen. The planets Saturn and Jupiter will appear low in the southwest in the early evening, and Venus just might be visible low in the west-southwest a half hour after sunset by month’s end.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
October Evening Star Chart
Star Chart for October 2019 (9 p.m. EDT October 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 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, 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.
October Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for October mornings 2019 (6 a.m. EDT October 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.
- DracR – Draconid Radiant – Peak 9th – Zenithal Hourly Rate = 10
- OriR – Orionid Radiant – Peak 22nd – Zenithal Hourly Rate = 20
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| EDT | |||||||
| Traverse City |
Morning twilight | Evening twilight | Dark night | Moon | |||
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2019-10-01 | 6h08m | 6h42m | 20h30m | 21h04m | 21h28m | 6h08m | 0.13 |
| 2019-10-02 | 6h09m | 6h44m | 20h28m | 21h02m | 22h04m | 6h09m | 0.22 |
| 2019-10-03 | 6h11m | 6h45m | 20h26m | 21h00m | 22h46m | 6h11m | 0.32 |
| 2019-10-04 | 6h12m | 6h46m | 20h24m | 20h58m | 23h33m | 6h12m | 0.43 |
| 2019-10-05 | 6h13m | 6h47m | 20h22m | 20h56m | – | 6h13m | 0.53 |
| 2019-10-06 | 6h15m | 6h49m | 20h20m | 20h54m | 0h25m | 6h15m | 0.63 |
| 2019-10-07 | 6h16m | 6h50m | 20h19m | 20h53m | 1h22m | 6h16m | 0.73 |
| 2019-10-08 | 6h17m | 6h51m | 20h17m | 20h51m | 2h21m | 6h17m | 0.81 |
| 2019-10-09 | 6h18m | 6h52m | 20h15m | 20h49m | 3h21m | 6h18m | 0.88 |
| 2019-10-10 | 6h20m | 6h53m | 20h13m | 20h47m | 4h22m | 6h20m | 0.93 |
| 2019-10-11 | 6h21m | 6h55m | 20h12m | 20h45m | 5h23m | 6h21m | 0.93 |
| 2019-10-12 | 6h22m | 6h56m | 20h10m | 20h44m | – | – | 0.97 |
| 2019-10-13 | 6h23m | 6h57m | 20h08m | 20h42m | – | – | 1 |
| 2019-10-14 | 6h25m | 6h58m | 20h06m | 20h40m | – | – | 1 |
| 2019-10-15 | 6h26m | 7h00m | 20h05m | 20h38m | – | – | 0.98 |
| 2019-10-16 | 6h27m | 7h01m | 20h03m | 20h37m | 20h37m | 20h44m | 0.94 |
| 2019-10-17 | 6h28m | 7h02m | 20h01m | 20h35m | 20h35m | 21h18m | 0.89 |
| 2019-10-18 | 6h29m | 7h03m | 20h00m | 20h34m | 20h34m | 21h59m | 0.81 |
| 2019-10-19 | 6h31m | 7h04m | 19h58m | 20h32m | 20h32m | 22h49m | 0.72 |
| 2019-10-20 | 6h32m | 7h06m | 19h57m | 20h30m | 20h30m | 23h48m | 0.62 |
| 2019-10-21 | 6h33m | 7h07m | 19h55m | 20h29m | 20h29m | – | 0.5 |
| 2019-10-22 | 6h34m | 7h08m | 19h54m | 20h27m | 20h27m | 0h55m | 0.39 |
| 2019-10-23 | 6h36m | 7h09m | 19h52m | 20h26m | 20h26m | 2h08m | 0.28 |
| 2019-10-24 | 6h37m | 7h11m | 19h51m | 20h24m | 20h24m | 3h24m | 0.17 |
| 2019-10-25 | 6h38m | 7h12m | 19h49m | 20h23m | 20h23m | 4h42m | 0.09 |
| 2019-10-26 | 6h39m | 7h13m | 19h48m | 20h21m | 20h21m | 6h00m | 0.03 |
| 2019-10-27 | 6h40m | 7h14m | 19h46m | 20h20m | 20h20m | 6h40m | 0 |
| 2019-10-28 | 6h42m | 7h15m | 19h45m | 20h19m | 20h19m | 6h42m | 0 |
| 2019-10-29 | 6h43m | 7h17m | 19h43m | 20h17m | 20h17m | 6h43m | 0.04 |
| 2019-10-30 | 6h44m | 7h18m | 19h42m | 20h16m | 20h36m | 6h44m | 0.09 |
| 2019-10-31 | 6h45m | 7h19m | 19h41m | 20h15m | 21h22m | 6h45m | 0.17 |
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
Oct 1 Tu Venus: 13.1° E
3 Th 4:23 pm Moon-Jupiter: 2° S
5 Sa 12:01 pm Moon South Dec.: 22.8° S
5 Sa 12:47 pm First Quarter
5 Sa 2:49 pm Moon Descending Node
5 Sa 4:48 pm Moon-Saturn: 0.3° N
10 Th 2:29 pm Moon Apogee: 405900 km
13 Su 5:08 pm Full Moon
19 Sa 11:59 pm Mercury Elongation: 24.6° E
20 Su 3:28 am Moon Ascending Node
20 Su 4:07 am Moon North Dec.: 22.9° N
21 Mo 8:39 am Last Quarter
21 Mo 7:12 pm Orionid Shower: ZHR = 20
22 Tu 12:41 am Moon-Beehive: 0.7° S
26 Sa 6:41 am Moon Perigee: 361300 km
27 Su 10:38 pm New Moon
28 Mo 3:17 am Uranus Opposition
29 Tu 8:33 am Moon-Venus: 4° S
30 We 11:22 pm Mercury-Venus: 2.5° N
31 Th 9:22 am Moon-Jupiter: 1.4° S
Nov 1 Fr Venus: 20.8° 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
October, 2019 Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM |
| | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Tue 1| 07:40a 07:23p 11:43 | 08:26p 06:37a | Set 09:28p 14%|
|Wed 2| 07:41a 07:21p 11:40 | 08:24p 06:38a | Set 10:04p 23%|
|Thu 3| 07:42a 07:20p 11:37 | 08:22p 06:39a | Set 10:46p 33%|
|Fri 4| 07:44a 07:18p 11:34 | 08:21p 06:41a | Set 11:33p 43%|
|Sat 5| 07:45a 07:16p 11:30 | 08:19p 06:42a |F Qtr Set 12:25a 53%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 6| 07:46a 07:14p 11:27 | 08:17p 06:43a | Set 01:21a 63%|
|Mon 7| 07:47a 07:12p 11:24 | 08:15p 06:44a | Set 02:21a 72%|
|Tue 8| 07:49a 07:10p 11:21 | 08:13p 06:46a | Set 03:21a 80%|
|Wed 9| 07:50a 07:09p 11:18 | 08:12p 06:47a | Set 04:22a 87%|
|Thu 10| 07:51a 07:07p 11:15 | 08:10p 06:48a | Set 05:23a 92%|
|Fri 11| 07:52a 07:05p 11:12 | 08:08p 06:49a | Set 06:24a 97%|
|Sat 12| 07:54a 07:03p 11:09 | 08:06p 06:50a | Set 07:25a 99%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 13| 07:55a 07:02p 11:06 | 08:05p 06:52a |Full Rise 07:25p 100%|
|Mon 14| 07:56a 07:00p 11:03 | 08:03p 06:53a | Rise 07:49p 99%|
|Tue 15| 07:57a 06:58p 11:00 | 08:01p 06:54a | Rise 08:14p 96%|
|Wed 16| 07:59a 06:56p 10:57 | 08:00p 06:55a | Rise 08:44p 91%|
|Thu 17| 08:00a 06:55p 10:54 | 07:58p 06:57a | Rise 09:18p 84%|
|Fri 18| 08:01a 06:53p 10:51 | 07:56p 06:58a | Rise 09:59p 76%|
|Sat 19| 08:03a 06:51p 10:48 | 07:55p 06:59a | Rise 10:49p 66%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 20| 08:04a 06:50p 10:45 | 07:53p 07:00a | Rise 11:48p 56%|
|Mon 21| 08:05a 06:48p 10:42 | 07:52p 07:02a |L Qtr Rise 12:55a 45%|
|Tue 22| 08:07a 06:46p 10:39 | 07:50p 07:03a | Rise 02:08a 34%|
|Wed 23| 08:08a 06:45p 10:36 | 07:49p 07:04a | Rise 03:24a 23%|
|Thu 24| 08:09a 06:43p 10:33 | 07:47p 07:05a | Rise 04:41a 14%|
|Fri 25| 08:11a 06:42p 10:31 | 07:46p 07:06a | Rise 06:00a 7%|
|Sat 26| 08:12a 06:40p 10:28 | 07:44p 07:08a | Rise 07:18a 2%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 27| 08:13a 06:39p 10:25 | 07:43p 07:09a |New Set 06:51p 0%|
|Mon 28| 08:15a 06:37p 10:22 | 07:41p 07:10a | Set 07:22p 1%|
|Tue 29| 08:16a 06:36p 10:19 | 07:40p 07:11a | Set 07:57p 5%|
|Wed 30| 08:17a 06:34p 10:16 | 07:39p 07:13a | Set 08:36p 11%|
|Thu 31| 08:19a 06:33p 10:14 | 07:37p 07:14a | Set 09:22p 18%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset
Generated using my LookingUp for DOS program.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 