Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Friday, September 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 7:40, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:30. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 11:45 this evening. | Tonight, if it’s clear, members of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will hold a twilight talk and a star party at the Betsie Valley District Library in Thompsonville, MI. It starts at 7 p.m. with a talk about the upcoming solar eclipses by member Dan Dall’Olmo. There will be a minor partial solar eclipse next month on the 14th, and a much greater partial eclipse April 8th for our area. The total part of the April eclipse can be seen less than a day’s drive away in mid-Indiana and northern Ohio. If tonight is cloudy the star party will be postponed to tomorrow. Featured will be the Moon and some of the stars of the waning nights of summer. (It’s looking like Saturday night might be the better night, but we’ll see. A decision can be made as late as 5 pm the day of the event) The season of fall starts tomorrow at 2:50 am with the autumnal equinox.

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. I’ll have more on the autumnal equinox and its effects on Monday.