Archive
11/03/2022 – Ephemeris – The Persephone Period
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, November 3rd. The Sun will rise at 8:23. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 6:28. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 3:53 tomorrow morning.
The Moon, tonight, is spending its second night between Saturn and Jupiter. Tomorrow night will find it just above Jupiter. Down in our area, the Persephone period is starting. I didn’t find out about this until recently. According to Greek myth, Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Demeter, was abducted by her uncle the god Hades to be made his queen of the underworld. When she was in the underworld, the crops died. An arrangement had to be made by her father Zeus, so she would spend part of the year above ground, so that crops would flourish, and part of the year below. When the daylight hours drop below 10 hours, which it is doing in our area now, we are entering the Persephone period, where there is too little sunlight for plants to thrive. This period will last until around February 5th. When daylight hours advance past 10 hours.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Around here, in the Grand Traverse Region of Michigan, and indeed the whole state, the Persephone period generally starts after the first killing frost, though this year only the tenderest plants have succumbed to whatever frost there was so far at my place. Daytime temperatures this week have reached the high 60s, which is unusual. The end of the Persephone period comes way early for us. Snow could persist for another two and a half months.
11/02/2022 – Ephemeris – Let’s see where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 2nd. The Sun will rise at 8:22. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 7 minutes, setting at 6:29. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 2:38 tomorrow morning.
Let’s see where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week. Jupiter and Saturn will be visible this evening, in the southeastern sky with the bright moon between them, as soon after sunset as it will be dark enough to see them, which would be by 7:45 pm. Jupiter is the brighter of the two to the left of the Moon, while dimmer Saturn is closer to the Moon on the right. The red planet Mars, though a morning planet, will rise tonight at 8:46 pm in the northeast. It’s located between the tips of the long horns of Taurus the bull, slowly moving northward between those horn tip stars in its big torn to the west among the stars. By seven tomorrow morning, the red planet Mars will be fairly high in the southwestern sky, above and right of the winter constellation of Orion.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum

Planets and the Moon visible in the evening. Jupiter and Saturn in the south with Mars, rising in the northeast. Mars is not yet an evening planet. It’s still more than a month away from rising before sunset and becoming one. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

The Moon as it might be seen in binoculars or small telescope tonight, November 2, 2022 with labels of prominent features. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
Translations of some lunar feature names according to Virtual Moon Atlas
Mare Crisium – Sea of Crises
Mare Fecunditatis – Sea of Fertility
Mare Imbrium – Sea of Showers
Mare Nubium – Sea of Clouds
Mare Serenitatis – Sea of Serenity
Mare Tranquillitatis – Sea of Tranquility
Mare Vaporum – Sea of Vapors
Montes Apenninus – Apennines Mountains
Sinus Asperitatis – Golfe des Asperites
Sinus Medii – Bay of the Center
Craters are generally named after astronomers, people of science, or explorers
Note that Mare is pronounced Mar-é

Telescopic views of Saturn Jupiter and Mars (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification. The image of Mars doesn’t show it, but the white north polar cap will appear at the top or north limb of Mars. Saturn and Jupiter are shown at 9 pm, Mars at 11 pm. Apparent diameters: Saturn 17.20″, its rings 40.07″; Jupiter 47.37″. Mars 15.34″. Mars’ distance is 56.7 million miles (91.4 million kilometers). The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
A note on Jupiter and its moons: Before 7:56 pm, Io will be in Jupiter’s shadow. At 8:22 pm, Ganymede’s shadow will begin to cross the face of Jupiter. In the image above, the shadow, a small dot, is seen on the lower left of the disk. Europa’s shadow was on the disk prior to 9 pm. Ganymede’s shadow will leave the disk at 11:08 pm. Shadows cross Jupiter’s disk from east to west (right to left) in this view.
11/01/2022 – Ephemeris – Previewing November skies
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, November 1st. The Sun will rise at 8:20. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 6:31. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 1:21 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look ahead at the skies for the month of November. The Sun is still moving south rapidly. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will drop from 10 hours and 10 minutes today to 9 hours 5 minutes on the 30th. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be at 30 degrees today and will descend to 23 and a half degrees on the 30th. The altitude of the Sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower. Local noon, this month, will be about 12:30 p.m. once we’re on standard time beginning on the 6th. There will be a total eclipse of the Moon on the morning of the 8th, Election Day. The eclipse will start shortly after 4 am and be visible until it sets during the last stages of the eclipse just after sunrise, around 7:40 am. I’ll have more information on it next Monday.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
November Evening Star Chart

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST 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 45 minutes earlier than the current time.

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.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus
- The Summer Triangle is in red.
- TauR on the evening star chart can be used as the radiant for the North and South Taurid meteor showers.
- LeoR on the morning star chart is the radiant of the Leonid meteor shower, which peaks between the 17th.
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| EDT/EST | |||||||
| Morning | Twilight | Evening | Twilight | Dark | Night | Moon | |
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2022-11-01 | 6h47m | 7h21m | 19h40m | 20h13m | 0h03m | 6h47m | 0.61 |
| 2022-11-02 | 6h48m | 7h22m | 19h38m | 20h12m | 1h21m | 6h48m | 0.71 |
| 2022-11-03 | 6h49m | 7h23m | 19h37m | 20h11m | 2h39m | 6h49m | 0.81 |
| 2022-11-04 | 6h51m | 7h25m | 19h36m | 20h10m | 3h54m | 6h51m | 0.89 |
| 2022-11-05 | 6h52m | 7h26m | 19h35m | 20h09m | 5h07m | 6h52m | 0.94 |
| 2022-11-06 | 5h53m | 6h27m | 18h34m | 19h08m | 5h18m | 5h53m | 0.98 |
| 2022-11-07 | 5h54m | 6h28m | 18h32m | 19h06m | – | – | 1 |
| 2022-11-08 | 5h55m | 6h29m | 18h31m | 19h05m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2022-11-09 | 5h57m | 6h31m | 18h30m | 19h04m | – | – | 0.97 |
| 2022-11-10 | 5h58m | 6h32m | 18h29m | 19h03m | – | – | 0.93 |
| 2022-11-11 | 5h59m | 6h33m | 18h28m | 19h03m | 19h03m | 19h16m | 0.87 |
| 2022-11-12 | 6h00m | 6h34m | 18h27m | 19h02m | 19h02m | 20h07m | 0.8 |
| 2022-11-13 | 6h01m | 6h35m | 18h26m | 19h01m | 19h01m | 21h05m | 0.72 |
| 2022-11-14 | 6h02m | 6h37m | 18h26m | 19h00m | 19h00m | 22h08m | 0.63 |
| 2022-11-15 | 6h03m | 6h38m | 18h25m | 18h59m | 18h59m | 23h13m | 0.54 |
| 2022-11-16 | 6h05m | 6h39m | 18h24m | 18h58m | 18h58m | – | 0.44 |
| 2022-11-17 | 6h06m | 6h40m | 18h23m | 18h58m | 18h58m | 0h19m | 0.34 |
| 2022-11-18 | 6h07m | 6h41m | 18h22m | 18h57m | 18h57m | 1h26m | 0.25 |
| 2022-11-19 | 6h08m | 6h43m | 18h22m | 18h56m | 18h56m | 2h33m | 0.17 |
| 2022-11-20 | 6h09m | 6h44m | 18h21m | 18h56m | 18h56m | 3h42m | 0.1 |
| 2022-11-21 | 6h10m | 6h45m | 18h20m | 18h55m | 18h55m | 4h54m | 0.04 |
| 2022-11-22 | 6h11m | 6h46m | 18h20m | 18h54m | 18h54m | 6h10m | 0.01 |
| 2022-11-23 | 6h12m | 6h47m | 18h19m | 18h54m | 18h54m | 6h12m | 0 |
| 2022-11-24 | 6h13m | 6h48m | 18h19m | 18h53m | 18h53m | 6h13m | 0.02 |
| 2022-11-25 | 6h14m | 6h49m | 18h18m | 18h53m | 18h53m | 6h14m | 0.07 |
| 2022-11-26 | 6h15m | 6h50m | 18h18m | 18h53m | 19h32m | 6h15m | 0.14 |
| 2022-11-27 | 6h16m | 6h51m | 18h17m | 18h52m | 20h49m | 6h16m | 0.24 |
| 2022-11-28 | 6h17m | 6h52m | 18h17m | 18h52m | 22h09m | 6h17m | 0.34 |
| 2022-11-29 | 6h18m | 6h53m | 18h17m | 18h52m | 23h29m | 6h18m | 0.45 |
| 2022-11-30 | 6h19m | 6h55m | 18h16m | 18h51m | – | 6h19m | 0.57 |
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
Nov 1 Tu Venus: 2.6° E
1 Tu 1:37 am First Quarter
1 Tu 4:08 pm Moon-Saturn: 4.3° N
4 Fr 3:19 pm Moon-Jupiter: 2.5° N
8 Tu 1:08 am Moon Ascending Node
8 Tu 5:59 am Total Lunar Eclipse
8 Tu 6:02 am Full Beaver Moon
8 Tu 11:28 am Mercury Superior Conj.
9 We 3:41 am Uranus Opposition
9 We 7:16 am Moon-Pleiades: 2.9° N
11 Fr 8:43 am Moon-Mars: 2.7° S
12 Sa 9:17 am Moon North Dec.: 27.5° N
12 Sa 12:25 pm North Taurid Shower: ZHR = 15
13 Su 6:43 pm Moon-Pollux: 1.9° N
14 Mo 1:41 am Moon Apogee: 404900 km
16 We 8:27 am Last Quarter
17 Th 6:42 pm Leonid Shower: ZHR = 15
22 Tu 11:23 am Moon Descending Node
23 We 5:57 pm New Moon
25 Fr 8:30 pm Moon Perigee: 362800 km
26 Sa 3:28 am Moon South Dec.: 27.5° S
28 Mo 11:40 pm Moon-Saturn: 4.2° N
30 We 9:36 am First Quarter
Dec 1 Th Venus: 9.9° E
All event times for November 1-5 are given for UTC-4 Eastern Daylight Saving Time. For dates after that, times are given for UTC-5 Eastern Standard 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 Times
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC November, 2022 Local time zone: EDT +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM | | | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN| +=======================================================================+ |Tue 1| 08:20a 06:31p 10:10 | 07:36p 07:15a |F Qtr Set 01:21a 58%| |Wed 2| 08:22a 06:29p 10:07 | 07:35p 07:17a | Set 02:38a 69%| |Thu 3| 08:23a 06:28p 10:05 | 07:33p 07:18a | Set 03:53a 79%| |Fri 4| 08:24a 06:27p 10:02 | 07:32p 07:19a | Set 05:06a 87%| |Sat 5| 08:26a 06:26p 09:59 | 07:31p 07:20a | Set 06:18a 93%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ | EST | Time Change | | | |Sun 6| 07:27a 05:24p 09:57 | 06:30p 06:21a | Set 06:29a 98%| |Mon 7| 07:29a 05:23p 09:54 | 06:29p 06:23a | Set 07:40a 100%| |Tue 8| 07:30a 05:22p 09:51 | 06:28p 06:24a |Full Rise 05:28p 100%| |Wed 9| 07:31a 05:21p 09:49 | 06:27p 06:25a | Rise 05:57p 98%| |Thu 10| 07:33a 05:19p 09:46 | 06:26p 06:26a | Rise 06:32p 94%| |Fri 11| 07:34a 05:18p 09:44 | 06:25p 06:28a | Rise 07:15p 88%| |Sat 12| 07:35a 05:17p 09:41 | 06:24p 06:29a | Rise 08:06p 81%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 13| 07:37a 05:16p 09:39 | 06:23p 06:30a | Rise 09:05p 73%| |Mon 14| 07:38a 05:15p 09:37 | 06:22p 06:31a | Rise 10:07p 65%| |Tue 15| 07:39a 05:14p 09:34 | 06:21p 06:32a | Rise 11:13p 55%| |Wed 16| 07:41a 05:13p 09:32 | 06:20p 06:33a |L Qtr Rise 12:19a 46%| |Thu 17| 07:42a 05:12p 09:30 | 06:20p 06:35a | Rise 01:25a 36%| |Fri 18| 07:43a 05:11p 09:27 | 06:19p 06:36a | Rise 02:32a 27%| |Sat 19| 07:45a 05:10p 09:25 | 06:18p 06:37a | Rise 03:42a 18%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 20| 07:46a 05:10p 09:23 | 06:17p 06:38a | Rise 04:54a 11%| |Mon 21| 07:47a 05:09p 09:21 | 06:17p 06:39a | Rise 06:10a 5%| |Tue 22| 07:49a 05:08p 09:19 | 06:16p 06:40a | Rise 07:30a 1%| |Wed 23| 07:50a 05:07p 09:17 | 06:16p 06:42a |New Set 04:50p 0%| |Thu 24| 07:51a 05:07p 09:15 | 06:15p 06:43a | Set 05:31p 2%| |Fri 25| 07:52a 05:06p 09:13 | 06:15p 06:44a | Set 06:24p 6%| |Sat 26| 07:54a 05:05p 09:11 | 06:14p 06:45a | Set 07:31p 13%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 27| 07:55a 05:05p 09:10 | 06:14p 06:46a | Set 08:48p 22%| |Mon 28| 07:56a 05:04p 09:08 | 06:13p 06:47a | Set 10:09p 32%| |Tue 29| 07:57a 05:04p 09:06 | 06:13p 06:48a | Set 11:28p 43%| |Wed 30| 07:58a 05:04p 09:05 | 06:13p 06:49a |F Qtr Set 12:44a 54%| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ * Nautical Twilight ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset
Generated using my LookingUp for DOS program.


