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Ephemeris: 08/11/2026 – The Perseid meteor shower peaks tomorrow night

August 11, 2026 1 comment

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 8:54, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:41. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 6:22 tomorrow morning.

The Perseid meteor shower at its peak and will be visible all night tomorrow night. It won’t have to compete with the moon since it’s new, and incidently will eclipse the sun. The meteors will be seen all over the sky. Perseid meteors can be backtracked to a spot below the W shaped constellation of Cassiopeia, in the area of the constellation Perseus. As the night progresses, the radiant point will be rising higher in northeast. So lay down on a blanket in a dark location, keep mosquito repellent handy, dress warmly, because the ground and air will be chilly and dewy. Bring some hot coffee or chocolate to drink. And enjoy 60 meteors an hour, or more, at the peak after midnight. They will be near peak for the next few nights.

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

Star chart for 10 PM.
The sky dome at approximately 10 PM when it is getting dark enough to spot the Perseids. Even though this is near the actual peak of the shower where the earth is going through the central part of the meteoroid stream, due to the radiant being low in the northeast (upper left in the diagram), the numbers of meteors will not be great. However, the meteor trails will be long since they are hitting the atmosphere above us at a glancing angle.
Star chart for 4 AM.
The sky dome at approximately 4:30 AM shows the radiant of the Perseid shower much higher in the northeast allowing, a great many meteors to be seen, perhaps 60 or so an hour. The meteors will be seen all over the sky, but true Perseids can be traced back to the radiant. There are several minor meteor showers also in progress, so some of them may also appear.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Meteor Shower, Observing Tags:

Ephemeris: 08/10/2026 – Previewing Wednesday’s (August 12 , 2026) solar eclipse

August 10, 2026 1 comment

This is Ephemeris for Monday, August 10th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 8:56, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:40. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 4:58 tomorrow morning.

Early Wednesday afternoon there will be a very slight partial solar eclipse visible from northern Michigan. The eclipse begins around 12:51 and extends to 2:04 PM with the greatest coverage of the sun at 1:28 PM when a little bit less than 11% of the sun’s diameter will be covered by the moon. To view the eclipse you need to dig out your eclipse glasses from the 2024 eclipse. Inspect them against a strong light make sure there’s no pin holes that developed in them. You must discard if there are. The other way to view the eclipse is by projection either using a pinhole and a long cardboard box or by using a colander to provide both shade and a lot of small holes to project the sun’s image with. It’s the first of two astronomical events that day.

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

Appearance of the eclipsed sun.
Eclipse visibility from the Interlochen-Traverse City area of Michigan, specifically Chez Moler, approximately half way between them. Times will vary by a few minutes for other locations in Michigan. Images created by and times calculated using Stellarium.
Diagran from NASA of the area of the earth where the eclipse will be visible.
Area of visibility of the August 12, 2026 total solar eclipse. Some part of the eclipse is visible within the green line. The path of totality is bounded in blue. The floppy figure 8 in green is where eclipse begins, or ends at sunrise, on the left or sunset on the right. The red line is mid eclipse at those times. Credit is in the image. source: NASA Eclipse Data website.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing, Solar Eclipse

Ephemeris: 08/07/2026 – The Great Rift

August 7, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Friday, August 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 24 minutes, setting at 9:00, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:37. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 1:20 tomorrow morning.

Once one finds the Milky Way which is pretty hard to miss this month, it becomes obvious that the Milky Way is split lengthwise starting near Deneb, the northernmost star of the Summer Triangle, almost all the way to the Teapot of Sagittarius low in the south. That dark split is called the Great Rift. Galileo first discovered that the hazy clouds of the Milky Way were actually made of faint stars, so it was thought the dark areas were due to a lack of stars. The great 18th century astronomer William Herschel did star counts all over the sky with his telescope. A map his sister drew of the flattened shape of his universe shows the lack of distant stars in one direction. It’s not really fewer stars, but interstellar clouds of dust blocking the light of the stars behind them.

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

The Milky Way from Cygnus to Scutum
The Milky Way from Cygnus to Scutum. In this image, actually a stack of 5 images, on August 12, 2018. I was hoping to record Perseid meteors. It was a poor showing, as none appeared in these images. We were hampered that year by smoke from the western US wildfires which really affected the lower part of this image, which was still pretty high up in the sky. Featured here is the Great Rift, a series of dust clouds that split the Milky Way lengthwise into two sections. Credit Bob Moler (me).
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Milky Way, Observing Tags:

Ephemeris: 08/06/2026 – Looking for Sagittarius

August 6, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, August 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 26 minutes, setting at 9:01, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:35. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 12:32 tomorrow morning.

With the Moon out of the sky we get a look at the summer Milky Way in the evening. By 11 PM the Milky Way will stretch from the north-northeast, passing high in the east to the southern horizon. The asterism of the stout little Teapot in Sagittarius, low to the south, is near the bottom end of the Milky Way. The milky stream appears as steam rising out of its spout. With more stars there, one might be able to see the Centaur with a bow and arrow. The front part of the teapot is the bow. The bottom left, and the far right star are the back and the tip of the arrow which is pointing at the heart of Scorpius the scorpion in the south-southwest. We’ll be exploring the wonders of the summer Milky Way this month and next.

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

Sagittarius finder animation in three frames.
Sagittarius finder animation in three frames. First, just the stars and Milky Way. Second Sagittarius as the Teapot asterism. Third, Sagittarius and Scorpius art as supplied by Stellarium.
Categories: Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags: ,

Ephemeris: 08/05/2026 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

August 5, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 9:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:34. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 11:57 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. By 9:45 PM tonight, almost three-quarters of an hour after sunset, Venus will be easily spotted in the western sky. A telescope will show a tiny gibbous disc of Venus. It is now closer than the Sun, at 71.3 million miles (114.9 mil km) away from us. We are 10 days from Venus greatest elongation east from the sun of 45.9 degrees. It’s within a degree of that now. In the morning, Saturn, Mars and even Mercury will be visible in the southeast and east respectively. Mars is competing with the brighter stars of winter, including the orange Aldebaran, and the red giant star Betelgeuse. The Earth is now chasing down Mars, which will be closest to the Earth and opposite the sun in the sky next February.

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

Venus in the western sky at 9:45 PM tonight, August 5, 2026.
Venus in the western sky at 9:45 PM tonight, August 5, 2026. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn, Mars, the moon and Mercury will be seen at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning August 6, 2026.
Saturn, Mars, the moon and Mercury will be seen at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning August 6, 2026. Mars is entering the part of the sky with bright stars, the winter sky. So it won’t stand out until it gets much closer to the Earth. Mercury will be hard to spot. Created using Stellarium.
Moon about 7 hours after last quarter, as seen at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning, August 6, 2026. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Telescopic Venus at 9:45 PM tonight, August 5, 2026, and Saturn at 5:30 AM on the 6th (north up), as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 22.0″, and be 53.5% illuminated. Saturn will also be 18.6″ in diameter, and its rings extend to 43.4″. Mars, not shown, will appear 4.7″ in diameter. Mercury, not shown, will appear 6.4″ in diameter, 53.6% illuminated. The (”) symbol means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on August 5th, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 6th.
The naked-eye planets at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on August 5th, 2026. 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.
The naked-eye planets, from Mercury to Saturn, in a low angle perspective view of the solar system from above and a bit beyond Saturn’s orbit for today, August 5, 2026.
The naked-eye planets, from Mercury to Saturn, in a low angle perspective view of the solar system from above and a bit beyond Saturn’s orbit for today, August 5, 2026. Created using my LookingUp app, text and arrows created using LibreOffice Draw and produced a unified image using GIMP.

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

Ephemeris: 08/04/2026 – The Milky Way dominates the evening sky in August

August 4, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Primary Election Day in Michigan: Tuesday, August 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 9:04, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:33. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 11:29 this evening.

Now is the time the summer Milky Way is displayed to its fullest to the southern horizon. We have a week and a half before the Moon begins to encroach on our dark skies after 10 pm. City folk come to our area and are sometimes fooled by the brightness and expanse of the Milky Way and think it’s a cloud. Yes, those are clouds indeed, but they are clouds of stars. Binoculars will begin to show them to be millions of stars, each too faint to be seen individually to the eye, but whose combined glow give the impression of a luminous cloud. Binoculars are the ideal tool to explore the Milky Way. Objects still too fuzzy can be checked out with a telescope to reveal their true nature. The dark nights of August and September are my favorites.

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

The sky dome at 11 PM in mid August showing the Milky Way.
The sky dome at 11 PM in mid August with Stellarium. The brightness of the Milky Way is enhanced, and the prominent constellations along the way are shown.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags:

Ephemeris: 07/31/2026 – Previewing August skies

July 31, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Friday, July 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 41 minutes, setting at 9:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:29. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 10:12 this evening.

Let’s look ahead at the month of August in the skies. Daylight hours will decrease from 14 hours and 39 minutes tomorrow to 13 hours 17 minutes on the 31st. The altitude of the Sun at local noon, that is degrees of angle above the southern horizon, will decrease from 63 degrees tomorrow to just over 53 degrees on the 31st. Straits area listeners can subtract one more degree from those angles. Local noon, when the Sun is due south, is about 1:43 p.m. During August we have 3 astronomical events occurring. The first is August 12th, a double header: during the day a little nibble of a solar eclipse and in the evening the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, generally the best of the year, for us. And late night on the 27th we have an eclipse of the Moon that will be almost total.

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

August Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for August evenings 2026 (10 PM EDT, August 15, 2026). Created using my LookingUp program. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 PM EDT in the evening and 4:30 AM on the 16th for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Interlochen/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.
Note, the chart times of 10 PM and 4:30 AM are for the 15th & 16th respectively. For each week before these dates, add ½ hour (28 minutes if you’re picky). For each week after the 15th, subtract ½ hour, or 28 minutes. The planet positions are updated each Wednesday on this blog.

August Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for August mornings, 2026 (4:30 AM EDT, August 16, 2026). The Perseid meteor shower peaks on the evening of the 12th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp program.

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

      EDT        
  Morning Twilight Evening Twilight Dark Night Moon
Date Astro. Nautical Nautical Astro. Start End Illum.
2026-08-01 4h27m 5h15m 22h27m 23h15m – – 87%
2026-08-02 4h29m 5h17m 22h25m 23h13m – – 80%
2026-08-03 4h31m 5h18m 22h24m 23h11m – – 70%
2026-08-04 4h33m 5h20m 22h22m 23h09m 23h09m 23h30m 60%
2026-08-05 4h35m 5h21m 22h20m 23h07m 23h07m 23h57m 49%
2026-08-06 4h36m 5h23m 22h18m 23h05m 23h05m – 38%
2026-08-07 4h38m 5h24m 22h17m 23h02m 23h02m 0h33m 27%
2026-08-08 4h40m 5h26m 22h15m 23h00m 23h00m 1h20m 17%
2026-08-09 4h42m 5h27m 22h13m 22h58m 22h58m 2h22m 9%
2026-08-10 4h44m 5h29m 22h11m 22h56m 22h56m 3h36m 3%
2026-08-11 4h46m 5h30m 22h10m 22h54m 22h54m 4h46m 0%
2026-08-12 4h48m 5h32m 22h08m 22h52m 22h52m 4h48m 0%
2026-08-13 4h50m 5h33m 22h06m 22h49m 22h49m 4h50m 3%
2026-08-14 4h51m 5h35m 22h04m 22h47m 22h47m 4h51m 8%
2026-08-15 4h53m 5h36m 22h02m 22h45m 22h45m 4h53m 15%
2026-08-16 4h55m 5h38m 22h00m 22h43m 22h43m 4h55m 23%
2026-08-17 4h57m 5h39m 21h58m 22h41m 22h42m 4h57m 32%
2026-08-18 4h59m 5h41m 21h56m 22h38m 23h06m 4h59m 41%
2026-08-19 5h00m 5h42m 21h55m 22h36m 23h35m 5h00m 51%
2026-08-20 5h02m 5h43m 21h53m 22h34m – 5h02m 61%
2026-08-21 5h04m 5h45m 21h51m 22h32m 0h12m 5h04m 70%
2026-08-22 5h06m 5h46m 21h49m 22h29m 0h57m 5h06m 78%
2026-08-23 5h07m 5h48m 21h47m 22h27m 1h51m 5h07m 85%
2026-08-24 5h09m 5h49m 21h45m 22h25m 2h52m 5h09m 91%
2026-08-25 5h11m 5h51m 21h43m 22h23m 3h58m 5h11m 96%
2026-08-26 5h12m 5h52m 21h41m 22h20m 5h07m 5h12m 99%
2026-08-27 5h14m 5h53m 21h39m 22h18m – – 100%
2026-08-28 5h16m 5h55m 21h37m 22h16m – – 99%
2026-08-29 5h17m 5h56m 21h35m 22h14m – – 95%
2026-08-30 5h19m 5h58m 21h33m 22h11m – – 90%
2026-08-31 5h21m 5h59m 21h31m 22h09m – – 82%

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

Aug  1  Sa            Venus: 45.3° E
     2  Su   3:59 AM  Mercury Elongation: 19.5° W
     5  We  10:21 PM  Last Quarter
     7  Fr   2:23 AM  Moon-Pleiades: 1.2° S
     8  Sa   7:42 PM  Moon North Dec.: 28.1° N
     9  Su   1:31 AM  Moon-Mars: 4.4° S
    10  Mo   7:18 AM  Moon Perigee: 363300 km
    12  We   1:37 PM  New Moon
    12  We   1:47 PM  Total Solar Eclipse
                      11% Partial Solar Eclipse in N. Michigsn
    12  We   9:56 PM  Perseid Shower: ZHR = 90
    13  Th   5:56 AM  Moon Descending Node
    15  Sa   1:59 AM  Venus Elongation: 45.9° E
    16  Su   4:46 AM  Moon-Venus: 2.2° N
    17  Mo   7:49 AM  Moon-Spica: 2.6° N
    19  We  10:46 PM  First Quarter
    21  Fr  12:17 AM  Moon-Antares: 0.7° N
    22  Sa   4:20 AM  Moon Apogee: 404600 km
    22  Sa   6:59 AM  Moon South Dec.: 28.1° S
    27  Th  12:44 PM  Mercury Superior Conjunction
    27  Th   2:47 PM  Moon Ascending Node
    28  Fr  12:14 AM  Partial Lunar Eclipse
    28  Fr  12:18 AM  Full Moon
Sep  1  Tu            Venus: 44.6° E

All event times are given for UTC-4:00 Eastern Daylight Saving Time.

Events in bold will be covered in subsequent posts on this blog. Also, the August 2026 issue of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society’s Stellar Sentinel contains an article I wrote about them. Access it here when it is published in a few days.

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.

Note that the site is now kept up for archival purposes. Fred Espenak retired from NASA several years ago and has his own site, AstroPixels, which contain the same information: http://astropixels.com/almanac/almanac.html. However, it uses standard time all year.

Fred passed away a year ago, on June 1, 2025. RIP.

Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events

LU          Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
August, 2026    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Sat  1| 06:29a  09:08p  14:39 | 10:23p  05:13a |      Rise 10:30p   89%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  2| 06:30a  09:07p  14:36 | 10:22p  05:14a |      Rise 10:48p   81%|
|Mon  3| 06:31a  09:05p  14:34 | 10:20p  05:16a |      Rise 11:07p   72%|
|Tue  4| 06:32a  09:04p  14:32 | 10:18p  05:17a |      Rise 11:29p   62%|
|Wed  5| 06:33a  09:03p  14:29 | 10:17p  05:19a |L Qtr Rise 11:57p   51%|
|Thu  6| 06:34a  09:01p  14:26 | 10:15p  05:20a |      Rise 12:32a   40%|
|Fri  7| 06:35a  09:00p  14:24 | 10:13p  05:22a |      Rise 01:20a   29%|
|Sat  8| 06:37a  08:58p  14:21 | 10:11p  05:23a |      Rise 02:21a   19%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  9| 06:38a  08:57p  14:19 | 10:10p  05:25a |      Rise 03:36a   10%|
|Mon 10| 06:39a  08:56p  14:16 | 10:08p  05:26a |      Rise 04:58a    4%|
|Tue 11| 06:40a  08:54p  14:13 | 10:06p  05:28a |      Rise 06:22a    1%|
|Wed 12| 06:41a  08:53p  14:11 | 10:04p  05:29a |New   Set  09:00p    0%|
|Thu 13| 06:42a  08:51p  14:08 | 10:02p  05:31a |      Set  09:22p    2%|
|Fri 14| 06:44a  08:49p  14:05 | 10:00p  05:32a |      Set  09:42p    7%|
|Sat 15| 06:45a  08:48p  14:03 | 09:58p  05:34a |      Set  10:01p   13%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 16| 06:46a  08:46p  14:00 | 09:57p  05:35a |      Set  10:20p   21%|
|Mon 17| 06:47a  08:45p  13:57 | 09:55p  05:37a |      Set  10:41p   30%|
|Tue 18| 06:48a  08:43p  13:54 | 09:53p  05:38a |      Set  11:05p   39%|
|Wed 19| 06:50a  08:41p  13:51 | 09:51p  05:40a |F Qtr Set  11:35p   49%|
|Thu 20| 06:51a  08:40p  13:49 | 09:49p  05:41a |      Set  12:11a   58%|
|Fri 21| 06:52a  08:38p  13:46 | 09:47p  05:43a |      Set  12:56a   68%|
|Sat 22| 06:53a  08:36p  13:43 | 09:45p  05:44a |      Set  01:50a   76%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 23| 06:54a  08:35p  13:40 | 09:43p  05:46a |      Set  02:51a   84%|
|Mon 24| 06:55a  08:33p  13:37 | 09:41p  05:47a |      Set  03:57a   90%|
|Tue 25| 06:57a  08:31p  13:34 | 09:39p  05:49a |      Set  05:06a   95%|
|Wed 26| 06:58a  08:30p  13:31 | 09:37p  05:50a |      Set  06:15a   99%|
|Thu 27| 06:59a  08:28p  13:28 | 09:35p  05:51a |      Set  07:25a  100%|
|Fri 28| 07:00a  08:26p  13:25 | 09:33p  05:53a |Full  Rise 08:36p   99%|
|Sat 29| 07:01a  08:24p  13:22 | 09:31p  05:54a |      Rise 08:54p   96%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 30| 07:02a  08:22p  13:19 | 09:29p  05:56a |      Rise 09:14p   91%|
|Mon 31| 07:04a  08:21p  13:17 | 09:27p  05:57a |      Rise 09:35p   84%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Generated using my LookingUp for DOS app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Month preview Tags:

Ephemeris: 07/30/2026 – The types and distribution of galaxies

July 30, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, July 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 9:10, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:27. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 9:52 this evening.

Until a little over 100 years ago the Milky Way was thought to be the whole universe. Then with photography the great Andromeda nebula turned out to be not a cloud of gas but a great group of stars outside. Since then we have found billions upon billions of these galaxies. Galaxy simply is a derivation from “Milky Way” in Latin. Galaxies are not sprinkled through the universe uniformly. They appear in great clusters and in small groups. The Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy belong to a relatively small group of galaxies called the Local Group, which contains 130 or more, mostly dwarf galaxies of which Andromeda and our Milky Way are the largest. The Great Andromeda Galaxy will come in view into the evening sky this autumn.

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

Different types of galaxies.
Different types of galaxies. The lenticular type, not mentioned in the program, are thought to be intermediate between elliptical and spiral.
A panchromatic view of galaxy cluster MACS0416
This panchromatic view of galaxy cluster MACS0416 was created by combining infrared observations from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope with visible-light data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The larger, yellowish galaxies belong to the galaxy cluster in the foreground. The reddish galaxies are more distant. The thin arcs are also distant galaxies, whose images ares deformed by gravitationsl lensing caused by the foreground cluster.

Categories: Concepts, Ephemeris Program, Galaxies

Ephemeris: 07/29/2026 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

July 29, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, July 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 9:12, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:26. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 9:30 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. By 9:45 PM tonight, a bit over a half-hour after sunset, Venus will be easily spotted in the western sky. A telescope will show a tiny gibbous disc of Venus. It is now closer than the Sun, at 76.5 million miles (123.3 mil km) away from us. We are 18 days from Venus greatest elongation east from the sun of 45.9 degrees. It’s within a degree of that now. In the morning, Saturn and Mars will be visible in the southeast and east respectively. Mars is competing with the brighter stars of winter, including the orange Aldebaran, and the red giant star Betelgeuse. The Earth is now chasing down Mars, which will be closest to the Earth and opposite the sun in the sky next February.

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

Venus in the western sky at 9:45 PM tonight, July 29, 2026.
Venus in the western sky at 9:45 PM tonight, July 29, 2026. Created using Stellarium.
The full Moon, as seen at 11 PM tonight, July 29, 2026. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Saturn, Mars and even Mercury will be seen at 5:15 AM tomorrow morning July 30, 2026.
Saturn, Mars and even Mercury will be seen at 5:15 AM tomorrow morning July 30, 2026. Mars is entering the part of the sky with bright stars, the winter sky. So it won’t stand out until it gets much closer to the Earth. Mercury will be very hard to spot. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Venus at 9:45 PM tonight, July 29, 2026, and Saturn at 5:15 AM on the 30th.
Telescopic Venus at 9:45 PM tonight, July 29, 2026, and Saturn at 5:15 AM on the 30th (north up), as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 20.5″, and be 56.8% illuminated. Saturn will also be 18.4″ in diameter, and its rings extend to 42.9″. Mars, not shown, will appear 4.7″ in diameter. Mercury, not shown, will appear 8.5″ in diameter. The (”) symbol means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on July 29, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 30th.
The naked-eye planets at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on July 29, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 30th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets, from Mercury to Saturn, in a low angle perspective view of the solar system from above and a bit beyond Saturn’s orbit for today, July 29, 2026.
The naked-eye planets, from Mercury to Saturn, in a low angle perspective view of the solar system from above and a bit beyond Saturn’s orbit for today, July 29, 2026. Created using my LookingUp app, text and arrows created using LibreOffice Draw and produced a unified image using GIMP.

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

Ephemeris: 07/28/2026 – The size and shape of the Milky Way

July 28, 2026 Comments off

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This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, July 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 9:13, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:25. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 6:11 tomorrow morning.

August and September are the two months in which the Milky Way dominates the evening sky. It also dominates the sky in the winter, six months from now but we’re looking out away from the center of the Milky Way. It is dimmer, an almost invisible as a band, but we have a great number of really bright stars, including those of Orion. The Milky Way is a galaxy, a large conglomeration of stars that are arranged in a disk, with the central bulge, whose diameter is about 87,400 light years. The thickness of the disk runs from 8,500 light years near the center to 1,000 light years farther out. The sun’s location is 25 to 26,000 light years from the center. From our location within the disk it appears to be a glowing band that surrounds the sky.

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

Artist's conception of the Milky Way. From NASA/JPL/Spitzer/Cal Tech
Artist’s conception of the Milky Way. Credit: NASA/JPL/Spitzer/Cal Tech
The summer and winter Milky Way viewing directions.
The summer and winter Milky Way viewing directions. During Spring and Autumn, we look out the sides to the universe beyond. Credit Credit: NASA with annotations by Bob King at Universe Today.
The span of the Milky Way across the summer sky
The span of the Milky Way across the summer sky as seen in the free Stellarium app. Specifically August 15th at 10 pm from Northern Michigan. The Milky Way has been set to its maximum brightness to show as much detail as possible. It really isn’t that bright. The horizon is only delineated by the compass points. The dark clouds of the Great Rift are also visible. The Milky Way, in Stellarium, is photo-realistic. The triangle of three bright stars above center is the Summer Triangle, Specifically, clockwise from the top star: Vega, Altair and Deneb. Large images can be truncated on the right. Click or tap on the image to enlarge and display the complete image.

Categories: Concepts, Ephemeris Program, Milky Way