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Archive for November, 2022

11/03/2022 – Ephemeris – The Persephone Period

November 3, 2022 Comments off

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

Persephone statue

Statue of Persephone-Isis at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete. Credit: Wolfgang Sauber

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

November 2, 2022 Comments off

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 in the evening

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 in binoculars

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

Mars in the morning

Mars in the at 7 am tomorrow morning, November 3, 2022. Created using Stellarium.

Telescopic views of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars

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.

Planets and the Moon on a single night

The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on November 2, 2022. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 3rd. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.

11/01/2022 – Ephemeris – Previewing November skies

November 1, 2022 Comments off

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

November Evening Star Chart
Star Chart for November mornings, 2022 (6 a.m. EST November 15, 2022). Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp program.

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.

Star Chart November Morning
Star Chart for November mornings, 2022 (6 a.m. EST November 15, 2022). Click on the image to enlarge it. 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.
  • 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.