Ephemeris: 10/23/2026 – A planet named Saturn
This is Ephemeris for Friday, October 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 35 minutes, setting at 6:44, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:10. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 6:20 tomorrow morning.
The planet Jupiter, named after the chief Roman god, moves majestically through the zodiacal constellations, visiting one each year. Saturn, however, todders its way around the zodiac, taking nearly 30 years to complete the same circuit. To the Greeks. Saturn was Kronos. An elder god, one of the Titans. And not a very nice one. The Romans converted Kronos to Saturn and made him benovelent. He was the God of old age, for his slow circuit around the sky, and also the god of hospitality. It is said that the Romans always set a separate place at their dinner table, in case he showed up, to demonstrate their hospitality. And of course, there’s a great festival in December, Saturnalia. Which may be responsible for our Christmas placement and the surrounding festivities occurring in December.
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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