Archive
10/07/2013 – Ephemeris – The moon will appear to pass Venus early tomorrow morning
Ephemeris for Monday, October 7th. The sun will rise at 7:48. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 7:11. The moon, 3 days past new, will set at 8:47 this evening.
The moon will be passing the planet Venus around 7 a.m. tomorrow morning, when they will be below the horizon. So tonight and tomorrow evenings we will have before and after views of the event. Tonight the thin crescent moon will be nearly the width of your fist held at arm’s length to the right of Venus. In binoculars or a telescope only the Sea of Crises is completely uncovered by the moon’s terminator. If you haven’t checked out Venus lately, do so. It is now a bit more than half illuminated by the sun. It’s coming almost directly at the earth now at about 80 million miles away and that distance is decreasing by 650 thousand miles a day. Don’t worry, it will miss us by 25 million miles in January, passing between the Earth and the Sun.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus and the Moon on Monday October 7, 2013 at 8 p.m. Created using Stellarium.
Venus and the Moon on Tuesday October 8, 2013 at 8 p.m. Created using Stellarium.
10/04/2013 – Ephemeris – Grand Traverse Astronomical Society events this weekend
Ephemeris for Friday, October 4th. The sun will rise at 7:44. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 7:17. The moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will be running some counter programming to the Midwest Space Fest going on in downtown Traverse City tonight. It wasn’t intentional, but tonight’s out normal meeting night and star party at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory. The program for the society starts at 8 p.m. with a talk by member Daron Smith. His topic will be element formation starting from the time of the Big Bang. Every element in our body except hydrogen was cooked up in stars. At 9 p.m. there will be a star party till about 11 p.m. If cloudy, there will be an alternate program. Tomorrow the society with other astronomy clubs will have their telescopes at the Open Space in Traverse City to view the sun during the day and the rest of the universe at night. Rain will cancel that event. Clouds will cancel the night portion only. There will be other fun and educational things to do during the day.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Day time viewing at the Open Space. Transit of Venus, June 5, 2012.
10/03/2013 – Ephemeris – Last call for the Midwest Space Fest
Thursday, October 3rd. The sun will rise at 7:43. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 35 minutes, setting at 7:18. The moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 7:19 tomorrow morning.
The Midwest Space Fest starts tomorrow evening. This is a bit late, but there could be seats available for some events. Check out magnorth.org for more information. Paid events are at the State Theater and ECCO Event Space, 121 Front St. Friday Night and Dr Filippenko Saturday morning. Free events are also Saturday including NASA and other astronomical exhibits at the ECCO Event Space plus sun viewing during the day and later on a star party at the Open Space on the bay. Full disclosure, the Space Fest is the brainchild of Carolyn McKellar a family friend. I knew her when she was yea high. She’s an amateur astronomer, who at one time wanted to be an astrophysicist. However her interest turned to coordinating events like this.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Michigan Science Center is bringing their inflatable STARLAB planetarium which will be set up in room 101 in NMC’s Health and Science Building Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free tickets can be reserved here.
10/02/2013 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets and one dim comet?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 2nd. The sun will rise at 7:41. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 38 minutes, setting at 7:20. The moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 6:14 tomorrow morning.
Time again to check out the bright planets. Saturn and Venus will be at the same height above the west southwestern horizon. Dimmer Saturn will be to the right of Venus by one and a half widths of a fist held at arm’s length. Binoculars may be needed to Saturn. Saturn will set at 8:40, while Venus will set at 8:56 p.m.. We are losing Saturn in the sun’s glare for a few months. The rest of the planetary action will be in the morning sky. The giant planet Jupiter will rise at 12:36 a.m. in the east northeast. It’s cruising against the stars of Gemini this viewing season. By 6 a.m it will be high in the southeast, the brightest object in that direction. Mars will rise at 3:30 a.m. also in the east northeast. It’s in the east at 6 a.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus and Saturn low on the west southwestern horizon along with Saturn at 8:15 p.m. on October 2, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
I was out at the Lanphier Observatory of the Leelanau School in Glen Arbor Michigan Monday evening about this time, to show Venus to the audience for Andrea Wulf’s talk about some of her book Chasing Venus. If the book is like her talk, it should be fabulous. It’s about the 18th century expeditions of many nation to view a pair of transits of Venus in order to determine the size of the solar system. Anyway the sky was like this with Venus setting over the low Sleeping Bear Dunes across Sleeping Bear Bay.
Jupiter, Mars with the winter stars and constellations at 6 a.m. on October 3, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
The tracks of Mars and Comet ISON at 6 a.m. from October 3 to 9, 2013. The comet may still be too faint to view in binoculars. Chart created using Cartes duCiel.
The yellow line is the ecliptic. The blue line is the constellations lines for Leo. Comet ISON positions are blue dots. It’s too far away for the software to show a tail.
10/01/2013 – Ephemeris – Let’s Preview October Skies
Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 1st. The sun will rise at 7:40. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 41 minutes, setting at 7:22. The moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 5:10 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the skies for the 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 today to 10 hours 13 minutes on the 31st. The altitude of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 42 degrees today, 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 p.m. in Interlochen/Traverse City. Comet ISON is currently about a sixth as bright as original estimates would predict. However comets can unpredictable in their brightness. So we will know for sure in two months.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Star Chart for October 15th, 2013 at 9 p.m. Created by my LookingUp program.
09/30/2013 – Ephemeris – The constellation of Cassiopeia the queen
Ephemeris for Monday, September 30th. The sun will rise at 7:39. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 7:24. The moon, half way from last quarter to new, will rise at 4:07 tomorrow morning.
The stars of the autumn skies slowly are replacing the summer stars from the east. Look in the northeastern sky by 9 p.m. and you can find the 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 Big Dipper. There’s a dim star that appears above the middle star of the W which turns the W into a very crooked backed chair. Cassiopeia, in Greek mythology, represents a queen of ancient Ethiopia, the W represents the profile of her throne. She enters in to the great autumn story whose other characters are also seen in the stars as the constellations Andromeda, Pegasus, Perseus, Cetus and her husband Cepheus.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Cassiopeis, in the northeast is opposite Polaris from the Big Dipper. For 9 p.m. on September 30th. Created using Stellarium. Artistic credit: Johan Meuris. Click to enlarge.
09/27/2013 – Ephemeris – The GTAS will be at the Acme Fall Festival tomorrow
Ephemeris for Friday, September 27th. The sun will rise at 7:35. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 54 minutes, setting at 7:30. The moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 1:11 tomorrow morning. | The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will be at the Acme Fall Festival tomorrow, that’s Saturday September 28th from 10 to 5 p.m. It will be held at Flintfields on Bates Road, north of M72. The society members will bring their telescopes which will be used to view the sun if it’s clear. There will also be exhibits of astronomical photos from NASA, professional and our own amateur astronomers. As the festival year winds down and the school year begins members of the society can bring astronomy and space to the classroom. Plus the society is beginning to plan for next year. Contact the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society via email at info@gtastro.org for information or to set up a date and topic.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
09/26/2013 – Ephemeris – The Milky Way is crossing overhead
Ephemeris for Thursday, September 26th. The sun will rise at 7:34. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 7:31. The moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 12:17 tomorrow morning. | At 10 this evening the Milky Way will pass directly overhead. The bright star Deneb of the Summer Triangle and at the head of the Northern Cross is directly overhead at that time. Deneb is incidentally the tail of Cygnus the swan. The Milky Way stretches from the northeast to the southwest where the Teapot of Sagittarius is tipping, pouring out its tea on the horizon. The Milky Way can be enjoyed with the naked eye, binoculars or telescope. With the naked eye, we see it as the pre-scientific cultures did. The Milky way was a pathway of milk, the path that the American Indian warriors journeyed to the hereafter, the stars their camp fires shining in the night. In reality it is what we can see of our galaxy.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Milky Way crosses the sky overhead at 10 p.m., September 26, 2013. Horizon to horizon view. Created using Stellarium.
09/25/2013 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, September 25th. The sun will rise at 7:33. It’ll be up for 12 hours, setting at 7:33. The moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 11:26 this evening.
Time again to check out the bright planets. Saturn and Venus will be at the same height above the west southwestern horizon. Dimmer Saturn will be to the right of Venus by nearly the width of a fist held at arm’s length. Binoculars may be needed to spot it. Venus will set at 9:04 p.m., while Saturn will set at 9:06. We will soon lose Saturn in the sun’s glare for a few months. The rest of the planetary action will be in the morning sky. The giant planet Jupiter will rise at 12:59 a.m. in the east northeast. It’s cruising against the stars of Gemini this viewing season. By 6 a.m it will be high in the east southeast, the brightest object in that direction. Mars will rise at 3:34 a.m. also in the east northeast. It’s in the east at 6 a.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus and Saturn at 8:30 p.m. on September 25, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and Mars against the winter constellations at 6 a.m., September 26, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Detail of the Moon at 6 a,m. on September 26, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
09-24-2013 – Ephemeris – The dragon in the sky
Ephemeris for Tuesday, September 24th. The sun will rise at 7:32. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 7:35. The moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:40 this evening.
High in the northern sky at 9 p.m. lies a twisted constellation, that of Draco the dragon. This dragon is more like the snakelike Chinese dragon than the dinosaur like dragon of European legend. At least that’s how I see it. I find it better to start at the tail of Draco, to trace him out in the stars. Draco’s tail starts between the bowl of the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. The Dragon is seen in a line of stars that extends parallel to the handle of the Big Dipper before curving around the bowl of the Little Dipper to the east then bends back toward the west. The head of Draco is an odd box of stars near the bright star Vega, nearly overhead. Though not made up of very bright stars, Draco has an easy shape to trace.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Draco and neighboring constellations at 9 .m. September 24, 2013. Created using Stellarium. Constellation art by Johan Meuris.
