Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Friday, August 14th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 8:49, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:45. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 9:42 this evening.

Weather permitting, the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society and the Park Rangers will host a star party at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, at the Dune Climb tomorrow night, Saturday August 15th, starting around 9 PM. The parking lane closest to the dune will be blocked off for telescopes. The start time is after sunset, and Venus and the crescent moon will be visible by then, but will set shortly over the dune. As it gets darker some of the brighter interstellar wonders of our Milky Way galaxy, will appear, with many star clusters and nebulae. The Rangers will leave around 11 PM. However, if it stays clear and there’s enough interest, society members will stay longer, with their telescopes. The last Sleeping Bear Dunes star party this year will be September 12th.

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