Archive
03/04/2022 – Ephemeris – Tonight, an illustrated Zoom talk: “Light Pollution: Cause and Effect”
This is Ephemeris for Friday, March 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 19 minutes, setting at 6:34, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:13. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 8:56 this evening.
The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society (GTAS) will hold a virtual meeting and program at 8 pm tonight via Zoom. For the program, Dr. Jerry Dobek, astronomy professor at Northwestern Michigan College, will present an illustrated talk – Light Pollution: Cause and Effect. The focus of the talk will be on the general causes and effects of light pollution, as well as examples of proper lighting. Dr. Dobek has helped write lighting ordinances for governments here and around the nation. A virtual star party will start around 9 pm, also hosted by Dr. Dobek, but only if it’s clear in Traverse City. It will feature the wonders of the winter and early spring sky. Instructions to join the meeting and a link can be found on the society’s website, gtastro.org. All are welcome.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Michigan lights at night from space, with pointer to Traverse City. Image credit: NASA, animation created using LibreOffice and GIMP.
If COVID-19 stays tamped down this spring and summer, the GTAS will be working with the rangers of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to schedule monthly sun and star parties. The areas of the park we observe from are generally northwest (above, left in the image above) of Traverse City, near the shore of Lake Michigan.
03/03/2022 – Ephemeris – Finding Cancer the crab
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, March 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 6:33, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:15. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 7:46 this evening.
The constellation of Cancer the crab is made of dim stars, which are generally connected, in constellation charts, with lines that make either the letter K or an upside down Y, which lie directly between the star pair Castor and Pollux in Gemini and Regulus in Leo. In the center of the constellation is, what to the naked-eye is a fuzzy spot called Praesepe, or the manger. The two nearby stars, one to the northeast, and one to the southeast are Asellus Borealis, and Asellus Australis, the northern and southern donkey colts feeding out of the manger. Viewing that fuzzy spot with a pair of binoculars will reveal that it’s not fuzzy at all. It resolves into a cluster of stars, which astronomers, over the years, have called the Beehive cluster. Back in the first and second century CE, the Sun entered Cancer to begin the season of summer. It’s now just a transitional constellation between the winter and spring evening skies.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Cancer, the crab finder chart. Note the beehive cluster, also known to amateur astronomers as M44, along with other catalog names. Prior to the invention of the telescope this cluster was known as Praesepe which means “Manger”. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
A closer look at Cancer, noting the donkey stars Asellus Borealis and Australis feeding at the manger, Praesepe or M44, aka: the Beehive Cluster. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts) and LibreOffice for captions. Adapted from a chart I created for the March 2022 issue of the GTAS newsletter, the Stellar Sentinel.
03/02/2023 – Ephemeris – Let’s search for the naked-eye planets for this week
This is Ephemeris for Ash Wednesday, March 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 6:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:16. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
Let’s search for the naked-eye planets for this week. The last evening planet, Jupiter, will pass behind the Sun this Saturday and enter the morning sky. So the action shifts to the morning sky, where Saturn, Mercury, Venus and Mars reside. Saturn and Mercury are too close to the direction of the Sun to be spotted now. Mercury is heading back toward the Sun. Saturn should be able to be spotted in morning twilight in a few weeks as it joins Venus, our brilliant morning star, and Mars in the southeast about half an hour to 45 minutes before sunrise. Tomorrow morning Mars will be below, and right of bright Venus, which will rise at 5 am, with Mars following at 5:26.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus and Mars in the morning as they might appear at 6:30 am, about 45 minutes before sunrise, Thursday, March 3, 2022. Created using Stellarium.
Venus through a telescope as it would appear before sunrise tomorrow morning, March 3, 2022. It’s shown larger than usual, since it’s the only planet that looks like anything in a small telescope now. Its apparent diameter is 30.49″, and it is 39.7% illuminated by the Sun. Mars has an apparent diameter of 4.73″.
(” means seconds of arc. 1″ is 1/3600th of a degree). Created using Stellarium, which is also the source for the apparent diameters and the illuminated fraction of Venus.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on March 2, 2022. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 3rd. There’s a label pile up in the sunrise panel where the Labels for Saturn and Mercury overlay each other. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp program.
03/01/2022 – Ephemeris – Previewing March skies
This is Ephemeris for Fat Tuesday, March 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 6:30, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:18. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 7:44 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the skies for the month of March. The Sun will cross the celestial equator in March as the promising season of spring will begin. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 11 hours and 10 minutes today to 12 hours 43 minutes on the 31st. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be just under 38 degrees today and will ascend to nearly 50 degrees on the 31st. The altitude of the Sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower. Local apparent noon this month, when the Sun passes due south, will be about 12:51 p.m. and an hour later when Daylight Saving Time starts on the 13th. Spring will begin on the 20th at 11:33 am.
Addendum
March Evening Star Chart
Star Chart for March 2022 (10 pm EDT, March 15, 2022). Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp program.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 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 and 45 minutes behind our Daylight Saving Time meridian during EDT). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere (rotating star finder) you may have to set it to 45 minutes or 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than your current time.
Note the chart times of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. are for the 15th. For each week before the 15th, add ½ hour (28 minutes if you’re picky). For each week after the 15th, subtract ½ hour. For planet positions on dates other than the 15th, check the Wednesday planet posts on this blog.
March Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for March mornings, 2022 (6 a.m. EDT March 15, 2022). Click on image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
Only Venus of all the morning planets has yet to rise at chart time on the 15th.
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, and
- Extend it as a spike to Spica.
- The Summer Triangle appears in red.
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| EST/EDT | |||||||
| Morning | Twilight | Evening | Twilight | Dark | Night | Moon | |
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2022-03-01 | 5h44m | 6h18m | 19h32m | 20h06m | 20h06m | 5h44m | 0 |
| 2022-03-02 | 5h42m | 6h16m | 19h33m | 20h07m | 20h07m | 5h42m | 0 |
| 2022-03-03 | 5h40m | 6h14m | 19h35m | 20h09m | 20h09m | 5h40m | 0.03 |
| 2022-03-04 | 5h39m | 6h13m | 19h36m | 20h10m | 20h57m | 5h39m | 0.07 |
| 2022-03-05 | 5h37m | 6h11m | 19h37m | 20h11m | 22h06m | 5h37m | 0.13 |
| 2022-03-06 | 5h35m | 6h09m | 19h39m | 20h13m | 23h13m | 5h35m | 0.21 |
| 2022-03-07 | 5h33m | 6h07m | 19h40m | 20h14m | – | 5h33m | 0.29 |
| 2022-03-08 | 5h31m | 6h05m | 19h41m | 20h15m | 0h20m | 5h31m | 0.38 |
| 2022-03-09 | 5h30m | 6h04m | 19h43m | 20h17m | 1h25m | 5h30m | 0.48 |
| 2022-03-10 | 5h28m | 6h02m | 19h44m | 20h18m | 2h28m | 5h28m | 0.57 |
| 2022-03-11 | 5h26m | 6h00m | 19h45m | 20h19m | 3h26m | 5h26m | 0.66 |
| 2022-03-12 | 5h24m | 5h58m | 19h46m | 20h21m | 4h18m | 5h24m | 0.75 |
| 2022-03-13 | 6h22m | 6h56m | 20h48m | 21h22m | 6h03m | 6h22m | 0.83 |
| 2022-03-14 | 6h20m | 6h54m | 20h49m | 21h24m | – | – | 0.9 |
| 2022-03-15 | 6h18m | 6h53m | 20h50m | 21h25m | – | – | 0.95 |
| 2022-03-16 | 6h16m | 6h51m | 20h52m | 21h26m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2022-03-17 | 6h14m | 6h49m | 20h53m | 21h28m | – | – | 1 |
| 2022-03-18 | 6h12m | 6h47m | 20h54m | 21h29m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2022-03-19 | 6h10m | 6h45m | 20h56m | 21h31m | 21h31m | 21h42m | 0.96 |
| 2022-03-20 | 6h12m | 6h47m | 21h01m | 21h36m | 21h36m | 22h58m | 0.9 |
| 2022-03-21 | 6h10m | 6h45m | 21h02m | 21h37m | 21h37m | – | 0.82 |
| 2022-03-22 | 6h08m | 6h43m | 21h04m | 21h39m | 21h39m | 0h15m | 0.73 |
| 2022-03-23 | 6h06m | 6h41m | 21h05m | 21h40m | 21h40m | 1h34m | 0.62 |
| 2022-03-24 | 6h04m | 6h39m | 21h06m | 21h42m | 21h42m | 2h50m | 0.5 |
| 2022-03-25 | 6h02m | 6h37m | 21h08m | 21h43m | 21h43m | 3h59m | 0.39 |
| 2022-03-26 | 6h00m | 6h35m | 21h09m | 21h45m | 21h45m | 4h57m | 0.28 |
| 2022-03-27 | 5h58m | 6h33m | 21h10m | 21h46m | 21h46m | 5h43m | 0.19 |
| 2022-03-28 | 5h55m | 6h31m | 21h12m | 21h48m | 21h48m | 5h55m | 0.11 |
| 2022-03-29 | 5h53m | 6h29m | 21h13m | 21h49m | 21h49m | 5h53m | 0.05 |
| 2022-03-30 | 5h51m | 6h27m | 21h15m | 21h51m | 21h51m | 5h51m | 0.01 |
| 2022-03-31 | 5h49m | 6h25m | 21h16m | 21h52m | 21h52m | 5h49m | 0 |
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/2019/09/27/
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
Date Time Event
Mar 1 Tu Venus: 45° W
2 We 10:48 am Mercury-Saturn: 0.7° N
2 We 12:35 pm New Moon
5 Sa 7:51 am Jupiter Solar Conjunction
8 Tu 3:22 am Moon Ascending Node
10 Th 5:45 am First Quarter
10 Th 6:05 pm Moon Apogee: 404,300 km
11 Fr 7:14 pm Moon Northernmost Declination: 26.7° N
13 Su 1:58 am Moon-Pollux: 2.6° N
13 Su 6:08 am Neptune Solar Conjunction
14 Mo 3:55 am Moon-Beehive: 3.7° S
15 Tu 11:12 pm Venus-Mars: 3.9° N
18 Fr 3:17 am Full Worm Moon
20 Su 5:59 am Venus Elongation: 46.6° West
20 Su 11:33 am Vernal Equinox
22 Tu 4:12 am Moon Descending Node
23 We 7:28 pm Moon Perigee: 369,800 km
25 Fr 1:37 am Last Quarter
25 Fr 7:58 am Moon Southernmost Declination: 26.8° S
27 Su 10:54 pm Moon-Mars: 4.2° N
28 Mo 5:50 am Moon-Venus: 6.9° N
28 Mo 7:43 am Moon-Saturn: 4.5° N
28 Mo 8:53 pm Venus-Saturn: 2.1° N
Apr 1 Fr Venus: 46.1° W
All event times are given for UTC-5:00: Eastern Standard Time before the 14th or UTC-4:00 Daylight Saving Time thereafter.
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.
Note that the site is now kept up for archival purposes. Fred Espenak retired from NASA several years ago and has his own site, AstroPixels, which contain the same information: http://astropixels.com/almanac/almanac.html.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC March, 2022 Local time zone: EST +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM | | | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN| +=======================================================================+ |Tue 1| 07:20a 06:30p 11:10 | 07:33p 06:17a | Rise 07:44a 1%| |Wed 2| 07:18a 06:31p 11:13 | 07:35p 06:15a |New Set 06:32p 0%| |Thu 3| 07:16a 06:33p 11:16 | 07:36p 06:13a | Set 07:46p 2%| |Fri 4| 07:15a 06:34p 11:19 | 07:37p 06:12a | Set 08:56p 6%| |Sat 5| 07:13a 06:35p 11:22 | 07:39p 06:10a | Set 10:05p 12%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 6| 07:11a 06:37p 11:25 | 07:40p 06:08a | Set 11:13p 19%| |Mon 7| 07:09a 06:38p 11:28 | 07:41p 06:06a | Set 12:19a 27%| |Tue 8| 07:07a 06:39p 11:32 | 07:42p 06:04a | Set 01:25a 36%| |Wed 9| 07:06a 06:41p 11:35 | 07:44p 06:03a | Set 02:28a 46%| |Thu 10| 07:04a 06:42p 11:38 | 07:45p 06:01a |F Qtr Set 03:26a 55%| |Fri 11| 07:02a 06:43p 11:41 | 07:46p 05:59a | Set 04:18a 64%| |Sat 12| 07:00a 06:45p 11:44 | 07:48p 05:57a | Set 05:02a 73%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ | EDT | Time Change | | | |Sun 13| 07:58a 07:46p 11:47 | 08:49p 06:55a | Set 06:39a 81%| |Mon 14| 07:56a 07:47p 11:50 | 08:50p 06:53a | Set 07:10a 88%| |Tue 15| 07:55a 07:49p 11:53 | 08:52p 06:52a | Set 07:36a 94%| |Wed 16| 07:53a 07:50p 11:57 | 08:53p 06:50a | Set 07:59a 98%| |Thu 17| 07:51a 07:51p 12:00 | 08:54p 06:48a | Set 08:20a 100%| |Fri 18| 07:49a 07:52p 12:03 | 08:56p 06:46a |Full Rise 08:28p 99%| |Sat 19| 07:47a 07:54p 12:06 | 08:57p 06:44a | Rise 09:42p 96%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 20| 07:45a 07:55p 12:09 | 08:58p 06:42a | Rise 10:57p 91%| |Mon 21| 07:43a 07:56p 12:12 | 09:00p 06:40a | Rise 12:15a 84%| |Tue 22| 07:42a 07:57p 12:15 | 09:01p 06:38a | Rise 01:34a 75%| |Wed 23| 07:40a 07:59p 12:18 | 09:02p 06:36a | Rise 02:50a 64%| |Thu 24| 07:38a 08:00p 12:22 | 09:04p 06:34a | Rise 03:59a 53%| |Fri 25| 07:36a 08:01p 12:25 | 09:05p 06:32a |L Qtr Rise 04:56a 41%| |Sat 26| 07:34a 08:02p 12:28 | 09:06p 06:30a | Rise 05:42a 30%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 27| 07:32a 08:04p 12:31 | 09:08p 06:28a | Rise 06:18a 21%| |Mon 28| 07:30a 08:05p 12:34 | 09:09p 06:26a | Rise 06:47a 12%| |Tue 29| 07:29a 08:06p 12:37 | 09:11p 06:24a | Rise 07:10a 6%| |Wed 30| 07:27a 08:07p 12:40 | 09:12p 06:22a | Rise 07:31a 2%| |Thu 31| 07:25a 08:09p 12:43 | 09:13p 06:20a | Rise 07:51a 0%| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ * Nautical Twilight ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset
Created using my LookingUp for DOS output as text.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 