Archive
11/08/2013 – Ephemeris – Star Party in the Grand Traverse area tomorrow night
Ephemeris for Friday, November 8th. The sun will rise at 7:30. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:21. The moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 10:42 this evening.
Tomorrow, Saturday the 9th, the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will host a star party at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory from 9m to 11 p.m. On tap if it’s clear will be the moon and later on in the evening the planet Jupiter will rise in the east with its retinue of moons and its cloud bands. There are still some northern summer telescopic wonders; plus rising in the east some star clusters and galaxies bright enough to see in the moonlight. Best of these star clusters is the Double Cluster, and the best of all the galaxies is the Great Andromeda Galaxy. This will be the last Saturday evening viewing opportunity of the year. There will still be a star party on Friday December 6th after the society meeting.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
11/01/2013 – Ephemeris – Preview of Comet ISON plus a star party tonight in Traverse City
Ephemeris for Friday, November 1st. The sun will rise at 8:20. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 6:31. The moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 7:16 tomorrow morning.
This evening’s meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society starting at 8 p.m. at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory will be a special one. Yours truly will preview the viewing prospects for Comet ISON for this and next month. What will happen? Where do I look to see it? Will it be the comet of the century? On that last question, I can give an answer right now, we’ll know immediately if it isn’t. We probably won’t know for 87 years if it is. The century is still young. Due to the extreme interest in this subject, the visuals and other information from the talk will be released to the society’s gtastro.org web site. At 9 p.m. there will be a star party at the observatory, and another program if it’s cloudy.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Click on image for slides from tonight’s talk:
10/21/2013 – Ephemeris – Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore 43rd Anniversary Star Party Tonight
Ephemeris for Monday, October 21st. The sun will rise at 8:05. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 41 minutes, setting at 6:47. The moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 8:33 this evening.
The Federal Government shutdown is over, and that means that the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is open again, just in time to hold its 43rd anniversary star party at the Dune Climb parking lot starting at 8 p.m. tonight with the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society. The moon will be rising shortly after the event starts. Also some of the brighter wonders of the heavens will be visible in the moon light. This will conclude the fourth year of star parties with the rangers at the park It started in 2010 with two star parties in October that year to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the park. Currently the society works with the park rangers to hold seven monthly star parties. The star party will be canceled if it’s cloudy.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
10/11/2013 – Ephemeris – Tomorrow night is International Observe the Moon Night
Ephemeris for Friday, October 11th. The sun will rise at 7:53. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 7:04. The moon, at first quarter today, will set at 12:41 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow night the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society (GTAS) and the NMC Astronomy Club will split forces. The NMC Astronomy Club will host the Star party at the Northwestern Michigan College’s Observatory starting at 9 p.m., while the Sidewalk Astronomers contingent of the GTAS will be on the north side 200 block of Front Street in Traverse City, in front of the Orvis Streamside store, for the International Observe the Moon Night weather permitting. Weather permitting means it must not be completely overcast or raining. I like to view the moon at this phase, a day after first quarter for the variety of detail that’s visible on the moon’s surface. This is our usual location for Friday Night Live.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Map supplied by the International Observe the Moon Night. The crater marked Plato should be Archimedes. It’s actually the moon in the afternoon our time.
The moon at 9 p.m. October 12, 2013. The terminator progresses a bit more from the above moon chart revealing more details. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas.
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.
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.
09/20/2013 – Ephemeris – The September equinox and astronomy at Fishtown
Ephemeris for Friday, September 20th. The sun will rise at 7:27. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 7:43. The moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 8:11 this evening.
At 4:44 in the afternoon Sunday autumn will begin. More important and sad for me is that summer will also end. Since March 20th the sun has been north of the celestial equator, shining directly over some part of the northern hemisphere tropics, but Sunday it moves south of the equator, causing sunset at the north pole and sunrise at the south pole. That point in time is called the autumnal or September equinox. In a few days daylight hours here will drop below 12 hours and keep on dropping until we near Christmas. On a brighter note: During the day Saturday, that’s tomorrow, the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will have their telescopes down at Fishtown for the Leland Heritage Celebration, that’s 10 am to 5 p.m. in Leland Michigan.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Earth looking from the direction of the sun at the moment of the Autumnal Equinox, 4:44 p.m.EDT September 22, 2013. Created using Celestia.
GTAS at Fishtown in 2011.
09/13/2013 – Ephemeris – Star party this weekend
Ephemeris for Friday, September 13th. The sun will rise at 7:19. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 37 minutes, setting at 7:56. The moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 1:41 tomorrow morning.
Saturday evening from 9 to 11 p.m. The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will be out at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory on Birmley Road, south of Traverse City for a Star Party. There will be a glimpse of Venus and Saturn at the beginning of the evening. The moon will be a great sight in telescopes. The society’s CCD camera can show the detail on the moon so actual formations can be pointed out. The CCD camera was purchased by the society to allow the handicapped and folks afraid of ladders to view some of the heavenly objects from terra firma. Other telescopes will allow a direct view of the moon. Some of the brighter objects beyond the solar system, we call them deep sky objects, can also be viewed if it’s clear.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The moon at 9 p.m. September 14, 2013. We’ll take you on a tour Saturday night, Created using Virtual Lunar Atlas.
Sleeping Bear Dunes Star Party tonight
7:00 p.m.
It’s cleared up. Don’t know how long that will last. But its a GO for tonight. The official time for the star party is 9 to 11 p.m. Set up starts at 8 p.m. See you out there!
5:00 p.m.
I talked to ranger Marie Scott just a few minutes ago and consulted the clear sky chart for observatories in the area, and I’d guess prospects are 50% at best. I’ll check in with her again at near 7 p.m. for a final update.
1:30 p.m.
The Star Party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will take place if weather permits. It starts at 9 p.m. at the Dune Climb parking lot. As of 1:30 p.m. it is gloomy out with rain in the area. The rain is supposed to end by 3 p.m. according to my weather.com app on my phone. Plus satellite images show that it is clearing over Lake Michigan. We may get a break tonight.
Check back here for updates. I should be contacting the park rangers by around 5 or 6 tonight, but keep an eye on the weather.
Bob
09/06/2013 – Ephemeris – Local astronomical opportunities this weekend
Ephemeris for Friday, September 6th. The sun will rise at 7:11. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 58 minutes, setting at 8:09. The moon, 1 day past new, will set at 8:27 this evening.
This evening at the regular monthly meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society Dr. David Penney will give a talk about our stellar neighborhood, the most populous stars in which are red dwarf stars. No red dwarf star has died of old age since the big bang. Their life span is calculated to be in trillions of years. The meeting is at 8 p.m. at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory. Starting at 9 p.m. there will be a star party at the observatory. Tomorrow night society will host a star party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore if its clear. Viewing starts at 9 p.m. at the parking lot of the Dunes Climb. This will be a good time to discover the star clusters and nebulae of the summer Milky Way.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The GTAS at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s Platte River Point, April, 2012. Credit Eileen Carlisle.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 