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Ephemeris: 12/27/2024 – Orion’s story
This is Ephemeris for Friday, December 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:19. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 6:32 tomorrow morning.
It may seem unfair that the greatest mythological hero Hercules gets a little constellation of dim stars on the border between the spring and summer constellations, while Orion, a virtual nobody, a hard luck hero gets the splashiest constellation in the sky. Orion’s claim to fame or infamy is how he died. And the Greeks had two completely different stories on how that happened. First, that he was killed by a sting of a giant scorpion represented by the constellation Scorpius, and second that he was killed by an arrow shot by the goddess he loved, the arrow being deflected by her brother who didn’t want her to marry a mere mortal.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 12/26/2024 – Finding Orion the hunter
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, December 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:08, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:19. The Moon, halfway from last quarter to new, will rise at 5:24 tomorrow morning.
The constellation of Orion the hunter is the most famous constellation in the sky. At 8 o’clock tonight he is seen in the east southeast. Two of its stars are first magnitude, among the brightest in the sky while five are second magnitude, as bright as the brightest Big Dipper stars. His torso is a rectangle of stars, now tilted to the left, framed by Betelgeuse and Bellatrix in his shoulders and Rigel and Saiph and Rigel at his knees. Betelgeuse and Rigel are first magnitude stars at opposite corners of that rectangle. His most easily found feature is his belt of three stars in a straight line in the center of that rectangle, now nearly vertically aligned, which makes them easy to spot even if you don’t know the pattern of the rest of the stars.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 12/02/2024 – Orion is rising in the evening
This is Ephemeris for Monday, December 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 1 minute, setting at 5:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:02. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 5:47 this evening.
In the east, the central winter constellation Orion the hunter throws a leg over the horizon between 8 and 9 p.m. as Robert Frost told in his poem Star-Splitter. The upright rectangle that is his body on December evenings is tilted to the left as he rises, with a bright red star Betelgeuse at the top left of the rectangle, his shoulder. At the opposite corner is blue-white Rigel, a knee. In the center of the rectangle is a line of three stars nearly vertically aligned as he rises, which represents his belt. The stars of Orion’s belt are how many folks can find him. The Anishinaabek native peoples of this area call him the Wintermaker whose arms are held wide to encompass the winter stars. His rising in the evening heralds the coming of winter.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 11/26/2024 – Finding the celestial charioteer and his goats
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, November 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 5:05, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:55. The Moon, 4 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:18 tomorrow morning.
The constellation Auriga the charioteer is halfway up the sky in the east northeast at 9 p.m. It is a pentagon of stars, with the brilliant star Capella at the upper left of its corners. Capella represents a mama goat he’s carrying. A narrow triangle of stars just right of Capella are her kids, that is her baby goats. The Kids is an informal constellation or asterism. The Milky Way runs through Auriga, but it’s not very bright here. We are looking away from the center of the Milky Way to the more sparse outer parts of our galaxy. Within and near that pentagon, one can sweep with binoculars and low power telescopes to find several star clusters, groups of hundreds of stars born in the clump we still see them in. These star clusters will appear as fuzzy spots in binoculars.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 11/25/2024 – How to find Taurus the bull
This is Ephemeris for Monday, November 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 12 minutes, setting at 5:06, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:54. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:15 tomorrow morning.
Low in the east at 8 this evening and below the beautiful Pleiades star cluster is Taurus the bull. His face is a letter V shape of stars lying on its side, the star cluster Hyades, with the bright orange-red star Aldebaran at one tip of the V as its angry bloodshot eye. Aldebaran is actually about halfway between us and the cluster. Tonight it is to the right of the brilliant planet Jupiter. The Pleiades star cluster is in his shoulder. Taurus is seen charging downward at that hour, the rising constellation of Orion. Taurus in Greek mythology was the form the god Zeus assumed when he carried off the maiden Europa. Europa’s still with him as a moon orbiting Zeus’ Roman equivalent, the planet Jupiter.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 11/22/2024 – Finding Aquarius
This is Ephemeris for Friday, November 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 18 minutes, setting at 5:08, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:50. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 12:04 tomorrow morning.
One of the constellations of the zodiac is in the southern sky at 8 in the evening, where Saturn is located this year. It’s the constellation of Aquarius, the water bearer. The image that is supposed to be depicted in the stars is that of a fellow carrying a stone jar of water. Aquarius is fairly hard to spot because it is made of faint stars. One part of him, though, is easier to spot. That is the Water Jar, an asterism or informal constellation. It is a distinctive small nearly equilateral triangle of stars with another star in the center. Aquarius is not a very good water bearer because he’s spilling the water out of his jar. The Water jar is above and to the right of Saturn this year and the water is flowing down a line of stars to the lower left.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 09/27/2024 – Finding Andromeda
This is Ephemeris for Friday, September 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 53 minutes, setting at 7:29, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:37. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:11 tomorrow morning.
The constellation of Andromeda is famous mainly for the galaxy visible to the naked eye that is contained within it, called the Great Andromeda Galaxy, which is actually visible to the naked eye. Andromeda is found in the east northeast these evenings connected to the Great Square of Pegasus, the square of stars standing on one corner in the east. It shares a star with that square called Alpheratz, the leftmost star, and from that star two curved lines of stars are seen to the left that is the body of Andromeda. She was a Princess and daughter of Queen Cassiopeia, and was fated to be devoured by the monster Cetus. She was saved by the hero Perseus who flew in on his flying horse Pegasus.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 09/26/2024 – Finding Cassiopeia the queen
This Ephemeris for Thursday, September 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 56 minutes, setting at 7:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:36. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 2:02 tomorrow morning.
High in the northeast sky at 9:00 PM can be found the constellation of Cassiopeia the queen. Its stars make a letter W in the sky. It is circumpolar, meaning that it never sets, as it appears to move around the North Pole of the sky. In the summer it is a W low in the north. It becomes kind of an open and angular number 3 in the autumn. In the winter it is overhead and looks like an M. In springtime it looks like the Greek capital letter Sigma in the northwest. I will visit Cassiopeia later this autumn and relate her story and other autumn constellations including her daughter Andromeda, husband King Cepheus, future son-in-law Perseus and his horse Pegasus, and the sea monster, Cetus.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 09/24/2024 – Pegasus is rising on autumn evenings
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, September 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 2 minutes, setting at 7:35, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:34. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 11:47 this evening.
While we’ve been watching the stars and constellations of summer and the Milky Way, the constellations of autumn have been sneaking up on us from the east. About halfway up the sky in the east at 9 PM is one of the greatest constellations of autumn, Pegasus the flying horse. Her body or at least the front part of it is a large square of stars called the Great Square of Pegasus. It is an almost perfect rectangle. However, as she’s rising, it’s standing on one corner. From the upper star are her front legs, from the rightmost star her neck and head extend in the stars. And from the left star of the square are what might look like her hind legs but aren’t. Only half of her body is in the stars. It’s another constellation, Andromeda, which we’ll talk about later.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 09/03/2024 – The constellation of Scutum the shield
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, September 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 8:14, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:09. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 8:38 this evening.
In the southern sky between the Teapot of Sagittarius below and Aquila the Eagle above, with Altair the southernmost star of the Summer Triangle, lies Scutum the shield of John Sobieski the Polish king who stopped the advance of the Turks at Kahlenberg, which lies on a hill overlooking Vienna, in 1683. The Polish half of me is very proud. Scutum is one of two official constellations which are related to real persons. The other one is Coma Berenices, a hank of Egyptian Queen Berenice’s hair. It’s recent as constellations go, to fill up a section of the sky that the ancients couldn’t make out anything, because the stars here are so dim and embedded in the glow of the Milky Way as to be nearly impossible to discern. Scutum lies in one of the richest portions of the Milky Way, wonderful to scan with binoculars and telescopes.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
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