Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, March 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 28 minutes, setting at 8:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:32. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 5:07 tomorrow morning. | The planet Jupiter rules over the night sky with the Moon after Venus sets. Jupiter, 11 times the diameter of the Earth, has the volume of 1,300 earths, however it is only 318 times the mass of the Earth. It is made-up mostly of hydrogen and helium, so it is called a gas giant planet, rather than a terrestrial or rocky planet like the Earth. Jupiter is the most viewable of the planets in a small telescope. It has 2 dark bands across it called belts of darker appearing clouds. The famed Great Red Spot is an anticyclone embedded in the southern of those belts. The spot is not as red anymore. I remember it being brick-red back in the late 1950s and early 60s. Jupiter spins very rapidly, its day lasts only 10 hours.

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.