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Ephemeris: 10/31/2025 – Previewing November skies
This is Ephemeris for Halloween, Friday, October 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 12 minutes, setting at 6:32, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:21. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 3:17 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look ahead at the skies for the month of November. The Sun is still moving south rapidly at the beginning of the month, but will slow down toward the end. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will drop from 10 hours and 9 minutes tomorrow to 9 hours 4 minutes on the 30th. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be at 30 degrees tomorrow 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, next month, is about 12:30 p.m. This Sunday we fall back one hour to Standard Time, making our mornings a bit lighter, and our early evenings a bit darker.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
November Evening Star Chart
Jupiter is close to rising in the east-northeast at chart time. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app.
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.
November Morning Star Chart
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 in the evening star chart can be used as the radiant for the North and South Taurid meteor showers. For dates see NASA Calendar of Planetary Events below
- LeoR in the morning star chart is the radiant of the Leonid meteor shower, which peaks on the morning of the 17th.
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| EDT | |||||||
| Morning | Twilight | Evening | Twilight | Dark | Night | Moon | |
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2025-11-01 | 6h44m | 7h17m | 19h35m | 20h13m | 3h18m | 6h44m | 0.85 |
| EST | |||||||
| 2025-11-02 | 5h45m | 6h19m | 18h34m | 19h12m | 3h34m | 5h45m | 0.92 |
| 2025-11-03 | 5h46m | 6h20m | 18h33m | 19h11m | 4h53m | 5h46m | 0.97 |
| 2025-11-04 | 5h47m | 6h21m | 18h32m | 19h09m | – | – | 1.00 |
| 2025-11-05 | 5h48m | 6h22m | 18h30m | 19h08m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2025-11-06 | 5h49m | 6h23m | 18h29m | 19h07m | – | – | 0.96 |
| 2025-11-07 | 5h51m | 6h25m | 18h28m | 19h06m | – | – | 0.90 |
| 2025-11-08 | 5h52m | 6h26m | 18h27m | 19h05m | 19h05m | 19h49m | 0.81 |
| 2025-11-09 | 5h53m | 6h27m | 18h26m | 19h04m | 19h04m | 21h05m | 0.72 |
| 2025-11-10 | 5h54m | 6h28m | 18h25m | 19h03m | 19h03m | 22h22m | 0.61 |
| 2025-11-11 | 5h55m | 6h29m | 18h24m | 19h02m | 19h02m | 23h37m | 0.50 |
| 2025-11-12 | 5h56m | 6h31m | 18h23m | 19h01m | 19h01m | – | 0.40 |
| 2025-11-13 | 5h58m | 6h32m | 18h22m | 19h01m | 19h01m | 0h49m | 0.30 |
| 2025-11-14 | 5h59m | 6h33m | 18h21m | 18h56m | 18h56m | 1h57m | 0.22 |
| 2025-11-15 | 6h00m | 6h34m | 18h21m | 18h55m | 18h55m | 3h02m | 0.14 |
| 2025-11-16 | 6h01m | 6h35m | 18h20m | 18h54m | 18h54m | 4h07m | 0.08 |
| 2025-11-17 | 6h02m | 6h37m | 18h19m | 18h53m | 18h53m | 5h11m | 0.04 |
| 2025-11-18 | 6h03m | 6h38m | 18h18m | 18h53m | 18h53m | 6h03m | 0.01 |
| 2025-11-19 | 6h04m | 6h39m | 18h18m | 18h52m | 18h52m | 6h04m | 0.00 |
| 2025-11-20 | 6h05m | 6h40m | 18h17m | 18h51m | 18h51m | 6h05m | 0.01 |
| 2025-11-21 | 6h07m | 6h41m | 18h16m | 18h51m | 18h51m | 6h07m | 0.03 |
| 2025-11-22 | 6h08m | 6h42m | 18h16m | 18h50m | 18h50m | 6h08m | 0.08 |
| 2025-11-23 | 6h09m | 6h43m | 18h15m | 18h50m | 19h24m | 6h09m | 0.13 |
| 2025-11-24 | 6h10m | 6h45m | 18h15m | 18h49m | 20h30m | 6h10m | 0.21 |
| 2025-11-25 | 6h11m | 6h46m | 18h14m | 18h49m | 21h39m | 6h11m | 0.29 |
| 2025-11-26 | 6h12m | 6h47m | 18h14m | 18h49m | 22h49m | 6h12m | 0.39 |
| 2025-11-27 | 6h13m | 6h48m | 18h13m | 18h48m | – | 6h13m | 0.49 |
| 2025-11-28 | 6h14m | 6h49m | 18h13m | 18h48m | 0h00m | 6h14m | 0.60 |
| 2025-11-29 | 6h15m | 6h50m | 18h13m | 18h48m | 1h13m | 6h15m | 0.71 |
| 2025-11-30 | 6h16m | 6h51m | 18h12m | 18h47m | 2h27m | 6h16m | 0.80 |
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 Sa Venus: 16.2° W
1 Sa 12:46 PM Moon Ascending Node
1 Sa 8:04 PM Venus-Spica: 3.5° N
2 Su 5:46 AM Moon-Saturn: 3.7° S
5 We 7:36 AM South Taurid Shower: ZHR = 10
5 We 8:19 AM Full Moon, so-called Super Moon
5 We 5:29 PM Moon Perigee: 356800 km
6 Th 10:26 AM Moon-Pleiades: 0.8° S
8 Sa 6:41 AM Moon North Dec.: 28.4° N
8 Sa 9:45 PM Mercury-Antares: 3.6° N
10 Mo 1:40 AM Moon-Pollux: 2.7° N
10 Mo 2:56 AM Moon-Jupiter: 4° S
11 Tu 12:27 AM Moon-Beehive: 1.8° S
12 We 12:28 AM Last Quarter
12 We 6:52 AM North Taurid Shower: ZHR = 15
12 We 5:51 PM Moon-Regulus: 1.1° S
12 We 10:41 PM Mercury-Mars: 1.2° N
14 Fr 1:38 AM Moon Descending Node
17 Mo 5:11 AM Moon-Spica: 1.3° N
17 Mo 1:10 PM Leonid Shower: ZHR = 15
19 We 9:48 PM Moon Apogee: 406700 km
20 Th 1:47 AM New Moon
20 Th 4:20 AM Mercury Inferior Conj.
21 Fr 7:33 AM Uranus Opposition
22 Sa 1:12 PM Moon South Dec.: 28.3° S
28 Fr 1:59 AM First Quarter
28 Fr 4:33 PM Moon Ascending Node
29 Sa 2:08 PM Moon-Saturn: 3.8° S
Dec 1 Mo Venus: 8.7° W
All event times for November 1 & 2 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, 2025 Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM |
| | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Sat 1| 08:21a 06:30p 10:09 | 07:35p 07:16a | Set 04:33a 83%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
| EST | Time Change | | |
|Sun 2| 07:22a 05:29p 10:07 | 06:34p 06:17a | Set 04:52a 91%|
|Mon 3| 07:23a 05:28p 10:04 | 06:33p 06:18a | Set 06:15a 96%|
|Tue 4| 07:25a 05:26p 10:01 | 06:32p 06:19a | Set 07:41a 99%|
|Wed 5| 07:26a 05:25p 09:59 | 06:31p 06:21a |Full Rise 05:10p 100%|
|Thu 6| 07:28a 05:24p 09:56 | 06:30p 06:22a | Rise 05:50p 97%|
|Fri 7| 07:29a 05:23p 09:53 | 06:28p 06:23a | Rise 06:43p 91%|
|Sat 8| 07:30a 05:21p 09:51 | 06:27p 06:24a | Rise 07:49p 83%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 9| 07:32a 05:20p 09:48 | 06:26p 06:25a | Rise 09:04p 73%|
|Mon 10| 07:33a 05:19p 09:46 | 06:25p 06:27a | Rise 10:22p 63%|
|Tue 11| 07:34a 05:18p 09:43 | 06:24p 06:28a | Rise 11:37p 52%|
|Wed 12| 07:36a 05:17p 09:41 | 06:23p 06:29a |L Qtr Rise 12:48a 42%|
|Thu 13| 07:37a 05:16p 09:38 | 06:23p 06:30a | Rise 01:56a 32%|
|Fri 14| 07:38a 05:15p 09:36 | 06:22p 06:31a | Rise 03:02a 23%|
|Sat 15| 07:40a 05:14p 09:34 | 06:21p 06:33a | Rise 04:06a 16%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 16| 07:41a 05:13p 09:31 | 06:20p 06:34a | Rise 05:11a 9%|
|Mon 17| 07:42a 05:12p 09:29 | 06:19p 06:35a | Rise 06:16a 5%|
|Tue 18| 07:44a 05:11p 09:27 | 06:19p 06:36a | Rise 07:22a 2%|
|Wed 19| 07:45a 05:10p 09:25 | 06:18p 06:37a | Rise 08:28a 0%|
|Thu 20| 07:46a 05:09p 09:23 | 06:17p 06:38a |New Set 04:56p 1%|
|Fri 21| 07:48a 05:09p 09:21 | 06:17p 06:40a | Set 05:36p 3%|
|Sat 22| 07:49a 05:08p 09:18 | 06:16p 06:41a | Set 06:26p 7%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 23| 07:50a 05:07p 09:17 | 06:15p 06:42a | Set 07:24p 12%|
|Mon 24| 07:51a 05:07p 09:15 | 06:15p 06:43a | Set 08:29p 19%|
|Tue 25| 07:53a 05:06p 09:13 | 06:14p 06:44a | Set 09:38p 27%|
|Wed 26| 07:54a 05:05p 09:11 | 06:14p 06:45a | Set 10:49p 37%|
|Thu 27| 07:55a 05:05p 09:09 | 06:14p 06:46a | Set 12:00a 47%|
|Fri 28| 07:56a 05:04p 09:08 | 06:13p 06:47a |F Qtr Set 01:12a 58%|
|Sat 29| 07:57a 05:04p 09:06 | 06:13p 06:48a | Set 02:26a 68%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 30| 07:59a 05:03p 09:04 | 06:13p 06:49a | Set 03:44a 78%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise
Generated using my LookingUp for DOS app.
Ephemeris: 10/30/2025 – Algol, the perfect Halloween star
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, October 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 6:33, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:19. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 2:03 tomorrow morning.
Not all the ghosts and goblins out tomorrow night will be children. One will be out every night because it’s a star. Its name is Algol, from the Arabic for Ghoul Star or Demon Star. It’s normally the second-brightest star in the constellation Perseus the hero, visible in the northeast this evening. The star is located where artists have drawn the severed head of Medusa, whom he had slain. Medusa was so ugly that she turned all who gazed upon her to stone. Algol is her still glittering eye. The star got these names before we knew what was wrong with it. It does a slow wink every two days, 21 hours. That’s because Algol is two stars that eclipse each other. Her next evening wink will be its dimmest at 10:12 p.m. Tuesday, November 4th.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 10/29/2025 – Looking at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets for this week
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 18 minutes, setting at 6:35, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:18. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 12:50 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn is the brightest star like object in the east southeastern sky as soon as it gets dark. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, six tenths of a degree from being edge on in telescopes. Many times I’ve been asked whether they can see Saturn’s rings in their telescope. Normally I’d say yes. Currently, the rings appear extremely thin and can be difficult to pick up. Jupiter will rise before midnight at 11:17 PM. By 7:30 AM, it will appear high in the south-southeast, below the stars of Gemini, with Orion and the other bright stars of winter in the southwest. Brilliant Venus, which will rise at 6:48 AM will be very low in the east-southeast at 7:30 AM.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 10/28/2025 – The structure of the universe
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 6:36, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:17. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 11:38 this evening.
Dark matter makes up about 85% of all the matter in the universe, even though we can’t see it. It creates a kind of lattice on which the galaxies form. In looking out into the universe we see that there is a structure to it, not just random clusters of galaxies. The structure of the universe seems to be like a foam of bubbles where galaxies form along the intersection of these bubbles. The bubbles themselves are called voids. And with the expansion of the universe these voids are growing because space itself is expanding. So it’s not so much that the galaxies are fleeing each other, but that the voids are growing, pushing the galaxies apart. The galaxies are just going along for the ride.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 10/27/2025 – Most of the mass in the universe is unseen
This is Ephemeris for Monday, October 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 6:38, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:15. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 10:31 this evening.
There is much more matter in the universe than we can see with our telescopes. This began to be apparent back in the 1930s when Fritz Zwicky discovered that galaxies in clusters were moving too rapidly. They should be flying apart, but they were not. Later, Vera Rubin found that stars moved around the center of galaxies at pretty much uniform speeds. One would expect stars farther from the center of a galaxy to move slower. So there must be some matter out there creating gravity by its mass that was invisible. This became what we call dark matter. No one knows exactly what it is, though there have been several hypotheses put forth. It can be detected by its warping of space-time, due to its mass, to distort the shapes of the galaxies beyond it.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 10/24/2025 – How to spot the Double Cluster
This is Ephemeris for Friday, October 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 6:42, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:11. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 7:55 this evening.
This pair of objects are about as dim as one can see with the naked eye, but very rewarding for binoculars or small telescope, the Double Cluster. It’s a fine pair of star clusters just below the W of the constellation of Cassiopeia the queen located in the northeast. Draw a vertical line down from the middle star of the W through the next star into the glow of the Milky Way. The Double Cluster appears to the unaided eye as a brighter glow of the Milky Way. This is confirmed with binoculars. But in a small telescope it becomes two clusters of sparkling diamonds. The clusters are much younger than the Sun, so their brightest stars are blue-white to our eyes. The average distance of the two from Earth is 7,500 light years.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 10/23/2025 – Finding Perseus the hero
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, October 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 35 minutes, setting at 6:44, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:10. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 7:21 this evening.
About a third the way from the east northeastern horizon to the zenith at 9 p.m. and below the letter W shaped constellation of Cassiopeia the queen is Perseus the hero. It’s kind of an odd shape for a hero, To me it looks kinda like the cartoon roadrunner. To those who’re mathematically inclined its shape is also like the Greek letter pi on its side. It’s two brightest stars are Mirfak and Algol the demon star, the still winking eye of Medusa. Look at the area around Mirfak with binoculars and a large group of stars just below naked eye visibility will appear. It’s called the Alpha Persei Association. That’s because Mirfak is also known as Alpha Persei. The group is about 560 light years away, which are farther away than the Pleiades, which is below and to the right of them.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 10/22/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 38 minutes, setting at 6:45, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:09. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 6:54 this evening.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn is the brightest star like object in the east southeastern sky at 8 PM. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, eight tenths of a degree from being edge on in telescopes. Many times I’ve been asked whether they can see Saturn’s rings in their telescope. Normally I’d say yes. Currently, the rings appear very thin and can be difficult to pick up. Jupiter will finally rise before midnight, barely, at 11:50 PM. By 7 AM, it will appear high in the south-southeast, below the stars of Gemini, with Orion and the other bright stars of winter in the south. Brilliant Venus, which will rise at 6:30 AM will be very low in the east at 7 AM.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 10/21/2025 – Finding Andromeda
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 21st. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 41 minutes, setting at 6:47, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:07. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
Tonight at 9:00 PM Saturn is in the southeast, with the Great Square of Pegasus above and to the left. Off the leftmost star of the Great Square, called Alpheratz, are two curved lines of stars to the left and a bit below, and slightly diverging. They might be mistaken for the hind legs of the horse, which is flying upside down. It’s another constellation, that of Andromeda the Princess, daughter of Cassiopeia, the W shaped constellation to the upper left. Andromeda was rescued by hero Perseus which is another constellation left of her, which we’ll get to later on this week. Andromeda’s claim to scientific fame is the large galaxy located there, the Great Andromeda Galaxy, probably the farthest thing one can spot with the naked eye.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Andromeda is part of the Great Star Story of Autumn. My take on it is linked Here.
Ephemeris: 10/20/2025 – The Fisher paints the autumn colors
This is Ephemeris for Monday, October 20th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 6:49, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:06. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 8:19 tomorrow morning.
The leaves on the trees are beginning to turn to reds and yellows as we advance through autumn. The native Anishinaabe peoples, whose homeland we share, have a story about how that came to be. Of how a magical weasel-like creature called the Fisher or, in their native language, Ojiig Anung (Fisher Star), brought summer to the Earth from Skyland. For his trouble, he was shot with an arrow in his only vulnerable spot, the tip of his tail. As he fell to Earth Gichi Manitou, the Great Spirit, caught him and placed him in the sky where we see the Great Bear and the Big Dipper. Every late autumn night we see his tail, the handle of the dipper, slowly swooping down to the horizon in the north, where his bloody tail paints the trees with their autumn colors.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
For my take on the story of how the Fisher brought summer to the Earth, click here.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 