Archive
Ephemeris: 07/27/2026 – Can you trust chat bot answers?
This is Ephemeris for Monday, July 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 9:14, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:24. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 5:04 tomorrow morning.
What science fiction TV shows and movies get artificial intelligence or intelligent computers all wrong at least before 2001 A Space Odyssey, was if they don’t know the answer they will give you: a “THIS DOES NOT COMPUTE”. Current artificial intelligence large language models will rarely admit that they don’t know or can’t find an answer. It will give you something, even if it is not correct. It’s called halucinating. Sounds like lying to me. They’re called chat bots, because they are made to sound human, and can be very seductive. However, they are alien minds, as if space aliens learned about us by monitoring our radio, TV and internet. AI’s are trained on Internet content. You know what a swamp that is!
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
If a chat bot gives you references, follow them up. once when doing research on something, Google’s Gemini referenced an old post on this site. I also caught it in an error, and told it so. It told me I was right.
Ephemeris: 07/24/2026 – AI, a paradigm shift in computing
This is Ephemeris for Friday, July 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 9:17, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:21. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 2:15 tomorrow morning.
Astronomy is my hobby. Back in my working days I was a computer systems analyst designing computer software systems for particular tasks, mainly for banks. However I was always interested in the idea of artificial intelligence. The computers I worked with were dumb. They did exactly what you told it to do, whether it was correct or not. So computer errors were really human errors. The current AI, based on neural networks, which are an approximation of what happens in the human brain, are different. Their errors are their own, because they are taught rather than programmed. And to my mind are more than the sum of their inputs. Even the people who design these systems admit they don’t really know what goes on inside. Scary.
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.
Ephemeris: 07/23/2026 – Our location in the Eastern Time zone
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, July 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 9:18, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:20. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 1:36 tomorrow morning.
Continuing my discussion about daylight savings time: In theory time zones are supposed to be centered on longitude meridians 15º apart, starting at 0° through Greenwich Observatory in England and proceed eastward and westward. our time meridian for Standard Time (75º west longitude) runs through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, far to the east. The central standard time meridian runs down just east of Ironwood, Michigan. Most of us in the western lower peninsula are between 85 and 86° west longitude, meaning that we are already from 40 to 45 minutes behind our time meridian in Philadelphia and Eastern Daylight Time we are an hour and 40 to 45 minutes behind our daylight time meridian which is out in the Atlantic Ocean at 60° west longitude.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 07/22/2026 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets
This is Ephemeris for Pi Approximation Day, Wednesday, July 22nd, that is 22/7ths. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 1 minute, setting at 9:19, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:19. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 1:04 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. By 9:45 PM tonight, nearly 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 81.8 million miles (131.6 mil km) away from us. Over the next nearly 3 months it will be moving closer to us and becoming much larger. In the morning, Saturn and Mars will be visible, in the southeast and east respectively. The Earth is now chasing down Mars, and later this year the launch window will open to send spacecraft to the Red Planet. Mars 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
Ephemeris: 07/21/2026 – The U.S. House voted to make Daylight Saving Time permanent
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, July 21st. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 9:20, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:18. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 12:39 tomorrow morning.
Those who have listened to this program over the years may have been able to pick up on my feelings about daylight savings time. I’m against it. The House of Representatives has voted to make daylight savings time permanent. This kind of harkins back to the days of the oil crisis back in around 1973, that Nixon, through executive order, I believe, mandated daylight savings time year round. It didn’t last very long but, we did have a winter with daylight savings time, which in December and January makes the sunrise after 9:00 in the morning. I find this very dangerous for school kids who have to wait for school buses and go to school under nighttime conditions for several months during the year.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 07/20/2026 – Important space anniversaries
This is Ephemeris for Monday, July 20th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 9:21, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:17. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 12:17 tomorrow morning.
July 20th is a special date for this country’s space program and a personal one for me. 57 years ago in 1969 Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, the greatest achievement in the history of space flight. Seven years later the robot lander Viking 1 landed on Mars. NASA wanted it to be July 4th, 1976, the Bicentennial, but couldn’t find a smooth landing site in time. My own connection to the date came in 1963, my first total solar eclipse. We traveled to Quebec province along side the St. Maurice River to view about 60 seconds of totality. It was the first of six total solar eclipses I’ve seen, all from the U.S. or Canada. In each case it was clear or clear enough to see the sun’s corona, a feature only visible from the earth during totality.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 07/17/2026 – Star Party scheduled for Sleeping Bear Dunes tomorrow night – Canceled due to Air Quality Alert!
This is Ephemeris for Friday, July 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 9:24, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:14. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 11:20 this evening.
Tomorrow night, Saturday, July 18th, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will team up with the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society to host a star party at the Dune Climb from 9 to 11 PM or later. It won’t be a star party only, because the featured attractions early on, will be Venus and the four day old crescent Moon. Planets and the Moon, when near the Sun in the summer appear low in the sk, and will set on the dune fairly early: Venus shortly after 10, and the moon by 10:30. Both should be visible before sunset. To my mind, Venus is best seen in telescopes during daylight, but the trick is to find it then. There will be much more to see as the sky darkens. The rangers have an alternate program, so you can still have an interesting time even if its cloudy.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 07/16/2026 – What the Anishinaabe peoples saw in Scorpius
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, July 16th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 12 minutes, setting at 9:24, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:13. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 10:59 this evening.
The Anishinaabe native peoples of our area gave another name to the star pattern we call Scorpius the scorpion, which is low in the southern sky these July evenings: Wenaboujou, a.k.a. Nanaboujou. He was an important character from their creation stories. He was a semi-spirit, trickster, and shapeshifter, able to turn himself into a hare. What they saw in the sky and the stars of Scorpius was him with a bow and arrow. The front three stars of the scorpion are a bent line that can look like a bow. He’s shooting an arrow all the way into the western sky at the receding constellation of Curly Tail, or the Great Underwater Panther, an early spring constellation. This month, only his tail remains in evening twilight, which we know as the head Leo the lion.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 07/15/2026 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, July 15th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 9:25, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:12. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 10:35 this evening. | Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. By 10 PM tonight, a half-hour after sunset, Venus will be easily seen in the western sky. A telescope will show a very tiny gibbous disc of Venus because it is now closer than the Sun, at 86.9 million miles (139.9 million kilometers) away from us. Over the next nearly 3½ months, it will be moving closer to us and becoming much larger. In the morning, Saturn and Mars will be visible in the southeast and east, respectively. The Earth is now chasing down Mars, and later this year the launch window will open to send spacecraft to the Red Planet. Mars will be next 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
Ephemeris: 07/14/2026 – What the bright star Antares’ name means
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, July 14th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 9:26, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:11. The Moon is new today and won’t be visible.
The constellation of Scorpius the scorpion is low in the south at 11 PM these nights. Its bright star Antares will pass due south around 10:30 this evening. Antares is an interesting star in that it is a red giant star, and its name, Antares, means “Rival of Mars,” alluding to the fact that it and Mars appear to be the same color. A little translation is needed here: “Ant” is anti, against, “Ares” is the Greek god of war that the Romans appropriated as Mars. About every two years, Mars passes near Antares, so unless you know your stars and planets, you could mistake them for each other. Antares lies at the heart of the scorpion. To its upper right is the front part of its body and claws, and the trail of stars running down the other way, nearly to the horizon, in the south and back up in the south-southeast to the two stars of its stinger, make up its characteristic tail.
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
