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Ephemeris: 02/13/2025 – A personal story

February 13, 2025 2 comments

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, February 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 6:08, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:44. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 7:29 this evening.

Whenever I hear the term DEI used by someone that questions the qualifications of a person, or they speak of being apprehensive when they see someone of color or a woman piloting an airplane or having great responsibilities, I get angry. As a not so amateur astronomer in the past I’ve worked in and lectured at planetariums though I didn’t have the academic qualifications for, or sheepskin to prove it. I’m not sure that a black person could get away with what I did. But one thing I did learn as an amateur astronomer and working on star parties such as the ones we have in the summer at Sleeping Bear Dunes, is that everyone is the same color under the light 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

A Grand Rapids Press clipping from my planetarium days
A Grand Rapids Press clipping from my planetarium days, May 17, 1964. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it.
AI generated image with Google's Gemini with editing.
AI generated image of a group with telescopes under the stars, with Google’s Gemini with some editing.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Personal story

Ephemeris: 02/12/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

February 12, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Darwin Day, Wednesday, February 12th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 6:07, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:45. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 6:21 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 7 PM this evening four of the five naked eye planets will be out. Starting from the West we have Venus the brightest of all in the west southwest. Far below it, near the horizon, will be the much dimmer Saturn, which we are about to lose to the evening twilight. Jupiter, the second-brightest planet will be high in the south-southeast. It is reversing course and beginning to head back eastward now. Farther below it is the spectacular constellation of Orion the hunter. The 4th planet out is Mars, the third-brightest planet now, with its distinctive reddish hue, west of the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini, and just about due east. The full Moon will be rising in the east.

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

A 7 PM February 12, 2025 planet panorama
A 7 PM February 12, 2025 planet panorama. Venus and Saturn are in the west-southwest, and Jupiter is in the south-southeast. Mars is in the east. The in this projection the ecliptic (not shown) is a straight line, so the planets and Moon nearly line up, but the horizon is curved. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tonight, February 12, 2025, as it might appear in a small telescope at 7 PM
The Moon tonight, February 12, 2025, as it might appear in a small telescope at 7 PM, shortly after rising. Since this is about 10 hours after the Moon was full, shadows are beginning to be visible in craters at the upper right edge. Selected features are labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification
Telescopic Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. All the planets are shown for tonight, 8 PM,February 5, 2025. Apparent diameters: Saturn 15.8″, its rings 36.8″, 2.2 degrees from edge on and closing; Venus 38.0″ and rapidly growing as it approaches us, 28.9% illuminated; Jupiter 41.8″; Mars, 12.7″. Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on February 12, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 13th.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on February 12, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 13th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow
This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, February 12 and 13, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others not. The transit column is the time that the body crosses the meridian and is due south. Elong, for elongation, is the angle between the Sun and that body. RA is right ascension, which is the object’s east-west position on the celestial sphere in hours and minutes. Dec is declination which is the north-south position of the object on the celestial sphere in degrees and minutes. R is the distance of that object from the Sun in astronomical units. An astronomical unit is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. And Delta is the distance of that object from the Earth, also in astronomical units. I omit the ‘m’ in am and pm for compactness. The data was generated using my LookingUp for DOS app and displayed as a table by my Ephemeris Helper app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing, Planets Tags: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 02/11/2025 – Newly discovered asteroid may have our number

February 11, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, February 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 17 minutes, setting at 6:06, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:47. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 8:06 tomorrow morning.

Late last year a tiny asteroid was found because it was close to the Earth and given the designation 2024 YR4. After observing it for a month it was discovered that it had a 1½ % chance of hitting the Earth when it came around again in 2032. Remember the fireball that exploded over Chelyabinsk Russia almost exactly 10 years ago? It exploded high in the air, and caused flying glass injuries to over a thousand people who saw the flash and rushed to the windows to see it when the atmospheric shock wave arrived. This object appears to be about 3 times the size of that object, nearly a football field in diameter, and thus could be 27 times the mass and volume. It’s four year orbit of the Sun will bring it back close to Earth in 2028 for us to get a better look at it and its orbit, and the last chance to alter its orbit.

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

The orbit of the asteroid 2024 YR 4 is shown with the orbits of the planets of the inner solar system in this plot from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Small Body Database
The orbit of the asteroid 2024 YR 4 is shown with the orbits of the planets of the inner solar system in this plot from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) Small Body Database. I’ve added the arrow to the orbit intersect point, where the orbits of this asteroid and the Earth cross each other. That is where the Earth is around December 22nd each year. The asteroid and the Earth will be in about the same position 4 years from now. It would be a good time if the asteroid is close enough to the Earth to get an accurate measurement of its diameter, which is currently estimated based on the asteroid’s brightness. Most asteroids have the reflectance, or what astronomers called albedo of something like a charcoal briquette. But it does vary from asteroid to asteroid based on their composition. If the asteroid gets close enough, radar measurements will tell us for sure its size and give us a more accurate position which will affect the accuracy of where the asteroid will come through in 2032. Currently the possible error in the predictions is an area larger the orbit of the Moon. The Moon is about 60 times the radius of the Earth away.

Categories: Asteroid, Ephemeris Program, The Earth Tags:

Ephemeris: 02/10/2025 – How old are the features on the Moon?

February 10, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, February 10th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 14 minutes, setting at 6:04, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:48. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 7:42 tomorrow morning.

In dating Moon rocks scientists get a range of dates from 4.6 to 3.3 billion years. An age of a rock is determined by the decay of a radioactive element one of which is uranium 238 decaying to lead 206. So the ratios of these two elements gives a date when a rock was last solidified. This clock is reset when a rock was last melted either by volcanism or by asteroid impact. It turns out that the rocks of the highlands, the lighter area on the Moon where most of the craters are, date to close to 4.5 billion years, and are probably the original crust of the Moon. The rocks from the lunar maria or seas are younger from about 4.1 billion years down to 3.8 billion years. So they were thought to be caused by asteroid impacts from the Late Heavy Bombardment.

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

The Moon's geological eras in linear time
The Moon’s geological eras in linear time. The numbers on the right are in millions of years ago, thus 4000 = 4 billion years. The word Mare is pronounced Mar-e and is Latin for sea, and is the same as basin, because these are depressions. Credit: the Planetary Society, diagram by Emily Lakdawalla after Tanaka & Hartmann 2012.
The Moon's Geologic Time Scale (without numbers)
The Moon’s Geologic Time Scale (without numbers) Brown “U”s are supposed to denote impact craters. Red marks individual impact basins. The brown splotch denotes ebbing and flowing of mare volcanism. Credit: The Planetary Society, Emily Lakdawalla after Tanaka & Hartmann 2012.

The Late Heavy Bombardment is not accepted by all planetary scientists. The main evidence is the cratering and maria on the Moon.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, History, The Moon Tags: ,

Ephemeris: 02/07/2025 – GTAS meeting tonight – Earth’s Impact Craters

February 7, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Friday, February 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 6:00, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:52. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 5:36 tomorrow morning.

The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will host its February meeting tonight at 8 PM at Northwestern Michigan College’s Joseph H. Rogers Observatory. The talk for the evening will be given by Society President, and Observatory Director, Jerry Dobek on the topic of Earth’s Impact Craters. Unlike the Moon, Earth’s impact craters have been mostly hidden. After the meeting, about 9 PM if it’s clear, there will be viewing of the heavens through the observatory’s telescopes, featuring Jupiter, the Moon and the Great Orion Nebula, which will be hindered a bit by moonlight. The observatory is located on Birmley Road. South of Traverse City between Garfield and Keystone roads. All are welcome, free of charge.

The meeting is also available on Zoom. The link is at gtastro.org

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

Aerial view of the Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona
Aerial view of the Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona. Credit: barringercrater.com.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, GTAS Outreach Event, History

Ephemeris: 02/06/2025 – The Moon tonight, two days after first quarter

February 6, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, February 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 5:59, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:54. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 4:30 tomorrow morning.

Tonight the moon will be about a day and a half past first quarter it is showing some very nice craters for the binoculars or small telescope. Near the south end of the moon near the terminator, the sunrise line, is the crater called Clavius which has an arc of several craters within it, each of decreasing size. North or above that is the sharp-edged crater called Tycho which, during a full moon, shows several long ejecta rays across the face of the Moon, but are almost invisible now. Near the top edge of the Moon the flat floored crater called Plato is seen by the edge of the large sea Mare Imbrium or Sea of Showers. A mountain range at the opposite side of Imbrium is called the Apennines Mountains.

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

The Moon tonight, February 6, 2025, as it might appear in a small telescope
The Moon tonight, February 6, 2025, as it might appear in a small telescope. Selected features are labeled, including those mentioned in the program. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
The crater Clavius as seen from above
The crater Clavius as seen from above. It’s one of the largest on the Moon of 140 miles or 225 kilometers in diameter. It sports a curious arc of inner craters. It looks like 5 craters in an arc of decreasing size, moving counterclockwise from the 5 o’clock position on the crater wall. The largest crater looks like it’s older than the others. This is an image from the Virtual Moon Atlas a free software program.
The crater Plato seen from overhead
The crater Plato seen from overhead with the Virtual Moon Atlas, along with the Alps Mountains (Montes Alpes) . Plato is known as a walled plain some 63 miles in diameter or 101 kilometers in diameter. An interesting feature of the Alps mountains is the long gash called the Alpine valley.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing, The Moon Tags: ,

Ephemeris: 02/05/2025 – Let’s take our weekly look at the naked-eye planets

February 5, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 1 minute, setting at 5:57, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:55. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 3:14 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 7:30 PM this evening four of the five naked eye planets will be out. Starting from the West we have Venus the brightest of all in the west southwest. Far below it, near the horizon, will be the much dimmer Saturn. Jupiter, the second-brightest planet will be high in the south-southeast. It is reversing course and beginning to head back eastward now. Farther below it is the spectacular constellation of Orion the hunter. The 4th planet out is Mars, the third-brightest planet now, with its distinctive reddish hue, near the star Pollux in Gemini, and just about due east. The fifth naked eye planet, Mercury, is too close to the Sun to be visible.

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

A 7 PM February 5, 2025 planet panorama
A 7 PM February 5, 2025 planet panorama. Venus and Saturn are in the west-southwest, and Jupiter is in the south-southeast. Mars is in the east. The in this projection the ecliptic (not shown) is a straight line, so the planets and Moon nearly line up, but the horizon is curved. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tonight, February 5, 2025, as it might appear in a small telescope. Selected features are labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars
Telescopic Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. All the planets are shown for tonight, 8 PM,February 5, 2025. Apparent diameters: Saturn 15.9″, its rings 37.0″, 2.6 degrees from edge on and closing; Venus 34.3″, 34.5% illuminated; Jupiter 42.7″; Mars, 13.3″. Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on February 5, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 6th.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on February 5, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 6th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
A low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, February 5 and 6, 2025
This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, February 5 and 6, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others not. The transit column is the time that the body crosses the meridian and is due south. Elong, for elongation, is the angle between the Sun and that body. RA is right ascension, which is the object’s east-west position on the celestial sphere in hours and minutes. Dec is declination which is the north-south position of the object on the celestial sphere in degrees and minutes. R is the distance of that object from the Sun in astronomical units. An astronomical unit is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. And Delta is the distance of that object from the Earth, also in astronomical units. I omit the ‘m’ in am and pm for compactness. The data was generated using my LookingUp for DOS app and displayed as a table by my Ephemeris Helper app.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 02/04/2025 – Two Moon landers currently en route

February 4, 2025 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, February 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 58 minutes, setting at 5:56, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:56. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 1:55 tomorrow morning.

On January 15th a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 2 missions, at one time, to land on the Moon They will arrive at the Moon months apart. The first to attempt to land is Firefly’s Blue Ghost Lander with a mission called Ghost Riders in the Sky. It is currently spending about a month in Earth orbit before heading out to the Moon, which will take four days and spend another two weeks orbiting the Moon before attempting to land in the small area called Mare Crisium, the Sea of Crises. The second Lander by the Japanese company ispace, called Resilience, will take a more circuitous route to the moon, flying by it later this month and then coming back to the Moon several months later to enter orbit and then finally land on Mare Frigoris, the Cold Sea. So the two missions will not be active on the Moon at the same time.

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

What the Firefly Blue Ghost Lander might look like after it successfully lands on the Moon
What the Firefly Blue Ghost Lander might look like after it successfully lands on the Moon. Credit Firefly.
Milestones of the ispace Resilience mission
Milestones of the ispace Resilience mission. The path depicted here no way resembles the actual trajectory of the spacecraft. Credit ispace.
Categories: Commercial space mission, Ephemeris Program, Space exploration, Spacecraft, The Moon Tags: , ,

Ephemeris: 02/03/2025 – Did the groundhog see his shadow yesterday?

February 3, 2025 2 comments

Did it matter?

This is Ephemeris for Monday, February 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 55 minutes, setting at 5:54, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:57. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 12:35 tomorrow morning.

I don’t know if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow yesterday morning or not, but February 2nd was a special day to the ancients. It is celebrated as a cross-quarter day, the middle of the season of winter, though the real date of the middle of winter is tomorrow. And if Phil saw his shadow, and we do get 6 more weeks of winter, that’s OK too. By the calendar, it’s actually more like 6 ½ weeks to the vernal or spring equinox the official end of winter, plus this is Northern Michigan. I don’t know if Phil is any better or worse than the National Weather Service at long range forecasts. Of the other cross-quarter days, two others stand out. They are May 1st, May Day; and Halloween.

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

Microsoft Copilot AI image of a groundhog seeing his shadow
This is what I got from Microsoft Copilot AI when I asked for a an image of a groundhog with a night cap on standing in front of his burrow in the snow staring at his shadow. It’s interesting that the shadow of his body is off to the left, and the shadow of his head is to the right, and is mirror reversed. It’s a cool image nonetheless.
A real groundhog chewing on a bit of bread given by my granddaughter
A real groundhog chewing on a bit of bread given by my granddaughter Coley on the deck of a condo we were staying at in Virginia nine years ago.

Categories: Calendar, Ephemeris Program, Holiday, Seasons Tags: ,

Ephemeris: 01/31/2025 – Previewing February Skies

January 31, 2025 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, January 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 47 minutes, setting at 5:50, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:01. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 8:39 this evening.

January was a wild and crazy month, let’s hope February is short and sweet. Well, at least it’ll be short. The daylight hours throughout the month will be getting longer. Daylight hours will increase from 9 hours and 50 minutes tomorrow to 11 hours and 8 minutes on the 28th. The sunrise time will decrease from 8:01 today to 7:21 at month’s end. The sunset times will increase from 5:51 tomorrow to 6:29 on the 28th. Along with that the altitude of the Sun at noon will increase from 28.4 degrees tomorrow to 37.6 degrees at month’s end. It will be a degree lower for folks in the Straits area because they are a degree of latitude farther north. Local noon, by the way for Interlochen and Traverse City is about 12:56 p.m. The Moon will be near Saturn tonight.

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

February Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for February 2024, (9 p.m. EST February 14, 2025). Created using my LookingUp program.
Star Chart for February 2025, (9 p.m. EST February 14, 2025). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 14th at 9 PM EST in the evening and 6 AM for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere (rotating star finder) you may have to set it to 45 minutes or one hour 45 minutes (Daylight Time) earlier than the current time.

Note the chart times of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. are for the 14th and 15th. For each week before these dates, add ½ hour (28 minutes if you’re picky). For each week after, subtract ½ hour. Planet positions on dates other than the 15th can be found in the Wednesday planet posts on this blog.

February Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for February mornings, 2025 (6 a.m. EST February 15, 2024). No naked-eye planets are visible at chart time. Created using my LookingUp program.
Star Chart for February mornings, 2025 (6 a.m. EST February 15, 2025). No naked-eye planets are visible at chart time. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

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.
  • Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, and
  • Extend like a spike to Spica,
  • The Summer Triangle is in red.

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

      EST        
  Morning Twilight Evening Twilight Dark Night Moon
Date Astro. Nautical Nautical Astro. Start End Illum.
2025-02-01 6h22m 6h56m 19h00m 19h35m 21h58m 6h22m 0.17
2025-02-02 6h21m 6h55m 19h02m 19h36m 23h16m 6h21m 0.27
2025-02-03 6h20m 6h54m 19h03m 19h37m – 6h20m 0.37
2025-02-04 6h19m 6h53m 19h04m 19h38m 0h35m 6h19m 0.49
2025-02-05 6h18m 6h52m 19h05m 19h39m 1h55m 6h18m 0.6
2025-02-06 6h17m 6h51m 19h07m 19h41m 3h15m 6h17m 0.71
2025-02-07 6h16m 6h49m 19h08m 19h42m 4h30m 6h16m 0.8
2025-02-08 6h14m 6h48m 19h09m 19h43m 5h36m 6h14m 0.88
2025-02-09 6h13m 6h47m 19h11m 19h44m – – 0.94
2025-02-10 6h12m 6h46m 19h12m 19h46m – – 0.98
2025-02-11 6h11m 6h44m 19h13m 19h47m – – 1
2025-02-12 6h09m 6h43m 19h14m 19h48m – – 1
2025-02-13 6h08m 6h42m 19h16m 19h50m – – 0.97
2025-02-14 6h07m 6h40m 19h17m 19h51m 19h51m 20h35m 0.93
2025-02-15 6h05m 6h39m 19h18m 19h52m 19h52m 21h39m 0.88
2025-02-16 6h04m 6h38m 19h20m 19h53m 19h53m 22h43m 0.81
2025-02-17 6h02m 6h36m 19h21m 19h55m 19h55m 23h47m 0.73
2025-02-18 6h01m 6h35m 19h22m 19h56m 19h56m – 0.64
2025-02-19 6h00m 6h33m 19h23m 19h57m 19h57m 0h53m 0.55
2025-02-20 5h58m 6h32m 19h25m 19h58m 19h58m 2h00m 0.46
2025-02-21 5h56m 6h30m 19h26m 20h00m 20h00m 3h07m 0.36
2025-02-22 5h55m 6h29m 19h27m 20h01m 20h01m 4h10m 0.26
2025-02-23 5h53m 6h27m 19h29m 20h02m 20h02m 5h06m 0.18
2025-02-24 5h52m 6h25m 19h30m 20h04m 20h04m 5h52m 0.1
2025-02-25 5h50m 6h24m 19h31m 20h05m 20h05m 5h50m 0.04
2025-02-26 5h48m 6h22m 19h33m 20h06m 20h06m 5h48m 0.01
2025-02-27 5h47m 6h21m 19h34m 20h08m 20h08m 5h47m 0
2025-02-28 5h45m 6h19m 19h35m 20h09m 20h09m 5h45m 0.02

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/2019/09/27/

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

   Date       Time    Event     
Feb  1  Sa            Venus: 45° E
     1  Sa   3:27 PM  Moon-Venus: 2.4° N
     1  Sa   5:06 PM  Moon Ascending Node
     1  Sa   9:43 PM  Moon Perigee: 367500 km
     5  We   3:02 AM  First Quarter
     6  Th   1:43 AM  Moon-Pleiades: 0.5° S
     8  Sa   5:40 AM  Moon North Dec.: 28.6° N
     9  Su   6:57 AM  Mercury Superior Conj.
     9  Su   2:36 PM  Moon-Mars: 0.8° S
    10  Mo  12:19 AM  Moon-Pollux: 2.2° N
    11  Tu  12:03 AM  Moon-Beehive: 2.7° S
    12  We   8:53 AM  Full Moon
    12  We   6:21 PM  Moon-Regulus: 2.3° S
    15  Sa   1:53 AM  Moon Descending Node
    17  Mo   7:01 AM  Moon-Spica: 0.3° N
    17  Mo   8:11 PM  Moon Apogee: 404900 km
    20  Th  12:32 PM  Last Quarter
    21  Fr   3:21 AM  Moon-Antares: 0.5° N
    22  Sa   5:32 PM  Moon South Dec.: 28.7° S
    27  Th   7:45 PM  New Moon
Mar  1  Sa            Venus: 30.4° E
All event times are given for UTC-5 Eastern Standard 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 Events

LU               Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
February, 2025    Local time zone: EST
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Sat  1| 08:01a  05:51p  09:50 | 06:58p  06:55a |      Set  09:57p   15%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  2| 08:00a  05:53p  09:53 | 06:59p  06:54a |      Set  11:15p   24%|
|Mon  3| 07:59a  05:54p  09:55 | 07:00p  06:53a |      Set  12:35a   35%|
|Tue  4| 07:57a  05:56p  09:58 | 07:01p  06:52a |      Set  01:55a   46%|
|Wed  5| 07:56a  05:57p  10:01 | 07:03p  06:51a |F Qtr Set  03:14a   57%|
|Thu  6| 07:55a  05:59p  10:03 | 07:04p  06:50a |      Set  04:30a   68%|
|Fri  7| 07:54a  06:00p  10:06 | 07:05p  06:48a |      Set  05:36a   78%|
|Sat  8| 07:52a  06:01p  10:09 | 07:06p  06:47a |      Set  06:29a   86%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  9| 07:51a  06:03p  10:12 | 07:08p  06:46a |      Set  07:10a   93%|
|Mon 10| 07:49a  06:04p  10:14 | 07:09p  06:45a |      Set  07:42a   97%|
|Tue 11| 07:48a  06:06p  10:17 | 07:10p  06:43a |      Set  08:06a  100%|
|Wed 12| 07:47a  06:07p  10:20 | 07:12p  06:42a |Full  Rise 06:21p  100%|
|Thu 13| 07:45a  06:08p  10:23 | 07:13p  06:41a |      Rise 07:29p   98%|
|Fri 14| 07:44a  06:10p  10:26 | 07:14p  06:39a |      Rise 08:34p   94%|
|Sat 15| 07:42a  06:11p  10:29 | 07:16p  06:38a |      Rise 09:38p   89%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 16| 07:41a  06:13p  10:32 | 07:17p  06:37a |      Rise 10:42p   82%|
|Mon 17| 07:39a  06:14p  10:35 | 07:18p  06:35a |      Rise 11:47p   75%|
|Tue 18| 07:38a  06:15p  10:37 | 07:19p  06:34a |      Rise 12:52a   66%|
|Wed 19| 07:36a  06:17p  10:40 | 07:21p  06:32a |      Rise 01:59a   57%|
|Thu 20| 07:34a  06:18p  10:43 | 07:22p  06:31a |L Qtr Rise 03:06a   47%|
|Fri 21| 07:33a  06:20p  10:46 | 07:23p  06:29a |      Rise 04:09a   38%|
|Sat 22| 07:31a  06:21p  10:49 | 07:25p  06:28a |      Rise 05:06a   28%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 23| 07:29a  06:22p  10:52 | 07:26p  06:26a |      Rise 05:53a   19%|
|Mon 24| 07:28a  06:24p  10:55 | 07:27p  06:24a |      Rise 06:30a   12%|
|Tue 25| 07:26a  06:25p  10:59 | 07:28p  06:23a |      Rise 07:00a    6%|
|Wed 26| 07:24a  06:26p  11:02 | 07:30p  06:21a |      Rise 07:25a    2%|
|Thu 27| 07:23a  06:28p  11:05 | 07:31p  06:20a |New   Set  06:14p    0%|
|Fri 28| 07:21a  06:29p  11:08 | 07:32p  06:18a |      Set  07:34p    1%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Created using my LookingUp for MS-DOS app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Month preview, Observing Tags: