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03/31/2020 – Ephemeris – Looking ahead at April skies

March 31, 2020 Comments off

Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 45 minutes, setting at 8:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:22. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 3:30 tomorrow morning.

The 4th month of the year begins tomorrow. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 12 hours and 48 minutes tomorrow to 14 hours 13 minutes on the 30th. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 50 degrees tomorrow and will ascend to 60 degrees on the 30th. The altitude of the Sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower. The actual time of local apparent noon this month for the Interlochen/Traverse City area, when the Sun passes due south, will be about 1:43 p.m. Venus is our brilliant evening planet while Jupiter, Saturn and Mars are our morning planets with Mars passing below Saturn unseen by us this afternoon.

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

Addendum

March Evening Star Chart

April Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for April 2020 (10 p.m. EDT April 15, 2020). Click on image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.

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. The brilliant planet Venus is our Evening Star in the West at chart time. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian, West 75° longitude. (An hour and 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT).

April Morning Star Chart

April Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for April mornings 2020 (5 a.m. EDT April 15, 2020). 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.
  • The leaky bowl of the Big Dipper drips on Leo.
  • Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, then
  • Follow the spike to Spica.
  • The Summer Triangle appears in red.
  • LyrR is the radiant of the Lyrid meteor shower which will reach peak on the morning of the 22nd.

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

      EDT        
  Morning twilight Evening twilight Dark night Moon
Date Astro. Nautical Nautical Astro. Start End Illum.
2020-04-01 5h45m 6h22m 21h18m 21h55m 3h31m 5h45m 0.56
2020-04-02 5h43m 6h20m 21h19m 21h56m 4h24m 5h43m 0.67
2020-04-03 5h41m 6h18m 21h21m 21h58m 5h09m 5h41m 0.78
2020-04-04 5h39m 6h16m 21h22m 21h59m – – 0.87
2020-04-05 5h37m 6h14m 21h24m 22h01m – – 0.87
2020-04-06 5h35m 6h12m 21h25m 22h03m – – 0.94
2020-04-07 5h32m 6h10m 21h26m 22h04m – – 0.99
2020-04-08 5h30m 6h08m 21h28m 22h06m – – 1
2020-04-09 5h28m 6h06m 21h29m 22h08m 22h08m 22h36m 0.98
2020-04-10 5h26m 6h04m 21h31m 22h09m 22h09m 23h54m 0.93
2020-04-11 5h24m 6h02m 21h32m 22h11m 22h11m – 0.85
2020-04-12 5h21m 6h00m 21h34m 22h13m 22h13m 1h07m 0.76
2020-04-13 5h19m 5h58m 21h35m 22h14m 22h14m 2h13m 0.66
2020-04-14 5h17m 5h56m 21h37m 22h16m 22h16m 3h09m 0.55
2020-04-15 5h15m 5h54m 21h38m 22h18m 22h18m 3h56m 0.44
2020-04-16 5h12m 5h52m 21h40m 22h20m 22h20m 4h34m 0.34
2020-04-17 5h10m 5h50m 21h41m 22h21m 22h21m 5h05m 0.25
2020-04-18 5h08m 5h48m 21h43m 22h23m 22h23m 5h08m 0.17
2020-04-19 5h06m 5h46m 21h44m 22h25m 22h25m 5h06m 0.11
2020-04-20 5h04m 5h44m 21h46m 22h27m 22h27m 5h04m 0.05
2020-04-21 5h01m 5h43m 21h47m 22h29m 22h29m 5h01m 0.02
2020-04-22 4h59m 5h41m 21h49m 22h30m 22h30m 4h59m 0
2020-04-23 4h57m 5h39m 21h50m 22h32m 22h32m 4h57m 0
2020-04-24 4h55m 5h37m 21h52m 22h34m 22h34m 4h55m 0.03
2020-04-25 4h52m 5h35m 21h53m 22h36m 23h25m 4h52m 0.07
2020-04-26 4h50m 5h33m 21h55m 22h38m – 4h50m 0.13
2020-04-27 4h48m 5h31m 21h57m 22h40m 0h28m 4h48m 0.21
2020-04-28 4h46m 5h29m 21h58m 22h42m 1h27m 4h46m 0.3
2020-04-29 4h44m 5h28m 22h00m 22h44m 2h21m 4h44m 0.4
2020-04-30 4h42m 5h26m 22h01m 22h45m 3h08m 4h42m 0.52

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
Apr 1  We  05:12 am  Moon North Dec.: 23.7° N
    1  We  06:21 am  First Quarter
    1  We            Venus: 45.9° E
    3  Fr  02:24 am  Moon-Beehive: 1.3° S
    3  Fr  10:39 am  Venus-Pleiades: 0.3° S
    7  Tu  02:08 pm  Moon Perigee: 356900 km
    7  Tu  10:35 pm  Full Moon (super moon)
   12  Su  10:58 pm  Moon Descending Node
   13  Mo  05:03 pm  Moon South Dec.: 23.8° S
   14  Tu  06:56 pm  Last Quarter
   14  Tu  07:04 pm  Moon-Jupiter: 2.1° N
   15  We  05:26 am  Moon-Saturn: 2.6° N
   16  Th  12:33 am  Moon-Mars: 2.2° N
   20  Mo  03:01 pm  Moon Apogee: 406500 km
   22  We  02:07 am  Lyrid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 20
   22  We  10:26 pm  New Moon
   26  Su  06:19 am  Uranus Conjunction
   26  Su  11:23 am  Moon-Venus: 6.6° N
   27  Mo  01:54 pm  Moon Ascending Node
   27  Mo            Venus greatest brilliancy
   28  Tu  11:23 am  Moon North Dec.: 23.9° N
   30  Th  09:17 am  Moon-Beehive: 1.6° S
   30  Th  04:38 pm  First Quarter
May 1  Fr            Venus: 38° E

Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html.

Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events

LU                  Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
April, 2020    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Wed  1| 07:22a  08:11p  12:48 | 09:15p  06:18a |F Qtr Set  04:23a   56%|
|Thu  2| 07:20a  08:12p  12:51 | 09:17p  06:16a |      Set  05:09a   67%|
|Fri  3| 07:18a  08:13p  12:54 | 09:18p  06:14a |      Set  05:48a   77%|
|Sat  4| 07:17a  08:14p  12:57 | 09:20p  06:12a |      Set  06:22a   86%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  5| 07:15a  08:16p  13:00 | 09:21p  06:10a |      Set  06:53a   93%|
|Mon  6| 07:13a  08:17p  13:03 | 09:23p  06:08a |      Set  07:21a   98%|
|Tue  7| 07:11a  08:18p  13:06 | 09:24p  06:06a |Full  Rise 07:55p  100%|
|Wed  8| 07:09a  08:19p  13:09 | 09:25p  06:04a |      Rise 09:16p   99%|
|Thu  9| 07:08a  08:21p  13:12 | 09:27p  06:02a |      Rise 10:36p   95%|
|Fri 10| 07:06a  08:22p  13:15 | 09:28p  06:00a |      Rise 11:54p   88%|
|Sat 11| 07:04a  08:23p  13:19 | 09:30p  05:58a |      Rise 01:07a   80%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 12| 07:02a  08:24p  13:22 | 09:31p  05:56a |      Rise 02:13a   70%|
|Mon 13| 07:01a  08:26p  13:25 | 09:33p  05:54a |      Rise 03:09a   60%|
|Tue 14| 06:59a  08:27p  13:28 | 09:34p  05:52a |L Qtr Rise 03:56a   50%|
|Wed 15| 06:57a  08:28p  13:30 | 09:36p  05:50a |      Rise 04:34a   40%|
|Thu 16| 06:55a  08:29p  13:33 | 09:37p  05:48a |      Rise 05:05a   30%|
|Fri 17| 06:54a  08:31p  13:36 | 09:39p  05:46a |      Rise 05:32a   22%|
|Sat 18| 06:52a  08:32p  13:39 | 09:40p  05:44a |      Rise 05:55a   15%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 19| 06:50a  08:33p  13:42 | 09:42p  05:42a |      Rise 06:17a    9%|
|Mon 20| 06:49a  08:34p  13:45 | 09:43p  05:40a |      Rise 06:37a    4%|
|Tue 21| 06:47a  08:36p  13:48 | 09:45p  05:38a |      Rise 06:58a    1%|
|Wed 22| 06:45a  08:37p  13:51 | 09:46p  05:36a |New   Set  08:15p    0%|
|Thu 23| 06:44a  08:38p  13:54 | 09:48p  05:34a |      Set  09:18p    1%|
|Fri 24| 06:42a  08:39p  13:57 | 09:50p  05:32a |      Set  10:21p    3%|
|Sat 25| 06:41a  08:41p  13:59 | 09:51p  05:30a |      Set  11:25p    8%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 26| 06:39a  08:42p  14:02 | 09:53p  05:29a |      Set  12:27a   14%|
|Mon 27| 06:37a  08:43p  14:05 | 09:54p  05:27a |      Set  01:26a   22%|
|Tue 28| 06:36a  08:44p  14:08 | 09:56p  05:25a |      Set  02:20a   31%|
|Wed 29| 06:34a  08:45p  14:11 | 09:57p  05:23a |      Set  03:07a   41%|
|Thu 30| 06:33a  08:47p  14:13 | 09:59p  05:21a |F Qtr Set  03:47a   52%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset

Generated using my LookingUp for DOS program.

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