Archive
Ephemeris: 10/13/2025 – Celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day
This is Ephemeris for Indigenous Peoples Day, Monday, October 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 4 minutes, setting at 7:01, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:57. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 12:19 tomorrow morning.
This is, according to the current U.S. administration, Columbus Day and only Columbus Day. Some of us commemorate it as Indigenous Peoples Day because they discovered this place first. Columbus never set foot on the continental United States, however he did visit Puerto Rico. The indigenous people beat him to it by more than 1000 years. The reason that Columbus is celebrated because he unleashed the giant migration of Europeans and others, what the indigenous people might just think of a flood of illegal aliens into what they called Turtle Island. It being named after one of their creation stories, which we call North America. No, it’s not “Turtles all the way down”. That’s a Hindu thing.
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
Ephemeris: 10/10/2025 – Could radio noisy galaxies harbor many advanced civilizations?
This is Ephemeris for Friday, October 10th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 14 minutes, setting at 7:06, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:53. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 9:00 this evening.
I ran across an article on the Universe Today website a few days ago about galaxies with high radio emissions, that could be home to many advanced civilizations. Some galaxies do emit a lot of radio emissions, mainly because they have a black hole in the center that it was, in the past, active throwing out material from the galaxy that didn’t make it into the black hole. But this would be emissions from the actual disk of the Galaxy, inside which would be the cacophony of many advanced civilizations and their normal transmissions of their version of I Love Lucy. When combined, it enhances the general radio noise, so it can be detected as being out of ordinary. And there are a few galaxies like that. It would make the universe less lonely.
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
Here’s a link to the Universe Today article: https://www.universetoday.com/articles/galaxies-with-high-radio-emissions-could-be-home-to-many-advanced-civilizations
Ephemeris: 10/09/2025 – Eclipses and occultations of Jupiter’s satellites by each other
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, October 9th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 17 minutes, setting at 7:08, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:52. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 8:16 this evening.
To astronomers the word occult doesn’t mean what you think it means. It’s not a mysterious thing, but the word occult simply means hidden, when one body hides behind another. For example, a solar eclipse isn’t really an eclipse by astronomical standards it is an occultation: the Sun hides behind the Moon. But, a lunar eclipse is really an eclipse where the Moon enters the Earth’s shadow. There is a period for the next 2½ years when Jupiter’s satellites will be both occulting and eclipsing each other. This can easily be seen in a small telescope or even binoculars. Satellites will slowly seem to merge in occultations and disappear, for some minutes, being eclipsed in another satellite’s shadow. The main show starts in May next year and ends in August 2028.
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
IOTA’s website is occultations.org. Occult is free software. Besides occultations, it can be used to investigate historical and future solar and lunar eclipses, and transits of Mercury and Venus across the face of the Sun. And more.
Ephemeris: 10/08/2025 – Weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 7:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:51. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 7:42 this evening.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn rises before sunset in the east. It is the brightest star like object in the east southeastern sky at 8 PM not long after the Moon rises. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, 1.2° from being edge on in telescopes. Saturn has an axial tilt of about 27°, so it has seasons like the Earth and since its rings are over its equator, when they go edge on to the Sun, it is an equinox for it, which happened this past May. Earth, being close to the Sun, sees nearly the same thing. Now the ring angle for us will decrease to about a third of a degree by November 23rd before increasing. By 7 AM, Jupiter will appear high in the southeast, under the stars of Gemini. With brighter Venus low in the east.
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
Ephemeris: 10/07/2025 – Just how close will the Artemis 2 crew actually get to the Moon?
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 7:11, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:49. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 7:15 this evening.
I was thinking about the Artemis 2 mission which is scheduled to go around the Moon and back in the first half of next year. They will be on what’s called a free return trajectory which in a diagram that looks like a big Figure 8 going from the Earth, around the Moon and back again. The closest they will get to the Moon is on the far side, opposite to the Earth, of about 4,800 miles or 7700 kilometers. Dividing that out, that’s about one 50th of the Moon’s distance from the Earth, which is the same thing as observing the Moon with a small telescope using 50 power magnification. Of course the view would be spectacular, of a part of the Moon we never see from the Earth. Of course with binoculars, they will be able to see much closer.
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
Ephemeris: 10/06/2025 – Tonight’s full moon is the Harvest Moon!
This is Ephemeris for Monday, October 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 26 minutes, setting at 7:13, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:48. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 6:53 this evening.
Today’s full moon is the nearest full moon to the autumnal equinox which makes it the Harvest Moon. Normally, October’s full moon is called the Hunter’s Moon, so it can be both at the same time. The indigenous peoples of our area, the Anishinaabe, call it the Falling Leaves Moon and indeed this month the leaves will fall from deciduous trees, after giving us a couple of weeks of spectacular color. The exact time that the moon will be full will be 11:48 PM this evening. Therefore, the Moon is going to rise very close to sunset. As a matter of fact, it will rise 20 minutes before sunset, so it should be a very spectacular rising of an orangish moon which, this time of year, will remind one of a pumpkin.
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
Ephemeris: 10/03/2025 – Astronomy Society meeting tonight
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, October 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 35 minutes, setting at 7:19, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:44. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 4:26 tomorrow morning.
The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will host its October meeting tonight at 8 PM at Northwestern Michigan College’s Joseph H Rogers Observatory. I’m also in the dark as to the program. It’s always interesting, even if there is no formal program. Discussions among members with expertise in a variety of interests. Astronomy is the science of everything. After all, the Earth is a planet too. After the meeting, around 9 PM, weather permitting, there will be viewing of the Moon and whatever we can find in the twilight. The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Rd. The meeting will also be available via Zoom. Instructions will be on the society’s website, gtastro.org.
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
Ephemeris: 10/02/2025 – The Artemis 2 mission may launch early next year
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, October 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 38 minutes, setting at 7:20, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:43. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 3:10 tomorrow morning.
The Artemis 2 mission to send the crew around the moon and back is slated for early next year, which surprised me a bit because the launch window was moved up to earlier next year to between February 5th and April 26 about 2 1/2 months. That doesn’t mean that the mission could slip to later in the year, recalling the delays of the Artemis 1 mission. This mission is to send four people in the Orion capsule around the moon. It is crewed by three Americans and a Canadian, three men and a woman, three whites and a black. They’re the same four astronauts. I’m sure the current administration would have screamed DEI, if it wasn’t too late to break up the crew.
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
Ephemeris: 10/01/2025 – Our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 41 minutes, setting at 7:22, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:42. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 1:55 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. Saturn rises before sunset in the east. It is the brightest star like object in the eastern to southeastern sky in the evening. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, 1.5° from being edge on. Saturn has an axial tilt of about 27°, so it has seasons like the Earth and since its rings are over its equator, when they go edge on to the Sun, it is an equinox for it, which happened this past May. Earth, being close to the Sun, sees nearly the same thing. Now the ring angle for us will decrease to about a third of a degree by November 23rd before increasing. By 7 AM, Jupiter will appear high in the southeast, under the stars of Gemini. With brighter Venus low in the east.
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
Ephemeris: 09/30/2025 – Previewing October skies
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, September 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 7:24, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:41. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 12:44 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the skies for this month of October. The Sun will still be moving south rapidly. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area will drop from 11 hours and 41 minutes tomorrow to 10 hours 12 minutes on the 31st. The altitude of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 42 degrees tomorrow, and will descend to 31 degrees on Halloween, also in the Interlochen/Traverse City area. The Straits area will have the sun a degree lower. Local noon, when the Sun is due south, will be about 1:30 pm in Interlochen and Traverse City. Bits of Halley’s comet will return later in the month as the Orionid meteor shower. Dark skies will prevail this year for the Orionids
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
October Evening Star Chart
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 PM EDT in the evening and 6 AM on the 16th for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian, West 75° longitude. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
October Morning Star Chart
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations, click here.
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris, the North Star.
- Leaky dipper drips on Leo.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus.
- The Summer Triangle is in red.
- DracR – Draconid Radiant – Peaks the 8th – Zenithal Hourly Rate < 10 with rare outbursts of a thousand an hour, though not expected this year. It’s hindered this year by the bright moon.
- OriR – Orionid Radiant – Peak 21st – Zenithal Hourly Rate = 20
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| EDT | |||||||
| Morning | Twilight | Evening | Twilight | Dark | Night | Moon | |
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2025-10-01 | 6h05m | 6h40m | 20h29m | 21h03m | 0h44m | 6h05m | 0.72 |
| 2025-10-02 | 6h07m | 6h41m | 20h27m | 21h01m | 1h56m | 6h07m | 0.81 |
| 2025-10-03 | 6h08m | 6h42m | 20h25m | 20h59m | 3h11m | 6h08m | 0.88 |
| 2025-10-04 | 6h09m | 6h43m | 20h23m | 20h57m | 4h27m | 6h09m | 0.95 |
| 2025-10-05 | 6h10m | 6h44m | 20h22m | 20h56m | 5h44m | 6h10m | 0.99 |
| 2025-10-06 | 6h12m | 6h46m | 20h20m | 20h54m | – | – | 1.00 |
| 2025-10-07 | 6h13m | 6h47m | 20h18m | 20h52m | – | – | 0.98 |
| 2025-10-08 | 6h14m | 6h48m | 20h16m | 20h50m | – | – | 0.94 |
| 2025-10-09 | 6h15m | 6h49m | 20h14m | 20h48m | – | – | 0.87 |
| 2025-10-10 | 6h17m | 6h51m | 20h13m | 20h46m | 20h46m | 21h01m | 0.78 |
| 2025-10-11 | 6h18m | 6h52m | 20h11m | 20h45m | 20h45m | 21h57m | 0.67 |
| 2025-10-12 | 6h19m | 6h53m | 20h09m | 20h43m | 20h43m | 23h05m | 0.56 |
| 2025-10-13 | 6h20m | 6h54m | 20h07m | 20h41m | 20h41m | – | 0.45 |
| 2025-10-14 | 6h22m | 6h55m | 20h06m | 20h40m | 20h40m | 0h19m | 0.35 |
| 2025-10-15 | 6h23m | 6h57m | 20h04m | 20h38m | 20h38m | 1h35m | 0.25 |
| 2025-10-16 | 6h24m | 6h58m | 20h02m | 20h36m | 20h36m | 2h48m | 0.17 |
| 2025-10-17 | 6h25m | 6h59m | 20h01m | 20h35m | 20h35m | 3h57m | 0.10 |
| 2025-10-18 | 6h27m | 7h00m | 19h55m | 20h33m | 20h33m | 5h04m | 0.05 |
| 2025-10-19 | 6h28m | 7h01m | 19h54m | 20h31m | 20h31m | 6h10m | 0.02 |
| 2025-10-20 | 6h29m | 7h03m | 19h52m | 20h30m | 20h30m | 6h29m | 0.00 |
| 2025-10-21 | 6h30m | 7h04m | 19h51m | 20h28m | 20h28m | 6h30m | 0.00 |
| 2025-10-22 | 6h31m | 7h05m | 19h49m | 20h27m | 20h27m | 6h31m | 0.03 |
| 2025-10-23 | 6h33m | 7h06m | 19h48m | 20h25m | 20h25m | 6h33m | 0.06 |
| 2025-10-24 | 6h34m | 7h08m | 19h46m | 20h24m | 20h24m | 6h34m | 0.12 |
| 2025-10-25 | 6h35m | 7h09m | 19h45m | 20h22m | 20h38m | 6h35m | 0.19 |
| 2025-10-26 | 6h36m | 7h10m | 19h43m | 20h21m | 21h30m | 6h36m | 0.27 |
| 2025-10-27 | 6h38m | 7h11m | 19h42m | 20h20m | 22h31m | 6h38m | 0.36 |
| 2025-10-28 | 6h39m | 7h13m | 19h40m | 20h18m | 23h39m | 6h39m | 0.45 |
| 2025-10-29 | 6h40m | 7h14m | 19h39m | 20h17m | – | 6h40m | 0.55 |
| 2025-10-30 | 6h41m | 7h15m | 19h38m | 20h16m | 0h50m | 6h41m | 0.66 |
| 2025-10-31 | 6h42m | 7h16m | 19h37m | 20h14m | 2h03m | 6h42m | 0.76 |
Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2018/09/27/.
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
Date Time Event
Oct 1 We Venus: 23.9° W
5 Su 5:20 AM Moon Ascending Node
5 Su 10:46 PM Moon-Saturn: 3.8° S
6 Mo 11:48 PM Full Moon
8 We 8:36 AM Moon Perigee: 359800 km
8 We 5:08 PM Jupiter-Pollux: 6.7° S
10 Fr 1:20 AM Moon-Pleiades: 0.9° S
11 Sa 11:30 PM Moon North Dec.: 28.5° N
13 Mo 2:13 PM Last Quarter
13 Mo 6:31 PM Moon-Jupiter: 4.4° S
13 Mo 7:30 PM Moon-Pollux: 2.6° N
14 Tu 6:53 PM Moon-Beehive: 2° S
16 Th 12:56 PM Moon-Regulus: 1.4° S
18 Sa 12:34 AM Moon Descending Node
19 Su 4:25 PM Mercury-Mars: 2° N
19 Su 5:37 PM Moon-Venus: 4° N
21 Tu 8:07 AM Orionid Shower: ZHR = 20
21 Tu 8:25 AM New Moon
23 Th 12:15 PM Moon-Mercury: 2.5° N
23 Th 7:31 PM Moon Apogee: 406400 km
24 Fr 8:15 PM Moon-Antares: 0.6° N
26 Su 7:50 AM Moon South Dec.: 28.5° S
29 We 11:21 AM First Quarter
29 We 4:59 PM Mercury Elongation: 23.9° E
All event times are given for UTC-4 hr: Eastern Daylight Saving Time.
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html.
If you go to the above site, you can print out a list like the above for the entire year or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Times
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
October, 2025 Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM |
| | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Wed 1| 07:41a 07:22p 11:41 | 08:25p 06:38a | Set 01:55a 70%|
|Thu 2| 07:42a 07:20p 11:38 | 08:23p 06:39a | Set 03:10a 79%|
|Fri 3| 07:43a 07:19p 11:35 | 08:21p 06:40a | Set 04:26a 87%|
|Sat 4| 07:44a 07:17p 11:32 | 08:20p 06:41a | Set 05:44a 94%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 5| 07:46a 07:15p 11:29 | 08:18p 06:43a | Set 07:03a 98%|
|Mon 6| 07:47a 07:13p 11:26 | 08:16p 06:44a |Full Rise 06:53p 100%|
|Tue 7| 07:48a 07:11p 11:23 | 08:14p 06:45a | Rise 07:15p 99%|
|Wed 8| 07:49a 07:09p 11:20 | 08:12p 06:46a | Rise 07:42p 95%|
|Thu 9| 07:51a 07:08p 11:17 | 08:11p 06:47a | Rise 08:16p 88%|
|Fri 10| 07:52a 07:06p 11:14 | 08:09p 06:49a | Rise 09:00p 80%|
|Sat 11| 07:53a 07:04p 11:10 | 08:07p 06:50a | Rise 09:57p 69%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 12| 07:54a 07:02p 11:07 | 08:05p 06:51a | Rise 11:05p 58%|
|Mon 13| 07:56a 07:01p 11:04 | 08:04p 06:52a |L Qtr Rise 12:19a 47%|
|Tue 14| 07:57a 06:59p 11:01 | 08:02p 06:54a | Rise 01:34a 37%|
|Wed 15| 07:58a 06:57p 10:58 | 08:00p 06:55a | Rise 02:47a 27%|
|Thu 16| 07:59a 06:55p 10:55 | 07:59p 06:56a | Rise 03:57a 18%|
|Fri 17| 08:01a 06:54p 10:52 | 07:57p 06:57a | Rise 05:04a 11%|
|Sat 18| 08:02a 06:52p 10:49 | 07:55p 06:59a | Rise 06:09a 6%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 19| 08:03a 06:50p 10:47 | 07:54p 07:00a | Rise 07:14a 2%|
|Mon 20| 08:05a 06:49p 10:44 | 07:52p 07:01a | Rise 08:19a 0%|
|Tue 21| 08:06a 06:47p 10:41 | 07:51p 07:02a |New Set 06:32p 0%|
|Wed 22| 08:07a 06:45p 10:38 | 07:49p 07:03a | Set 06:54p 2%|
|Thu 23| 08:09a 06:44p 10:35 | 07:48p 07:05a | Set 07:21p 6%|
|Fri 24| 08:10a 06:42p 10:32 | 07:46p 07:06a | Set 07:55p 11%|
|Sat 25| 08:11a 06:41p 10:29 | 07:45p 07:07a | Set 08:38p 17%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 26| 08:13a 06:39p 10:26 | 07:43p 07:08a | Set 09:30p 25%|
|Mon 27| 08:14a 06:38p 10:23 | 07:42p 07:10a | Set 10:31p 34%|
|Tue 28| 08:15a 06:36p 10:20 | 07:41p 07:11a | Set 11:38p 43%|
|Wed 29| 08:17a 06:35p 10:18 | 07:39p 07:12a |F Qtr Set 12:50a 53%|
|Thu 30| 08:18a 06:33p 10:15 | 07:38p 07:13a | Set 02:03a 63%|
|Fri 31| 08:19a 06:32p 10:12 | 07:37p 07:14a | Set 03:17a 73%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise
Generated using my LookingUp for DOS app.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 