Archive
07/21/2017 – Ephemeris – There’s an astronomy event tomorrow night
Ephemeris for Friday, July 21st. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 2 minutes, setting at 9:19, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:18. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 5:28 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow, Saturday, the 22nd, there, will be viewing of the summer starry skies at the Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory starting at 9 p.m. While starting before sunset, if it’s clear Jupiter should be spotted before 10 p.m. The planet Saturn and its rings will also be featured. By 10:30 the sky should be dark enough to spot some of the wonders among the stars, like star clusters, and nebulae that are the either the birth places of stars or the expelled remnants of dying stars. The Milky Way takes over the dark sky, it is its wonders that we see. The Observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley road. Take Garfield Road two traffic lights south of South Airport Road to turn right at Birmley Road.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
07/07/2017 – Ephemeris – Tonight’s topic: Dark Matter
Ephemeris for Friday, July 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 24 minutes, setting at 9:29, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:05. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 5:48 tomorrow morning.
This evening the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will hold its monthly meeting at the Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory at 8 p.m. with a program featuring Dr. David Penney and his talk Dark Matter: What Is It? What Does It Mean? Dark matter, whatever it is appears to be the stuff that holds the universe together. We can’t see it, but we can see its effects in the rotation of galaxies, the motions of galaxies in clusters and their distribution and how it distorts the images of galaxies beyond it. After the talk, at 9 p.m. there will be a star party to view the heavens including the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter. The observatory is located south of Traverse City, on Birmley Road between Garfield and Keystone roads.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Dark Matter filament bridge between two galaxy clusters, discovered by Jörg Dietrich and his colleagues at the University of Michigan. The blue color is added to show the presence of dark matter. See the text below. Image from http://www.outerspacecentral.com/dark_matter_page.html.
Dark matter is detected by the distortions it creates in the distant galaxies behind it. These galaxies are not visible in the scale of the image shown. The gravitation of dark matter distorts spacetime as predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which distorts the shapes of the galaxies behind it.
06/23/2017 – Ephemeris – Astronomy events this weekend
Ephemeris for Friday, June 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 33 minutes, setting at 9:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:58. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
Tomorrow afternoon and evening will be what we call a Sun & Star Party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. This event will be at the Dune Climb. From 4 to 6 p.m., the Sun will be featured using two types of telescopes, one showing the sun’s photosphere in what we call white light, and another showing the chromosphere above it in the light of hydrogen giving a completely different view. Starting at 9 p.m. will be a star party, actually really a planet party, viewing the planets Jupiter and Saturn, plus other objects visible in the deepening twilight.
Sunday at 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. members of the society will be in the parking lot of the NMC Laboratory on Aero Park Drive in Traverse City to view the Sun as part of the Michigan Clean Energy Conference and Fair.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Kids viewing the Sun through the society’s Lunt hydrogen alpha solar telescope.
06/16/2017 – Ephemeris – Two astronomy events this weekend
Ephemeris for Friday, June 16th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 33 minutes, setting at 9:29, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 1:58 tomorrow morning.
There are two astronomy events in the Grand Traverse region this weekend, starting tonight with a twilight talk and a star party at the Betsie Valley District Library in Thompsonville. It starts at 9 p.m. with a talk about how to safely view the August 21st eclipse of the Sun from this area and from the path of totality, 600 miles south of here. After which Jupiter and Saturn will be visible. If cloudy, the talk will go on as scheduled, though the observing part will be canceled.
Tomorrow, Saturday there, will be viewing at the Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory starting at 9 p.m. Jupiter and Saturn will be featured there too. The Observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley road.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
06/02/2017 – Ephemeris – Local astronomy events this weekend
Ephemeris for Friday, June 2nd. 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 first quarter, will set at 3:17 tomorrow morning.
This weekend there are two local astronomical events.
The first is tonight at 8 p.m. at the June meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at the Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory. I will be giving an illustrated talk about the Moon, its phases, tides and origin. After which there will be a star party starting at 9 p.m. The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Road.
Saturday, the society will have their telescopes at the Betsie Valley District Library in Thompsonville. I’ll also give a twilight talk there at 9 p.m. on the Moon with observation to follow. This last event will be postponed if the weather is completely cloudy to Friday, June 16th.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
05/12/2017 – Ephemeris – There will be a star party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Saturday night the 13th
Ephemeris for Friday, May 12th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 9:00, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:16. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 10:37 this evening.
Tomorrow night May 13th there will be, weather permitting a star party at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, this time the venue is Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive at Stop number 3, the Dunes Overlook. The event starts at 9 p.m., while it’s still light out and the location can be found. Park at Picnic Mountain, which is after Stop 2, and right before stop 3, and walk over. The planet Jupiter and all four of its bright moons and cloud bands will be featured. Sharp eyed observers will also be able to see the Great Red Spot. As the sky darkens there will be a twilight talk about the wonders of the spring sky. Near the last half hour it will be dark enough to spot some of the galaxies and globular star clusters of spring. The star party is made possible by the rangers of the park and the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter, its cloud bands, Great Red Spot and moons as it might be seen around 10 p.m. at the star party. The actual orientation will depend on the telescope used to view them. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
05/05/2017 – Ephemeris – A preview of the upcoming total solar eclipse and two star parties this weekend
Ephemeris for Friday, May 5th. The Sun rises at 6:26. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 25 minutes, setting at 8:52. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 4:44 tomorrow morning.
On August 21st this year there will be a total solar eclipse visible from a narrow band that crosses the continental United States from Oregon to South Carolina. It will be a fantastic sight. From around here the eclipse will be a deep partial eclipse with the moon covering 75% of the Sun’s disk. This evening yours truly will show how to view the eclipse safely at the 8 p.m. meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at the Northwestern Michigan College’s Observatory.
At 9 p.m. there will be a star party. Tomorrow night there will be, weather permitting a 9 p.m. star party that will be held at the Interlochen Center for the Arts at the soccer field, on the Duck Lake side of the Campus. Parking is off Lyon Street.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
04/28/2017 – Ephemeris – Astronomy Day star party tomorrow night
Ephemeris for Arbor Day, Friday, April 28th. The Sun rises at 6:36. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 7 minutes, setting at 8:43. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 11:28 this evening.
Tomorrow is Astronomy Day, the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will hold a special star party at the Northwestern Michigan College’s Joseph H. Rogers Observatory from 9 to 11 p.m. Featured objects will be the three day old Moon, the planet Jupiter, its four largest moons and planet girdling cloud bands. As it gets darker some spring star clusters will become visible, and maybe some galaxies, because in the spring we are looking out the thin side of our Milky Way galaxy, with the milky band banished to near the northern horizon. Two of these star clusters are even visible to the naked eye. One, the Beehive cluster is a feast for the small telescope, the other an entire constellation of Coma Berenices, or Berenices hair. The observatory is located south of Traverse City, MI on Birmley Road which is between Garfield and Keystone roads.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
04/07/2017 – Ephemeris – Learn about light pollution tonight
Ephemeris for Friday, April 7th. The Sun will rise at 7:12. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 8:17. The Moon, half way from first quarter to full, will set at 6:11 tomorrow morning.
This evening at 8 p.m. the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will hold its monthly meeting at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory featuring a talk by observatory director Jerry Dobek about light pollution and what can be done about it to help preserve our dark night skies. I expect he will give us a progress report on the effort to make the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore a Dark Sky Park. Special emphasis will be LEDs, now that they are proliferating, the good the bad and the ugly. At 9 p.m. there will be a star party with the gibbous Moon and Jupiter at opposition from the Sun and about at its closest to us at 414 million miles (666 million km) away.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter and its moons as it should appear tonight at 10 p.m. April 7, 2017 (2 hr UT April 8). Note also the Great Red Spot, which may be paler than it appears here. I double checked the transit time of the red spot across Jupiter’s central meridian, which is predicted for 10:42 p.m. (2:42 UT, April 8) across Jupiter’s central meridian. The position of the Red Spot is correct for 10 p.m.
Times are from Project Pluto: https://www.projectpluto.com/jeve_grs.htm
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 