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Ephemeris: 11/06/2023 – The Pleiades or Seven Sisters
This is Ephemeris for Monday, November 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 5:25, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:28. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 1:18 tomorrow morning.
A marvelous member of the autumn skies can be found low in the east after 8 in the evening. It is the famous star cluster called the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. I might also add the ‘Tiny Dipper’. Many people can spot a tiny dipper shape in its six or seven stars, and mistake it for the Little Dipper. With binoculars, one can see over a hundred stars appear, along with the dipper shape of the brightest. In photographs, the Pleiades actually contain wisps of the dust they are currently passing through. In Greek mythology, the sisters were daughters of the god Atlas and Pleione.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
I’ll be coming back to the Pleiades from time to time over the autumn and winter months to cover, especially, the mythology of the Pleiades from different cultures.
Ephemeris: 10/30/2023 – Just in time for Halloween – Algol the Demon Star
This is Ephemeris for Monday, October 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 6:34, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:19. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 7:29 this evening.
Not all the ghosts and goblins out tomorrow night will be children. One will be out every night because it’s a star. Its name is Algol, from the Arabic for Ghoul Star or Demon Star. It’s normally the second brightest star in the constellation Perseus the hero, visible in the northeast this evening. The star is located where artists have drawn the severed head of Medusa, whom he had slain. Medusa was so ugly that she turned all who gazed upon her to stone. Algol is her still glittering eye. The star got these names before astronomers found out what was wrong with it. They found out that it does a slow wink every two days, 21 hours. That’s because Algol is two stars that eclipse each other. Her next evening wink will be its dimmest at 10:12 p.m. this Wednesday, November 1st.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
For predictions of the minima of Algol for your time zone and for Universal Time (UT) go here: http://www.astropical.space/algol.php
Ephemeris: 10/16/2023 – Finding the constellation of Andromeda
This is Ephemeris for Monday, October 16th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 6:56, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:00. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 7:43 this evening.
In the east at 9 this evening can be found a large square of stars, the Great Square of Pegasus the upside down flying horse. The square is standing on one corner. What looks like its hind legs stretching away from the left corner star is another constellation, Andromeda the chained princess. She is seen in the sky as two nearly horizontal but diverging curved strings of stars that curve upward. She was doomed to be devoured by a sea monster that was ravaging the coast due to her mother, Queen Cassiopeia’s boasting, which angered the god Poseidon. She was rescued by the hero Perseus, a nearby constellation, riding his steed Pegasus.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 10/03/2023 – How to find Cassiopeia the queen
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 36 minutes, setting at 7:19, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:44. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 9:35 this evening.
The stars of the autumn skies are slowly replacing the summer stars from the east. By 9 pm Scorpius the scorpion is gone, The Teapot asterism of Sagittarius is pouring its tea on the southwestern horizon. Looking halfway up in the northeastern sky these autumn the evenings one can find the letter W shaped constellation of Cassiopeia the queen. Cassiopeia is so far north that it never sets for us in Michigan. It is opposite the pole star Polaris from the handle of Big Dipper. Above and left of Cassiopeia is a dim upside down church steeple shaped constellation of Cepheus the king, her husband.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Delta Cephei is the archetype for the important Cepheid variable stars that are used in distance measurement as far as the nearest galaxies. Delta itself varies its brightness from magnitude 4.37 up to 3.48. In astronomy the lower the magnitude the brighter the star. The difference of 0.89 magnitude equals a difference in brightness of 2.27 times. Delta has a pulsation period of 5.367 days. For Cepheids, the longer the period the brighter the star.
Ephemeris: 09/19/23 – How to find Pegasus in the sky
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, September 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 7:46, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:27. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 9:39 this evening.
Looking eastward at around 9 pm, one of the great constellations of autumn. A season that will start in four days. It is Pegasus the flying horse of Greek myth. Its most visible feature is a large square of four stars, now standing on one corner. This feature, called the Great Square of Pegasus, represents the front part of the horse’s body. The horse is quite aerobatic, because it is seen flying upside down. Remembering that fact, the neck and head is a bent line of stars emanating from the right corner star of the square. Its front legs can be seen in a gallop extending to the upper right from the top star of the square. From the left star extend, not hind legs but the constellation of Andromeda, the princess rescued with the help of Pegasus.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Ephemeris: 09/18/2023 – Saturn the planet and the god of old age
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Monday, September 18th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 7:48, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:26. The Moon, halfway from new to first quarter, will set at 9:14 this evening.
The planet Saturn is named after the Roman God of agriculture. He is often depicted as an old man with a scythe. It happens that Saturn is the most distant of the naked eye planets and as such takes nearly 30 years to totter its way around the Zodiac signifying his old age. Saturn is also depicted as Father Time at New Year’s Eve being replaced by the New Year’s baby. Saturn is the Roman Equivalent of the Greek god Cronus, where we get time related words like chronology, chronometer. The planet that is Saturn, appears to be the only planet referred to specifically in the Bible as being the closest planet to heaven. The goddess Ishtar, an equivalent of Venus, is mentioned as the “Queen of Heaven” in Jeremiah (Jer 7:18; 44:19), but not as a planet. The only mention of Venus is in its morning apparition as Lucifer, the Son of Morning, who is also equated with Satan.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 09/12/2023 – Two small but distinctive constellations by the Summer Triangle
this is Ephemeris for Tuesday, September 12th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 41 minutes, setting at 7:59, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:19. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 5:37 tomorrow morning.
There are two small constellations in and near the Summer Triangle of bright stars. Both are near Altair the bottom star of the triangle in the southeast. The first is Delphinus the dolphin to the left of Altair. Delphinus is made-up of a small squished box of stars with another star below. It does look a dolphin leaping out of the water. The legendary Greek poet Arion, according to myth, was rescued by a dolphin. Also the little squished box is an asterism called Job’s Coffin, though no one knows the origin of that name. The second constellation is above Altair, and within the Summer Triangle. It is called Sagitta the arrow. The stars do line up to look like a short arrow. It’s supposed to represent Cupid’s dart.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Painting circa 1938.
Ephemeris: 08/17/2023 – Finding Aquila the eagle
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, August 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 58 minutes, setting at 8:45, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:48. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 9:40 this evening.
Aquila the eagle is a constellation that lies in the Milky Way. It’s in the southeastern sky as it gets dark. Its brightest star, Altair, is one of the stars of the Summer Triangle, the group of three bright stars high in the east to southeastern sky in the evening now. Altair, in the head of the eagle, is flanked by two slightly dimmer stars, the shoulders of the eagle. The eagle is flying northeastward through the Milky Way. Its wings are seen in the wing tip stars. A curved group of stars to the lower right of Altair is its tail. Within Aquila, the Milky Way shows many dark clouds as part of the Great Rift that splits it here. The other summer bird is Cygnus the swan above and left of Aquila, flying in the opposite direction. It was said this was the eagle that attended the Roman god Jupiter.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Animated Cygnus finder chart. Two small constellations are found near the head of Aquila. Created using Stellarium. Near the beak of the image of Aquila is Sagitta the arrow. A bit further left of Altair are the distinctive six stars of Delphinus the dolphin, as if it is jumping out of the water. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Animated photograph of Aquila the eagle with constellation lines taken on August 13, 2018, during the Perseid meteor shower. Alas, there are no Perseids in this photograph. The reddening of the image was in part due to the smoke and haze if the western states wildfires that year. Taken by me and processed using Registax and GIMP.
Ephemeris: 08/08/2023 – What the indigenous peoples of the northern Great Lakes thought of Scorpius
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 8:59, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:37. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 12:32 tomorrow morning.
Scorpius the scorpion is now seen low in the southern sky in the at 10 pm. To me, the stars here make a very good scorpion. Scorpius was invented by the people of the Middle East, where scorpions are plentiful. The Anishinaabek native peoples of our area, however, saw here one of their legendary hero figures, Nenabozho. In the sky, the arc of four stars at the front of the scorpion and to the right of the bright star Antares is his bow. He is shooting an arrow toward the receding Great Panther or Curly Tail a constellation of spring whose curl of a tail is the head of the constellation Leo, now lost in the evening twilight in the west. Nenabozho was a hero in their creation stories, and a trickster who was sometimes seen as a rabbit.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Ephemeris: 07/20/2023 – How Boötes and Ursa Major got into the sky
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, July 20th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 9:21, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:17. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 11:16 this evening.
Seen in high in the west-southwest at 10:30 this evening is the kite shaped constellation of Boötes (pronounced Bo-o-tees) the herdsman. The bright star Arcturus is at the bottom of the kite. It is pointed to by the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper, part of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, over toward the northwest. Boötes represents a young hunter named Arcas, son of Callisto, a beautiful young lady who had the misfortune of being loved by Zeus, the chief of the Greek gods. Zeus’ wife, Hera, found out about it, and since she couldn’t punish Zeus, turned the poor woman into a bear. Arcas, many years later, unaware of the events surrounding his mother’s disappearance, was about to kill the bear when Jupiter intervened and placed them both in the sky to save her. Arcas still pursues her across the sky nightly.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 