Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Friday, July 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 9:24, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:14. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 11:20 this evening.

Tomorrow night, Saturday, July 18th, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will team up with the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society to host a star party at the Dune Climb from 9 to 11 PM or later. It won’t be a star party only, because the featured attractions early on, will be Venus and the four day old crescent Moon. Planets and the Moon, when near the Sun in the summer appear low in the sk, and will set on the dune fairly early: Venus shortly after 10, and the moon by 10:30. Both should be visible before sunset. To my mind, Venus is best seen in telescopes during daylight, but the trick is to find it then. There will be much more to see as the sky darkens. The rangers have an alternate program, so you can still have an interesting time even if its cloudy.

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