Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, December 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:08, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:19. The Moon, halfway from last quarter to new, will rise at 5:24 tomorrow morning.

The constellation of Orion the hunter is the most famous constellation in the sky. At 8 o’clock tonight he is seen in the east southeast. Two of its stars are first magnitude, among the brightest in the sky while five are second magnitude, as bright as the brightest Big Dipper stars. His torso is a rectangle of stars, now tilted to the left, framed by Betelgeuse and Bellatrix in his shoulders and Rigel and Saiph and Rigel at his knees. Betelgeuse and Rigel are first magnitude stars at opposite corners of that rectangle. His most easily found feature is his belt of three stars in a straight line in the center of that rectangle, now nearly vertically aligned, which makes them easy to spot even if you don’t know the pattern of the rest of the stars.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

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