Archive

Archive for the ‘Ephemeris Program’ Category

Ephemeris: 06/12/2026 – Finding the elusive Little Dipper

June 12, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Friday, June 12th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 9:28, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 4:04 tomorrow morning.

One of the constellations I don’t talk about much, except in passing is Ursa Minor, the Little Bear with an impossibly long tail. It is better known as the Little Dipper. As a dipper goes, its handle is bent the wrong way, like someone stepped on it. Anyway, this time of year in the evening, it’s standing on the tip of it’s handle, which is the North Star, Polaris. Polaris is pointed to by the front two stars of the Big Dipper. As dippers go they pour their contents into each other. The second and third-brightest stars of the Little Dipper are at the front of the bowl, and are Kochab and Pherkad, the Guard Stars, that is, Guardians of the Pole. To the Anishinaabe native peoples of our area the Little Dipper is Maang, the Loon.

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

A look at the Big and Little Dippers in four frames. First, the stars themselves, Second, the Dipper stars with connected lines and star names mentioned in the post. Third, the official constellations, with art and names. Forth, the local native constellations and the north star name.
A look at the Big and Little Dippers in four frames. First, the stars themselves, Second, the Dipper stars with connected lines and star names mentioned in the post. Third, the official constellations, with art and names. Forth, the local native constellations and the north star name. I retell the story of the Fisher here. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Categories: Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags: , ,

Ephemeris: 06/11/2026 – Finding the celestial dragon, Draco

June 11, 2026 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, June 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 31 minutes, setting at 9:28, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, halfway from last quarter to new, will rise at 3:28 tomorrow morning.

High in the northern sky at 11 p.m. lies the twisted constellation, of Draco the dragon. This dragon is more like the snakelike Chinese dragon than the dinosaur-like dragon of European legend. I find it better sneak up on its tail, to trace him out in the stars. Draco’s tail starts, or ends, between the bowl of the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper high in the north. 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 then bends back down to the level of Polaris in the north-northeast before turning toward the east. The head of Draco is an odd box of stars near the bright star Vega, high in the east. Though not made up of very bright stars, Draco has an easy shape to trace.

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

How to find Draco the dragon in the northern sky. Move slider to the right to view the northern sky as is. Move it to the left to reveal constellation lines, figures and labels. The small cross with the letter Z above Draco designates the zenith. Created using Stellarium and LibreOffice Draw.

Categories: Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags: , , ,

Ephemeris: 06/10/2026 – Where are the naked-eye planets this week?

June 10, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, June 10th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 9:27, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 3 o’clock tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. By 10:15 PM tonight, nearly an hour after sunset, Venus and Jupiter may be seen in the western sky, with the brighter Venus above Jupiter. A telescope will show a very tiny disc on Venus, because it is still pretty much beyond the Sun, 111 million miles (179 million kilometers) away from us. Over the next 4 1/2 months it will be moving closer to us and becoming much larger. Mercury is marginally visible below and right of Venus and Jupiter. Jupiter now sets at 11:52 PM, with Venus setting ten minutes later. Saturn will rise into the eastern sky at 3:04 AM, followed by dimmer Mars an hour later.

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

Jupiter, Venus and Mercury appearing in the wester sky's fading twilight, at 10:30 PM tonight, June 10, 2026.
Jupiter, Venus and Mercury at 10:30 PM tonight, June 10, 2026. Jupiter and Venus are now appearing to separate after yesterday’s conjunction. Mercury may be visible now, and is nearing its greatest separation from the sun, and will be at greatest elongation from the sun on the 15th. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn and Mars appear with the waning crescent moon between them, in the east as morning twilight grows, at 5 AM June 11, 2026.
Saturn and Mars with the waning crescent moon between them at 5 AM June 11, 2026. The moon is enlarged by a factor of 3 to better show its phase. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon, 3 days after last quarter, as seen at 5 AM tomorrow morning, June 11, 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 and Jupiter at 10:30 PM tonight, June 10, 2026, and Saturn at 5 AM on the 11th.
Telescopic Venus and Jupiter at 10:30 PM tonight, June 10, 2026, and Saturn at 5 AM on the 11th (north up), as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 14.1″, and be 76.3% illuminated. Jupiter will be 32.5″ in diameter, with its moons shown for the time listed. Saturn will be 16.9″ in diameter, and its rings extend to 39.5″ and are tilted 8.7º to our view. Mars, not shown, will appear 4.3″ in diameter. Mercury, also not shown, will appear 7.4″ in diameter and be 47.4% 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.
The naked-eye planets at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on June 10, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 11th. 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 from above and a bit beyond Saturn's orbit for today, June 10, 2026.
The naked-eye planets, from Mercury to Saturn in a low angle perspective view from above and a bit beyond Saturn’s orbit for today, June 10, 2026. Created using my LookingUp app, text and arrows created using LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 06/09/2026 – Jupiter and Venus meet again

June 9, 2026 Comments off

Well, not really.*

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, June 9th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 9:27, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:57. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 2:38 tomorrow morning.

In the last month or so as Jupiter and Venus ended up in the same part of the sky we’ve been seeing that Venus has been approaching Jupiter well today they cross paths with Jupiter just below Venus tonight. Jupiter, which is brighter than any nighttime star, looks rather dim compared to Venus when they’re close together. It is about 1/6 of the brightness of Venus. Venus is much brighter than the larger Jupiter because it is much closer to us and closer to the sun which is illuminating it. Jupiter is five times the earth’s distance from the sun. The sunlight it receives is diluted to only 4% that the earth gets, which is further diminished by the reflected light travelling back to us by about the same distance.

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.

* See the second image in the addendum.

Addendum

Venus and Jupiter will appear together in the western sky tonight at 10:30 PM, June 9th, 2026. Created using Stellsrium.
Venus and Jupiter will appear together in the western sky tonight at 10:30 PM, June 9th, 2026. Created using Stellsrium.
A space view of the Venus-Jupiter conjunction, showing a line of sight from the earth past Venus to Jupiter. This is why they appear near each other in the sky, even though Jupiter is far beyond Venus.
A space view of the Venus-Jupiter conjunction, showing a line of sight from the earth past Venus to Jupiter. This is why they appear near each other in the sky, even though Jupiter is far beyond Venus. I’ve omitted Mercury to reduce clutter. Created using my LookingUp app and LibreOffice Draw.

Starting with tomorrow’s posting I will be including a diagram something like this of the naked-eye planets and their positions relative to the Earth.

Categories: Conjunction, Ephemeris Program Tags: ,

Ephemeris: 06//08/2026 – Observing Mercury in the evening

June 8, 2026 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Monday, June 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 9:26, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:57. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 2:18 tomorrow morning.

We have a little more than a week to observe Mercury in the western sky after sunset. Mercury’s greatest eastern elongation or separation from the sun will occur on the 15th. It will get as far as a 24° angle from the sun. That separation is tilted a bit less than 45° to the horizon. Mercury’s greatest eastern elongations, occur about 116 days, more or less apart, because Mercury has the most elliptical orbit of any other planet. This is longer than Mercury’s orbital period of 88 days because we’re viewing it from a planet that is also orbiting the sun. Mercury is easier to observe the week before greatest eastern elongation then the week after. Part of the reason is that the phase of Mercury is waning from gibbous to a crescent and getting dimmer.

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

Mercury, nearing eastern elongation (separation from the Sun) June 8, 2026, at 10:15 PM: Mercury, its orbit and Venus and Jupiter nearly at minimum separation (conjunction), which will occur on the afternoon of June 9.
Mercury, nearing eastern elongation (separation from the Sun) June 8, 2026, at 10:15 PM: Mercury, its orbit and Venus and Jupiter nearly at minimum separation (conjunction), which will occur on the afternoon of June 9. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: , ,

Ephemeris: 06/05/2026 – Studying Artemis II images

June 5, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Friday, June 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 26 minutes, setting at 9:24, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:58. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 1:21 tomorrow morning.

The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will host its June meeting tonight at 9 PM at Northwestern Michigan College’s Joseph H Rogers Observatory. The later meeting time through July allows us to have viewing after the meeting start in darker skies. The program is an informal one. The Artemis 2 mission brought back a treasure trove of photographs of the earth the moon. We will be showing some of them and having everyone having a chance to comment on them, ask questions, explore them further or explain them. Afterward, about 10 PM if it’s clear, there will be viewing of the heavens through the observatory’s telescopes. The observatory is located on Birmley Rd. The meeting is also on Zoom, see gtastro.org.

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

During the first of two solar eclipses witnessed by the Artemis II crew, this time by the Earth. Moonlight by the gibbous Moon illuminates the Earth's night.
During the first of two solar eclipses witnessed by the Artemis II crew, this time by the Earth. Moonlight by the gibbous Moon illuminates the Earth’s night. Credit NASA, Artemis II Crew
Categories: Ephemeris Program, GTAS Outreach Event Tags:

Ephemeris: 06/04/2026 – Finding Lyra the harp

June 4, 2026 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, June 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 24 minutes, setting at 9:23, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:58. The Moon, halfway from full to last quarter, will rise at 12:57 tomorrow morning.

Halfway up the sky in the east at 11 PM, one can find a bright star just above a small, narrow, but very distinctive parallelogram of stars. They are the stars of the constellation Lyra the harp. The bright star is Vega, the 5th brightest nighttime star. To the Romans, the star Vega represented a falling eagle or vulture. Apparently they never made the distinction between the two species. It is a pure white star and serves as a calibration star for color and brightness. In the evening, it is the top-most star of the Summer Triangle. The harp, according to Greek mythology, was invented by the god Hermes. The form of the harp, in the sky, is as he had invented it: by stretching strings across a tortoise shell. Hermes gave it to his half-brother Apollo, who in turn gave it to the legendary musician Orpheus.

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

Lyra the harp finder with the Summer Triangle
Lyra finder animation with overlay of an ancient tortoise-shell harp and with the Summer Triangle Stars: Vega, Deneb and Altair.
Categories: Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Mythology, Observing Tags: ,

Ephemeris: 06/03/2026 – Where are the naked-eye planets this week?

June 3, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, June 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 9:23, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:58. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 12:29 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. By 10:15 PM tonight, nearly an hour after sunset, Venus and Jupiter may be seen in the western sky. A telescope will show a very tiny disc on Venus, because it is still pretty much beyond the Sun, 115 million miles (186 million kilometers) away from us. Over the next 4½ months it will be moving closer to us and becoming much larger. Jupiter is to the upper left of Venus, and the second-brightest star-like object in the sky. Venus will set at 12:05 AM, while Jupiter will hold out ten minutes longer. Venus will pass Jupiter on the afternoon of the 9th. Saturn rises into the eastern sky at 3:27 AM, followed by dimmer Mars an hour later.

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

Jupiter, Venus and Mercury seen in the west at 10:15 PM tonight, June 3, 2026. Jupiter and Venus are appearing to approach each other. They will be in conjunction on the evening of June 8th & 9th. Mercury may not be visible now, but it is increasing its distance from the sun, and will be at greatest elongation or separation from the sun on the 15
Jupiter, Venus and Mercury at 10:15 PM tonight, June 3, 2026. Jupiter and Venus are appearing to approach each other. They will be in conjunction on the evening of June 8th & 9th. Mercury may not be visible now, but it is increasing its distance from the sun, and will be at greatest elongation or separation from the sun on the 15th. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon, 3 days after full, as seen at 5 AM tomorrow morning, June 4, 2026. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP
Saturn and Mars will appear low in the east at 5 AM June 4, 2026
Saturn and Mars at 5 AM June 4, 2026. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Venus and Jupiter at 10:15 PM on the 3rd, and Saturn at 5 AM on the 4th (north up), as they would be seen in a small telescope.
Telescopic Venus and Jupiter at 10:15 PM on the 3rd, and Saturn at 5 AM on the 4th (north up), as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 13.5″, and be 78.6% illuminated. It’s on the far side of the Sun. Jupiter will be 32.9″ in diameter, with its moons shown for the time listed. Saturn will be 16.8″ in diameter, and its rings extend to 39.0″ and are tilted 8.5º to our view. Mars, not shown, will appear 4.3″ in diameter. Mercury, also not shown, will appear 6.2″ in diameter and be 62.2% 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 June 3, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 4th
The naked-eye planets at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on June 3, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 4th. 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, June 3rd and 4th, 2026.
This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, June 3rd and 4th, 2026. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others are 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: 06/01/2026 – Previewing June skies

June 1, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris’ 51st anniversary program, and starting orbit 52 for Monday, June 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 9:21, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:59. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 11:11 this evening.

Let’s preview June skies. There will be a lot of sun in June and very little night. The daylight hours will increase a bit from 15 hours and 21 minutes Today to 15 hours and 34 minutes on the 21st, retreating back to 15 hours 31 minutes at month’s end. The altitude of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will hover around 68 to 69 degrees. Local noon, when the Sun is actually due south, will occur at about 1:43 PM Summer begins on the 21st at 4:25 am, when the Sun reaches its farthest north. The actual amount of nighttime will be quite short, mostly due to the length of daylight, but also because twilight lasts much longer than average because the Sun sets at a shallow angle. On the 21st, there’s theoretically only 3 ½ hours of total darkness if the Moon wasn’t up.

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

June Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for June 2026 (11 PM EDT, June 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 11 PM EDT in the evening and 4 AM. on the 15th.on 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 11 PM and 4 AM are for the 15th & 16th. For each week before the 15th, 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. For planet positions on dates other than the 15th, check the Wednesday planet posts on this blog for weekly positions.

June Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for June mornings, 2026 (4 am EDT, June 16, 2026). Created using my LookingUp program. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it.

Orbits of the naked-eye planets for seven 5-day intervals starting June 1, 2026.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

Jun  1  Mo            Venus: 35° E
     1  Mo  12:32 AM  Moon Apogee: 406400 km
     1  Mo  12:59 PM  Moon South Dec.: 28° S
     7  Su   2:19 AM  Moon Ascending Node
     7  Su  12:15 PM  Venus-Pollux: 4.7° S
     8  Mo   6:00 AM  Last Quarter
     9  Tu   4:11 PM  Venus-Jupiter: 1.6° N
    13  Sa   9:15 AM  Moon-Pleiades: 0.9° S
    14  Su   7:18 PM  Moon Perigee: 357200 km
    14  Su  10:54 PM  New Moon
    15  Mo   1:29 AM  Moon North Dec.: 28° N
    15  Mo   3:59 PM  Mercury Elongation: 24.5° E
    16  Tu   3:32 PM  Moon-Mercury: 2.6° S
    17  We   2:54 AM  Moon-Jupiter: 2.5° S
    17  We   4:21 PM  Moon-Venus: 0.3° S
    17  We   7:40 PM  Moon-Beehive: 0.6° S
    18  Th  10:59 AM  Mercury-Pollux: 6.4° S
    19  Fr  10:31 AM  Moon-Regulus: 0.3° N
    19  Fr  11:44 AM  Venus-Beehive: 0.4° N
    19  Fr   1:57 PM  Moon Descending Node
    21  Su   4:25 AM  Summer Solstice
    21  Su   5:55 PM  First Quarter
    23  Tu   4:11 PM  Moon-Spica: 2.3° N
    25  Th   7:54 AM  Mercury-Jupiter: 3.8° N
    27  Sa  10:32 AM  Moon-Antares: 0.5° N
    28  Su   3:11 AM  Moon Apogee: 406300 km
    28  Su   2:30 PM  Mars-Pleiades: 4.4° S
    28  Su   6:06 PM  Moon South Dec.: 28° S
    29  Mo   7:57 PM  Full Moon
Jul  1  We            Venus: 41.1° 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
June, 2026    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Mon  1| 06:00a  09:21p  15:21 | 10:44p  04:37a |      Rise 11:11p   97%|
|Tue  2| 05:59a  09:22p  15:22 | 10:45p  04:36a |      Rise 11:54p   94%|
|Wed  3| 05:59a  09:23p  15:23 | 10:46p  04:35a |      Rise 12:29a   88%|
|Thu  4| 05:58a  09:23p  15:24 | 10:47p  04:35a |      Rise 12:57a   82%|
|Fri  5| 05:58a  09:24p  15:26 | 10:48p  04:34a |      Rise 01:21a   74%|
|Sat  6| 05:58a  09:25p  15:27 | 10:49p  04:33a |      Rise 01:41a   64%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  7| 05:57a  09:25p  15:28 | 10:50p  04:33a |      Rise 02:00a   54%|
|Mon  8| 05:57a  09:26p  15:29 | 10:51p  04:32a |L Qtr Rise 02:18a   44%|
|Tue  9| 05:57a  09:27p  15:29 | 10:52p  04:32a |      Rise 02:38a   33%|
|Wed 10| 05:57a  09:27p  15:30 | 10:53p  04:31a |      Rise 03:00a   23%|
|Thu 11| 05:56a  09:28p  15:31 | 10:53p  04:31a |      Rise 03:28a   14%|
|Fri 12| 05:56a  09:28p  15:32 | 10:54p  04:31a |      Rise 04:04a    7%|
|Sat 13| 05:56a  09:29p  15:32 | 10:55p  04:30a |      Rise 04:52a    2%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 14| 05:56a  09:29p  15:33 | 10:55p  04:30a |New   Set  09:44p    0%|
|Mon 15| 05:56a  09:30p  15:33 | 10:56p  04:30a |      Set  10:47p    1%|
|Tue 16| 05:56a  09:30p  15:34 | 10:56p  04:30a |      Set  11:34p    5%|
|Wed 17| 05:56a  09:31p  15:34 | 10:57p  04:30a |      Set  12:09a   12%|
|Thu 18| 05:56a  09:31p  15:34 | 10:57p  04:30a |      Set  12:36a   20%|
|Fri 19| 05:56a  09:31p  15:34 | 10:57p  04:30a |      Set  12:58a   30%|
|Sat 20| 05:57a  09:31p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:30a |      Set  01:17a   40%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 21| 05:57a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:30a |F Qtr Set  01:35a   51%|
|Mon 22| 05:57a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:31a |      Set  01:53a   61%|
|Tue 23| 05:57a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:31a |      Set  02:13a   70%|
|Wed 24| 05:58a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:31a |      Set  02:36a   79%|
|Thu 25| 05:58a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:32a |      Set  03:03a   86%|
|Fri 26| 05:58a  09:32p  15:33 | 10:58p  04:32a |      Set  03:37a   92%|
|Sat 27| 05:59a  09:32p  15:33 | 10:58p  04:33a |      Set  04:19a   96%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 28| 05:59a  09:32p  15:32 | 10:58p  04:33a |      Set  05:10a   99%|
|Mon 29| 06:00a  09:32p  15:32 | 10:58p  04:34a |Full  Rise 09:53p  100%|
|Tue 30| 06:00a  09:32p  15:31 | 10:57p  04:34a |      Rise 10:31p   99%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Generated using my LookingUp for DOS app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Month preview, Observing Tags:

Ephemeris: 05/29/2026 – NASA’s second moon program – soft landers

May 29, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Friday, May 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 9:18, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:01. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 5:01 tomorrow morning.

The United States second unmanned moon program in the 1960s was the Surveyor program, to soft land spacecraft on the moon. This was the Surveyor program, which launched 5 Surveyor spacecraft to the moon from 1966 through 1968, three of which were successful, including the very first one. It showed that the moon’s surface was solid enough to support spacecraft landings. There was some speculation earlier that moon dust would be electrostatically charged and suspended above the solid surface of the moon preventing a landing on the surface. The moon’s surface proved to be solid enough, paving the way for the Apollo landings to come. Apollo 12 landed near Surveyor 3 and took a souvenir back to earth, the camera.

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

Surveyor program
Surveyor 3, visited by astronaut Pete Conrad during the Apollo 12 mission. Credit: NASA / Alan Bean.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, NASA, Space History Tags: