Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, July 9th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 9:29, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:07. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 1:57 tomorrow morning.

Tuesday I looked at the constellation of Cygnus the swan and the informal constellation, or asterism, made from most of its stars, the Northern Cross. They lie high in the eastern sky. Cygnus is the official International Astronomical Union constellation name. However, the indigenous Anishinaabe people of our area had another bird in mind when seeing these stars: Ajijaak, (pronounced a-ji-jock) a Sand Hill crane. While the swan is flying, neck outstretched to the south through the Milky Way, the crane is flying northward with its long legs trailing behind. The bright star Deneb is partway along its neck. The Anishinaabek have a name for another bird here, Bineshiihyi Okanin, which means Skeleton Bird.

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