Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Friday, October 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 52 minutes, setting at 6:54, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:02. The Moon, halfway from last quarter to new, will rise at 5:04 tomorrow morning.

There’s a bright star that appears for only seven and a half hours on autumn evenings. Its appearance, low in the south in the evening, is a clear indication of autumn. It is currently below and right of the much brighter Saturn. The star’s name is Fomalhaut, which means fish’s mouth. That’s fitting because it’s in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish. At our latitude it’s kind of the fish that got away, because Fomalhaut is low in our skies where stars lose more than half their brightness. For the last few years Jupiter, then Saturn have kept it company. However, Saturn is moving on, having shifted into Pisces, leaving Fomalhaut to its lonely vigil in the south.

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