Archive
04/07/2020 – Ephemeris – Today is the Paschal full moon
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 8:18, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:09. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 7:55 this evening.
Tonight’s full moon is the Paschal full moon, the first full moon of spring which is tomorrow in the Holy Land, so Passover begins at sunset tomorrow. Easter for western churches falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring, which is this next Sunday the 12th. Orthodox Easter rule adds that it must fall after Passover,a week long observance, which pushes their Easter celebration to a week later, April 19th. Both Christian churches attempt to mimic the Jewish Lunar Calendar by setting Easter by the first full moon of spring using solar based calendars and assuming that spring started on March 21st. This year actual spring started on the 20th in the Holy Land, and 19th here by 10 minutes, in our Gregorian Calendar and 13 days earlier by the old Julian Calendar. This is all very complicated.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
04/06/2020 – Ephemeris – Tomorrow’s full moon is special in two ways
This is Ephemeris for Monday, April 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 8:17, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:11. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 7:21 tomorrow morning.
The Moon will be full tomorrow, and also it will reach perigee, that is, its closest to the Earth of its current orbit, and for 2020. That makes it a super moon. The orbit of the Moon is affected by the Sun, Venus, and Jupiter mostly. So all perigees are not equally close. At perigee tomorrow the Moon will be 221,772 miles (356,907* km). I its most distant point from the Earth of 252,564 miles (406,462* km). We won’t notice it because it will be nearly new at that time. Tomorrow’s full moon will be special in another way, because it it the full moon that announces Easter for both Christian churches, east and west, and Passover for the Jews. I’ll talk more about that tomorrow.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
* According to Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets Third Edition by Jean Meeus.
4/03/2020 – Ephemeris – Tonight Venus appears among the stars of the Pleiades
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, April 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 54 minutes, setting at 8:13, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:17. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 5:48 tomorrow morning.
This evening the brilliant evening star, the planet Venus will appear within the Pleiades or Seven Sisters star cluster. Venus will slowly pass the Pleiades for the next few days. By the end of the month the Pleiades will be pretty much lost in the twilight. Evening star gazers will again pick it up late on September evenings, rising in the northeast. Venus, itself appears as a tiny crescent in small telescopes, and in May the tiny crescent will even be visible in binoculars. Venus reflects about 77 percent of the sunlight it receives because it is completely socked in by clouds. Clouds of a sulfuric acid mist. It is not a nice place. Surface temperature averages 867 degrees, and the atmospheric pressure is 90 times that of Earth.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
binocular view of Venus and the Pleiades tonight at 10 p.m. EDT April 3, 2020. (2 hr UT April 4) Created using Stellarium. Note: More stars may be visible. There will be a bright Moon out masking the dimmer members of the cluster. Your results may vary.
Update 04/03/2020 10:10 p.m. EDT
Photo of Venus and Pleiades taken at 9:37 p.m. EDT with Canon EOS Rebel T5, 300mm fl. f/5.6, 2 sec, ISO 3200, unguided. by myself.
04/02/2020 – Ephemeris – Let’s look at the Moon tonight
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, April 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 8:12, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:18. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 5:09 tomorrow morning.
Tonight’s gibbous Moon is a bright fixture in the evening sky it’s in the constellation of Cancer the crab which its brightness obliterates, between the stars Castor and Pollux of Gemini on the right and Regulus of Leo on the left. The Beehive star cluster in Cancer can be spotted in binoculars to the left of the Moon by about 7 to 8 of its diameters. On the Moon itself are the gray, so-called seas and two spectacular craters near the terminator. The first is near the bottom limb of the Moon, the very large crater Clavius with an interesting arc of small craters of decreasing size within. The other remarkable crater is Copernicus about half way up and left, near the terminator, the Moon’s sunrise line.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Moon and Beehive Star Cluster at 10 p.m. tonight April 2, 2020. If you are not in the eastern daylight time the Moon will be in a different position if you are in a different time zone.
The Mon as it might appear in a low power telescope tonight at 10 p.m. April 2, 2020. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas (software).
04/01/2020 – Ephemeris – Looking at the naked-eye planets for this week
Ephemeris for April Fools Day, Wednesday, April 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 8:11, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:20. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 4:23 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week. Venus is our evening star shining brightly in the west just below the Pleiades. It will set at 12:26 a.m. The rest of the planet action is in the morning sky where there are three planets close together in the southeast. Bright Jupiter will rise first at 4:11 a.m. Followed by Saturn 4:31 a.m. Mars, left and below Saturn will rise at 4:39 a.m. It’s now as bright as a first magnitude star because it’s down to 135 million miles (217 million km) away, as the Earth slowly overtakes it at the rate of about 5 million miles (8 million km) a week. It’s brighter than the star Antares in the south-southwest. Mars passed Saturn yesterday afternoon moving eastward much faster than Saturn was.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus under the Pleiades tonight at 10 p.m. April 1, 2020. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon as it might look like in binoculars this evening April 1, 2020. Created using Stellarium.
Morning planets and the southern stars of summer at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning April 2, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The planets as seen in a telescope with the same magnification. Venus in the evening and Jupiter and Saturn in the morning on the night of April 1/2, 2020. Apparent diameters: Venus, 25.85″; Jupiter, 37.21″; Saturn, 16.16″, rings, 37.65″. Mars at 6.46″ won’t be added until it reaches 10″. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on April 1, 2020. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 2nd. The planet traffic jam in the morning sky unfortunately overlays planets and labels. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
03/31/2020 – Ephemeris – Looking ahead at April skies
Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 45 minutes, setting at 8:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:22. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 3:30 tomorrow morning.
The 4th month of the year begins tomorrow. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 12 hours and 48 minutes tomorrow to 14 hours 13 minutes on the 30th. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 50 degrees tomorrow and will ascend to 60 degrees on the 30th. The altitude of the Sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower. The actual time of local apparent noon this month for the Interlochen/Traverse City area, when the Sun passes due south, will be about 1:43 p.m. Venus is our brilliant evening planet while Jupiter, Saturn and Mars are our morning planets with Mars passing below Saturn unseen by us this afternoon.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
March Evening Star Chart
Star Chart for April 2020 (10 p.m. EDT April 15, 2020). Click on image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EDT in the evening and 5 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. The brilliant planet Venus is our Evening Star in the West at chart time. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian, West 75° longitude. (An hour and 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT).
April Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for April mornings 2020 (5 a.m. EDT April 15, 2020). Click on image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
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.
- The leaky bowl of the Big Dipper drips on Leo.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, then
- Follow the spike to Spica.
- The Summer Triangle appears in red.
- LyrR is the radiant of the Lyrid meteor shower which will reach peak on the morning of the 22nd.
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| EDT | |||||||
| Morning twilight | Evening twilight | Dark night | Moon | ||||
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2020-04-01 | 5h45m | 6h22m | 21h18m | 21h55m | 3h31m | 5h45m | 0.56 |
| 2020-04-02 | 5h43m | 6h20m | 21h19m | 21h56m | 4h24m | 5h43m | 0.67 |
| 2020-04-03 | 5h41m | 6h18m | 21h21m | 21h58m | 5h09m | 5h41m | 0.78 |
| 2020-04-04 | 5h39m | 6h16m | 21h22m | 21h59m | – | – | 0.87 |
| 2020-04-05 | 5h37m | 6h14m | 21h24m | 22h01m | – | – | 0.87 |
| 2020-04-06 | 5h35m | 6h12m | 21h25m | 22h03m | – | – | 0.94 |
| 2020-04-07 | 5h32m | 6h10m | 21h26m | 22h04m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2020-04-08 | 5h30m | 6h08m | 21h28m | 22h06m | – | – | 1 |
| 2020-04-09 | 5h28m | 6h06m | 21h29m | 22h08m | 22h08m | 22h36m | 0.98 |
| 2020-04-10 | 5h26m | 6h04m | 21h31m | 22h09m | 22h09m | 23h54m | 0.93 |
| 2020-04-11 | 5h24m | 6h02m | 21h32m | 22h11m | 22h11m | – | 0.85 |
| 2020-04-12 | 5h21m | 6h00m | 21h34m | 22h13m | 22h13m | 1h07m | 0.76 |
| 2020-04-13 | 5h19m | 5h58m | 21h35m | 22h14m | 22h14m | 2h13m | 0.66 |
| 2020-04-14 | 5h17m | 5h56m | 21h37m | 22h16m | 22h16m | 3h09m | 0.55 |
| 2020-04-15 | 5h15m | 5h54m | 21h38m | 22h18m | 22h18m | 3h56m | 0.44 |
| 2020-04-16 | 5h12m | 5h52m | 21h40m | 22h20m | 22h20m | 4h34m | 0.34 |
| 2020-04-17 | 5h10m | 5h50m | 21h41m | 22h21m | 22h21m | 5h05m | 0.25 |
| 2020-04-18 | 5h08m | 5h48m | 21h43m | 22h23m | 22h23m | 5h08m | 0.17 |
| 2020-04-19 | 5h06m | 5h46m | 21h44m | 22h25m | 22h25m | 5h06m | 0.11 |
| 2020-04-20 | 5h04m | 5h44m | 21h46m | 22h27m | 22h27m | 5h04m | 0.05 |
| 2020-04-21 | 5h01m | 5h43m | 21h47m | 22h29m | 22h29m | 5h01m | 0.02 |
| 2020-04-22 | 4h59m | 5h41m | 21h49m | 22h30m | 22h30m | 4h59m | 0 |
| 2020-04-23 | 4h57m | 5h39m | 21h50m | 22h32m | 22h32m | 4h57m | 0 |
| 2020-04-24 | 4h55m | 5h37m | 21h52m | 22h34m | 22h34m | 4h55m | 0.03 |
| 2020-04-25 | 4h52m | 5h35m | 21h53m | 22h36m | 23h25m | 4h52m | 0.07 |
| 2020-04-26 | 4h50m | 5h33m | 21h55m | 22h38m | – | 4h50m | 0.13 |
| 2020-04-27 | 4h48m | 5h31m | 21h57m | 22h40m | 0h28m | 4h48m | 0.21 |
| 2020-04-28 | 4h46m | 5h29m | 21h58m | 22h42m | 1h27m | 4h46m | 0.3 |
| 2020-04-29 | 4h44m | 5h28m | 22h00m | 22h44m | 2h21m | 4h44m | 0.4 |
| 2020-04-30 | 4h42m | 5h26m | 22h01m | 22h45m | 3h08m | 4h42m | 0.52 |
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
Apr 1 We 05:12 am Moon North Dec.: 23.7° N
1 We 06:21 am First Quarter
1 We Venus: 45.9° E
3 Fr 02:24 am Moon-Beehive: 1.3° S
3 Fr 10:39 am Venus-Pleiades: 0.3° S
7 Tu 02:08 pm Moon Perigee: 356900 km
7 Tu 10:35 pm Full Moon (super moon)
12 Su 10:58 pm Moon Descending Node
13 Mo 05:03 pm Moon South Dec.: 23.8° S
14 Tu 06:56 pm Last Quarter
14 Tu 07:04 pm Moon-Jupiter: 2.1° N
15 We 05:26 am Moon-Saturn: 2.6° N
16 Th 12:33 am Moon-Mars: 2.2° N
20 Mo 03:01 pm Moon Apogee: 406500 km
22 We 02:07 am Lyrid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 20
22 We 10:26 pm New Moon
26 Su 06:19 am Uranus Conjunction
26 Su 11:23 am Moon-Venus: 6.6° N
27 Mo 01:54 pm Moon Ascending Node
27 Mo Venus greatest brilliancy
28 Tu 11:23 am Moon North Dec.: 23.9° N
30 Th 09:17 am Moon-Beehive: 1.6° S
30 Th 04:38 pm First Quarter
May 1 Fr Venus: 38° E
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC April, 2020 Local time zone: EDT +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM | | | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN| +=======================================================================+ |Wed 1| 07:22a 08:11p 12:48 | 09:15p 06:18a |F Qtr Set 04:23a 56%| |Thu 2| 07:20a 08:12p 12:51 | 09:17p 06:16a | Set 05:09a 67%| |Fri 3| 07:18a 08:13p 12:54 | 09:18p 06:14a | Set 05:48a 77%| |Sat 4| 07:17a 08:14p 12:57 | 09:20p 06:12a | Set 06:22a 86%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 5| 07:15a 08:16p 13:00 | 09:21p 06:10a | Set 06:53a 93%| |Mon 6| 07:13a 08:17p 13:03 | 09:23p 06:08a | Set 07:21a 98%| |Tue 7| 07:11a 08:18p 13:06 | 09:24p 06:06a |Full Rise 07:55p 100%| |Wed 8| 07:09a 08:19p 13:09 | 09:25p 06:04a | Rise 09:16p 99%| |Thu 9| 07:08a 08:21p 13:12 | 09:27p 06:02a | Rise 10:36p 95%| |Fri 10| 07:06a 08:22p 13:15 | 09:28p 06:00a | Rise 11:54p 88%| |Sat 11| 07:04a 08:23p 13:19 | 09:30p 05:58a | Rise 01:07a 80%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 12| 07:02a 08:24p 13:22 | 09:31p 05:56a | Rise 02:13a 70%| |Mon 13| 07:01a 08:26p 13:25 | 09:33p 05:54a | Rise 03:09a 60%| |Tue 14| 06:59a 08:27p 13:28 | 09:34p 05:52a |L Qtr Rise 03:56a 50%| |Wed 15| 06:57a 08:28p 13:30 | 09:36p 05:50a | Rise 04:34a 40%| |Thu 16| 06:55a 08:29p 13:33 | 09:37p 05:48a | Rise 05:05a 30%| |Fri 17| 06:54a 08:31p 13:36 | 09:39p 05:46a | Rise 05:32a 22%| |Sat 18| 06:52a 08:32p 13:39 | 09:40p 05:44a | Rise 05:55a 15%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 19| 06:50a 08:33p 13:42 | 09:42p 05:42a | Rise 06:17a 9%| |Mon 20| 06:49a 08:34p 13:45 | 09:43p 05:40a | Rise 06:37a 4%| |Tue 21| 06:47a 08:36p 13:48 | 09:45p 05:38a | Rise 06:58a 1%| |Wed 22| 06:45a 08:37p 13:51 | 09:46p 05:36a |New Set 08:15p 0%| |Thu 23| 06:44a 08:38p 13:54 | 09:48p 05:34a | Set 09:18p 1%| |Fri 24| 06:42a 08:39p 13:57 | 09:50p 05:32a | Set 10:21p 3%| |Sat 25| 06:41a 08:41p 13:59 | 09:51p 05:30a | Set 11:25p 8%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 26| 06:39a 08:42p 14:02 | 09:53p 05:29a | Set 12:27a 14%| |Mon 27| 06:37a 08:43p 14:05 | 09:54p 05:27a | Set 01:26a 22%| |Tue 28| 06:36a 08:44p 14:08 | 09:56p 05:25a | Set 02:20a 31%| |Wed 29| 06:34a 08:45p 14:11 | 09:57p 05:23a | Set 03:07a 41%| |Thu 30| 06:33a 08:47p 14:13 | 09:59p 05:21a |F Qtr Set 03:47a 52%| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ * Nautical Twilight ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset
Generated using my LookingUp for DOS program.
03/30/2020 – Ephemeris – Following the Moon night to night
Ephemeris for Monday, March 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 8:08, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:24. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 2:32 tomorrow morning.
Now that clear skies are mostly back we can follow, night by night the progress of the Moon, now as its phase waxes and moves eastward at the same time each night. With the naked-eye the large darker lunar seas slowly reveal the face of the Man in the Moon, or the Chinese upside down Jade Rabbit pounding medicine with his mortar and pestle. With binoculars or telescope, more detail is revealed every night as the terminator, the sunrise line before full moon uncovers more lunar territory, with their long morning shadows. It’s the shadows that show the detail on the Moon, which is dark gray on darker gray. For the most part the surface of the Moon has been worn down by eons of meteoroid impacts and their ejecta.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jade Rabbit and Mortar on the Moon. Credit: Zeimusu, Creative Commons.
Craters near the Moon’s terminator showing how the low Sun brings out the detail. Credit Bob Moler, the author on 06/11/2011.
03/27/2020 – Ephemeris – Enjoying astronomy when sheltering at home
Ephemeris for Friday, March 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 8:04, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:30. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 11:25 this evening.
With the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic hitting our area many of us are stuck in our homes waiting it out. It may be awhile. That’s OK for some of us. That’s because astronomical observation is in many ways a solitary pursuit. My mother taught me the first two constellations. She could never wake me to view the Perseid meteors of August. After that I learned the rest on my own, the first batch on a morning paper route in winter, previewing the spring and summer skies. Staying at home doesn’t mean staying indoors. Going out in the back yard or dark area alone also counts. It’s proximity to other people that’s the problem. I find that being alone out under the stars makes me feel that the Earth and its worries are a trillion miles away.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Some constellation star fields guaranteed to be trillions of miles away:
Orion in a 30 second exposure taken at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Dune Climb February, 18, 2017 by Bob Moler. Click on image to enlarge a bit.
Actual photo of the Pleiades to the right of the Hyades, the face of Taurus the bull. Credit Bob Moler
03/26/2020 – Ephemeris – A spring warning about thin ice in the sky
Ephemeris for Thursday, March 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 8:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:31. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 10:22 this evening.
The Anishinaabe peoples of the Great Lakes Region, which includes the Ottawa, Chippewa and Ojibwe Indians have one constellation of winter. It is The Winter Maker which uses many of Orion’s stars and whose arms stretch from Aldebaran in Taurus the bull to Procyon the Little Dog Star, embracing the whole of the winter sky. Now that spring is here he is sinking into the west. The first constellation of spring is Curly Tail, or the Great Underwater Panther. Which uses the stars of Leo the lion’s backward question mark as its tail and the small knot of stars that are the head of Hydra the water snake below Cancer the crab as its head. The warning: Keep off the thinning ice or break through and be snatched by the panther that lives below.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Great Underwater Panther finder animation relating western to Anishinaabe constellations for 9 p.m. in late March. Click on image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
03/25/2020 – Ephemeris – Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week
Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 26 minutes, setting at 8:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:33. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 9:21 this evening.
Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week. Venus is our evening star shining brightly in the west. It will set at 12:14 a.m. The rest of the planet action is in the morning sky where there are three planets close together in the southeast. Bright Jupiter will rise first at 4:35 a.m. Followed by Mars, left and below, rising at 4:50 a.m. It’s now as bright as a first magnitude star because it’s down to 140 million (226 million km) miles away, as the Earth slowly overtakes it at the rate of about 5 million miles (8 million km) a week. It’s brighter than the star Antares in the south-southwest. And lastly, Saturn will rise at 5:01 a.m. Mars is about half way between Jupiter and Saturn. It will pass Saturn next Tuesday.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Day and a half old Moon low over a Lake Michigan horizon tonight at 8:30 p.m. March 25, 2020. The bright edge of the Moon will be a sit brighter, and the earthshine on the night side of the Moon a bit dimmer. Created using Stellarium.
Venus and the setting winter stars tonight at 10 p.m. March 25, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn, Mars and Jupiter with the southern summer stars at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow March 26, 2020. Mars will pass Saturn on the 31st. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The planets as seen in a telescope with the same magnification. Venus in the evening and Jupiter and Saturn in the morning on the night of March 25/26, 2020. Apparent diameters: Venus, 23.85″; Jupiter, 36.46″; Saturn, 15.99″, rings, 37.26″. Mars at 6.22″ won’t be added until it reaches 10″. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on March 25, 2020. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 26th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
