Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Friday, September 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 43 minutes, setting at 8:00, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:18. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 8:04 this evening.

Tomorrow night, Saturday, September 12th, the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will join the park Rangers at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s Dune Climb for a star party from 9 to 11 PM or later, if clouds permit. Both of our previous star parties this year have been clouded out We’re hoping the third time is a charm. Visible tomorrow night, will be the planet Saturn, now showing its rings. Last year the rings were nearly edge on and very difficult to see as more than a line, but they’re opening up this year. Also featured will be the summer Milky Way in the waning days of summer, when we can look towards the center of our Galaxy, to all the star clusters and clouds of gas and dust called nebulae. Plus as a bonus, we get an early look at one of the features of the fall sky the great Andromeda Galaxy.

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.

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