Archive
01/18/2019 – Ephemeris – There will be a total eclipse of the Moon Sunday night the 20th
Ephemeris for Friday, January 18th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 17 minutes, setting at 5:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:14. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 6:39 tomorrow morning.
There will be a lunar eclipse late this Sunday evening and into early Monday morning. For what it’s worth it’s also a super-moon. Starting around 10 p.m. a distinct duskiness will appear on the moon’s lower left side, as that part of the Moon is in the deepest part of the Earth’s outer penumbral shadow. At about 10:34 p.m. Sunday evening the lower left edge of the Moon will begin to enter the Earth’s inner shadow the umbra starting the partial phase of the eclipse. The Moon will be totally immersed in the shadow by 11:41 p.m. and will probably appear a coppery color. Totality will end at 12:43 a.m. Monday morning when the left edge of the Moon peeks out into sunlight. This final partial phase will end at 1:51 a.m.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Moon’s passage through the Earth’s shadow January 20-21, 2019. Credit Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC. Clicking on the above image will link to the official NASA pdf of this eclipse.
UT times are for January 21st. EST times are for the nearest minute.
Note that at contacts P1 and P4 nothing will be visible out of the ordinary. As the Moon moves to the U1 contact the left edge of the Moon will appear noticeably dusky as more and more sunlight is cut off.
The reddish color of totally eclipsed Moon is due to all the sunrises and sunsets happening at that time on the Earth. The Earth’s atmosphere bends the Sun’s light into its shadow.
01/17/2019 – Ephemeris – There will be a total eclipse of the Moon Sunday night the 20th
Ephemeris for Thursday, January 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 5:30, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:14. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 5:31 tomorrow morning.
There will be an eclipse of the Moon late this Sunday evening and into early Monday morning. For what it’s worth it’s also a so-called super moon dropping down to 222 thousand miles (357,300 km) from the Earth about 3 p.m. Monday, 15 hours after mid-eclipse. At about 10:34 p.m. Sunday night the lower left edge of the Moon will begin to enter the Earth’s inner shadow the umbra starting the partial phase of the eclipse. The Moon will be totally immersed in the shadow by 11:41 p.m. and will probably appear a coppery color. Totality will end at 12:43 a.m. Monday morning when the left edge of the Moon peeks out into sunlight. This begins the ending partial phase which itself will end at 1:51 a.m.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Moon’s passage through the Earth’s shadow January 20-21, 2019. Credit Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC. Clicking on the above image will link to the official NASA pdf of this eclipse.
UT times are for January 21st. which starts at 7 p.m. EST the 20th. EST times are for the nearest minute.
Note that at contacts P1 and P4 nothing will be visible out of the ordinary. As the Moon moves to the U1 contact the left edge of the Moon will appear noticeably dusky as more and more sunlight is cut off.
The reddish color of totally eclipsed Moon is due to all the sunrises and sunsets happening at that time on the Earth. The Earth’s atmosphere bends the Sun’s light into its shadow.
12/28/2018 – Ephemeris – Preview of space and astronomical events for 2019
Ephemeris for Friday, December 28th. The Sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:09. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 12:30 tomorrow morning.
Lets look at some astronomical and space events for 2019. Right off the bat on January 1st the New Horizons space craft will encounter the Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69 nick named Ultima Thule. I’ll have more on that Monday. January 20th overnight will see a total lunar eclipse lasting from 10:34 p.m. to 1:51 a.m. November 11th will see the planet Mercury cross the face of the Sun, a transit of Mercury from a couple of minutes after sunrise until 1:04 p.m. Among the space launches next year are several SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches, and the first launch of a uncrewed Dragon 2 capsule to fly up to the International Space Station. Boeing’s first Starliner uncrewed capsule test will occur in 2020.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
New Horizons encounter of 2014 MU69 (Ultima Thule)
Due to the fact that NASA is affected by the partial shutdown we will probably not get much immediate information from them. However the New Horizons spacecraft is being run by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHAPL) and not NASA and it is a critical mission, it will not be affected. All news will flow from JHAPL, rather than NASA. NASA-TV appears to be operating, but on autopilot.
From JHAPL, Where to watch, timeline and links: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/Where-to-Watch.php.
The Planetary Society has lots of information and links to follow the encounter: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2018/new-horizons-approaching-mu69-ultima-thule.html.
There is also a Planetary Society page of the time line of events for the spacecraft and the reception of data on the Earth : http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2018/what-to-expect-new-horizons-mu69-ultima-thule.html.
I’ll have much more Monday, less than 24 hours before the fly by.
Lunar Eclipse January 20-21, 2019
The Moon’s passage through the Earth’s shadow January 20-21, 2019. P1 and P4 events are invisible. Credit Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC.
UT times are for January 21st. EST times are te nearest minute.
Transit of Mercury November 11, 2019
Mercury will travel from lower left to upper right across the face of the Sun. Credit Occult4.
The transit will run from about 7:34 a.m. EST
(2:34 UT) to 1:04 p.m. (8:04 UT).
01/31/2018 – Ephemeris – Lunar Eclipse happening now* and the bright planets for this week
* The Ephemeris radio program run at 6:19 a.m. and 7 a.m. EST will run during the lunar eclipse.
Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 31st. The Sun will rise at 8:02. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 47 minutes, setting at 5:50. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 6:15 this evening.
We have a lunar eclipse in progress this morning. Before the partial phase starts the Moon will have a dusky appearance because the Moon will be in the Earth’s outer penumbra shadow. The partial phase starts at 6:48 a.m. (11:48 UT), when the upper left part of the Moon will enter the Earth’s inner shadow, called the umbra. The Moon will be fully immersed in the shadow beginning at 7:51 a.m. (12:51 UT). It will probably disappear by then because the Sun will rise just after 8 a.m. and the Moon will set, at least in the Interlochen/Traverse City area at, 8:04.
Venus is our evening planet, but too close to the Sun to spot. At 7 a.m. Jupiter and Mars below left of it are in the south while Saturn is low in the southeast. Tomorrow morning Jupiter will rise at 2:20 a.m., Mars will follow at 3:25. Last of all Saturn will rise at 5:50 a.m.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The partially eclipsed Moon at 7:40 a.m. January 31, 2018 from Traverse City, MI as simulated by Stellarium.
For more on the eclipse see yesterday’s post: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2018/01/30/01-30-2018-ephemeris-looking-for-tomorrows-lunar-eclipse/.
On to the planets
Morning planets and the partially eclipsed moon at 7 a.m. this morning, January 31, 2018. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons at 7 a.m. this morning January 31, 2018. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Saturn and its brighter moons at 7 a.m. this morning January 31, 2018. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on January 31, 2018. The night ends on the left with sunrise on February 1st. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
01/30/2018 – Ephemeris – Looking for tomorrow’s lunar eclipse
Ephemeris for Tuesday, January 30th. The Sun will rise at 8:04. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 5:48. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 8:04 tomorrow morning.
At a bit before 5 this morning the Moon passed perigee, it closest approach to the Earth in its monthly orbit of the Earth. It was 223,072 miles (359,000 km) away. That makes tonight’s Moon, 12 hours or less before full, a super moon. It will rise tonight at about 5:01. However it’s setting that is of interest because it will be in eclipse. The partial phase of tomorrow morning’s lunar eclipse will begin at 6:48 a.m. (11:48 UT), when the upper left part of the Moon will enter the Earth’s inner shadow, called the umbra. The Moon will be fully immersed in the shadow beginning at 7:51 a.m. (12:51 UT). It will probably disappear by then because the Sun will rise just after 8 a.m. and the Moon will set, at least in the Interlochen/Traverse City area at, 8:04.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The partially eclipsed Moon in twilight at 7:40 a.m. January 31, 2018 from Traverse City, MI as simulated by Stellarium.
The following is an article I submitted to Green Elk Rapids website that was also published in the Elk Rapids News. Elk Rapids is a village about 20 miles north of Traverse City on the east shore of Grand Traverse Bay. I added the metric units for this post.
We will have a calendrical coincidence on January 31st along with a natural event, and just missing another natural event all having to do with the Moon. The first is that the full moon on January fits one of the definitions for a “blue moon”, the second full moon in a month. Of course the Moon doesn’t actually turn blue. It doesn’t really care. Since February is shorter than a lunation, a lunar month, it will not have a full moon. However March will have two full moons like January.
The second is a real event. The Moon being opposite the Sun in the sky, the definition of a full moon, will pass into the Earth’s shadow causing a lunar eclipse or eclipse of the Moon. In this case, a total eclipse. A lunar eclipse of some type occurs in about one in six full moons. We only have to be on the night side of the Earth to see it. That’s the rub this time, because the eclipse will be in progress at sunrise. The partial phase starts at 6:48 a.m. From about 6:30 on the upper left part of the Moon will appear dusky as the Moon sinks deeper in the Earth’s outer shadow, where the Sun is only partially blocked. The Moon will sink farther and farther into the Earth’s inner shadow called the umbra until at 7:51 a.m. it will be totally immersed. By then the sky will be quite bright, with sunrise to occur at 8:02. The Moon should completely disappear and will set unseen at 8:04. Folks a few states west of us will see, more than likely, a coppery colored totally eclipsed Moon. Some TV preacher some years ago called it a blood moon, hoping to sell books about the end times.*
The color comes from the sum of all the sunrise and sunsets happening on Earth at that instant. The red sunrise we see is caused by the blue light being scattered out of the Sun’s light by molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere. It gives us the blue sky. Our atmosphere also bends the Sun’s light. When we see the full disc of the Sun just clear the horizon, it’s still actually fully below the horizon. The light of the sunrise that passes over our heads continues on, being bent further and becoming redder, and fills the Earth’s shadow by the time it reaches the Moon’s distance, making the Moon red. Volcanic ash in the upper atmosphere can make the Moon almost disappear during totality.
This full moon is also a so-called “super moon”. These occur when the full moon is nearest the Earth in its monthly orbit of the Earth. January first’s full moon was the closest of the year, you might say a super-duper moon. The Moon reached its perigee, closest point or 221,581 miles (356,600 km) away 5 hours before the Moon was officially full. This time perigee is the day before full, about 1,500 miles (2,400 km) farther away. These are measured center to center. The closest an Elk Rapids observer will be to the Moon on the 31st will be at about 12:30 a.m. at 219,920 miles (353,927 km), subtracting most of the Earth’s radius. Of course the Moon won’t look that big being high in the south then. By moon set it will retreat to 223,778 miles (360,136 km) from an Elk Rapids observer. The increased apparent size of the rising or setting Sun or Moon is an optical illusion. The Moon is closer to us when high in the sky than when on the horizon.
The next lunar eclipse visible to us is next year, on the night of January 20-21, 2019.
* The Elk Rapids News didn’t like my dig about the TV preacher and omitted this sentence. I rather expected them to.
Credit NASA.
The original page for this graphic is: https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2018Jan31T.pdf
Total Lunar Eclipse January 31
Event Time EST Time UT
GT Area
Enter penumbra 5:51 a.m. 10:51 Unseen
Begin partial phase 6:48 a.m. 11:48
Totality begins 7:51 a.m. 12:51
Sun rises 8:02 a.m.
Moon sets 8:04 a.m.
Mid eclipse 13:28
Totality ends 14:07
End partial phase 15:11
Leave penumbra 16:08 Unseen
The shading of the penumbra is generally noticeable within 1/2
hour before the partial phase begins and again after it ends.
12/31/2017 – Ephemeris Extra – January 2018 preview
This isn’t going to be recorded as an actual program. I’m not sure how much information one could retain at 6 or 7 New Years Day morning.
Year end is a busy time astronomically with Earth’s perihelion and the Quadrantid meteor shower following rapidly on New Years day
Let’s look ahead at January 2018. Tuesday the 2nd is the date of the latest sunrise. The Sun is already beginning to head north, as can be seen in the sunset time on the 1st, 11 minutes later than at its earliest three weeks ago. Both sunrise and sunset will be moving in January with sunrise time at 8:20 a.m. and sunset time at 5:12 p.m. on the 1st moving to 8:02 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. at month’s end. The sun’s altitude at noon will increase from 22 degrees on the 1st to nearly 28 degrees by the 31st. The Earth will reach its closest to the Sun in its orbit, called perihelion, on the 2nd at 91.4 million miles (147.1 million km).
We’ll have a full moon on the 1st and the 31st, the so-called blue moon. Both those moons will be super moons, occurring at or near perigee. On top of all that the full moon on the 31st will be totally eclipsed. We in Michigan will see nearly the first half of the eclipse before the Moon sets at 8:04 in the grand Traverse area. Folks farther west will see more, if not all of the eclipse. February will have no full moons, so March again will have two full moons.
The Quadrantid meteor shower will reach peak on the 3rd, in the afternoon. The radiant is circumpolar here, being off the handle of the Big Dipper. Mercury will reach its greatest western elongation on the 1st and be visible shortly before sunrise for the next week rising after 6:30, but brightening a bit each day. It’s not a particularly favorable elongation, now that winter is here. The next evening elongation in March will be a lot better. Venus will be in superior conjunction with the Sun on the 9th and will enter the evening sky, but don’t look for it this month. Mars and Jupiter will have a close conjunction on the 6th. It will look about equally OK on the morning of the 6th or 7th around here because it occurs on the evening of the 6th, when they are not up.
Addenda
January Evening Sky Chart
Star Chart for January 2018 (9 p.m. January 15, 2018). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST in the evening and 6 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian. during EDT and 45 minutes behind our daylight standard time meridian. during EST). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes (Daylight Time) or 45 minutes (Standard Time) earlier than the current time if you are near your time meridian.
Note the chart times of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. are for the 15th. For each week before the 15th add ½ hour. For each week after the 15th subtract ½ hour. 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.
January Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for January 2018 mornings based on 6 a.m. January 15th. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Leaky Big Dipper drips on Leo.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus.
- The Summer Triangle is in red
- QuadR is the Quadrantid meteor shower radiant. Peaks on January 2nd, but the almost full moon will interfere this year.
Twilight
Evening nautical twilight ends at 6:22 p.m. EST on the 1st, increasing to 6:55 p.m. EST on the 31st.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 6:57 p.m. EST on the 1st, increasing to 7:29 p.m. EST on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 6:35 a.m. EST on the 1st, and decreasing to 6:23 a.m. EST on the 31st.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 7:10 a.m. EST on the 1st, and decreasing to 6:57 a.m. EST on the 31st.
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
Date Time Event
Jan 01 Mo Venus: 1.9° W
01 Mo 2:59 pm Mercury Elongation: 22.7° W
01 Mo 4:54 pm Moon Perigee: 356600 km
01 Mo 7:01 pm Moon North Dec.: 20.1° N
01 Mo 9:24 pm Full Moon
02 Tu 9:59 pm Perihelion: 0.9833 AU
03 We 2:50 pm Moon-Beehive: 2.3° N
03 We 3:19 pm Quadrantid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 120
04 Th 2:48 am Moon Ascending Node
05 Fr 2:24 am Moon-Regulus: 0.9° S
06 Sa 7:39 pm Mars-Jupiter: 0.2° N
08 Mo 5:25 pm Last Quarter
09 Tu 1:16 am Venus Superior Conjunction w/Sun
11 Th 12:59 am Moon-Jupiter: 4.7° S
13 Sa 2:58 am Mercury-Saturn: 0.7° N
14 Su 9:09 pm Moon Apogee: 406500 km
14 Su 9:13 pm Moon-Saturn: 2.9° S
15 Mo 11:28 am Moon South Dec.: 20° S
16 Tu 9:17 pm New Moon
18 Th 9:28 am Moon Descending Node
24 We 5:20 pm First Quarter
27 Sa 5:09 am Moon-Aldebaran: 0.7° S
29 Mo 6:32 am Moon North Dec.: 20° N
30 Tu 4:54 am Moon Perigee: 359000 km
31 We 2:19 am Moon-Beehive: 2.3° N
31 We 8:27 am Full Moon
31 We 8:30 am Total Lunar Eclipse (See Below)
31 We 1:46 pm Moon Ascending Node
Feb 01 Th Venus: 5.7° E
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.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
January, 2018 Local time zone: EST
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM |
| | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Mon 1| 08:20a 05:13p 08:52 | 06:23p 07:09a |Full Rise 05:11p 100%|
|Tue 2| 08:20a 05:13p 08:53 | 06:24p 07:09a | Rise 06:18p 99%|
|Wed 3| 08:20a 05:14p 08:54 | 06:25p 07:10a | Rise 07:30p 95%|
|Thu 4| 08:20a 05:15p 08:55 | 06:25p 07:10a | Rise 08:44p 88%|
|Fri 5| 08:19a 05:16p 08:56 | 06:26p 07:10a | Rise 09:56p 80%|
|Sat 6| 08:19a 05:17p 08:58 | 06:27p 07:09a | Rise 11:05p 70%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 7| 08:19a 05:19p 08:59 | 06:28p 07:09a | Rise 12:12a 60%|
|Mon 8| 08:19a 05:20p 09:00 | 06:29p 07:09a |L Qtr Rise 01:17a 49%|
|Tue 9| 08:19a 05:21p 09:02 | 06:30p 07:09a | Rise 02:19a 39%|
|Wed 10| 08:18a 05:22p 09:03 | 06:31p 07:09a | Rise 03:20a 30%|
|Thu 11| 08:18a 05:23p 09:05 | 06:32p 07:09a | Rise 04:19a 22%|
|Fri 12| 08:18a 05:24p 09:06 | 06:33p 07:08a | Rise 05:16a 14%|
|Sat 13| 08:17a 05:25p 09:08 | 06:34p 07:08a | Rise 06:11a 8%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 14| 08:17a 05:27p 09:10 | 06:36p 07:08a | Rise 07:02a 4%|
|Mon 15| 08:16a 05:28p 09:11 | 06:37p 07:07a | Rise 07:49a 1%|
|Tue 16| 08:15a 05:29p 09:13 | 06:38p 07:07a |New Set 05:21p 0%|
|Wed 17| 08:15a 05:31p 09:15 | 06:39p 07:06a | Set 06:17p 1%|
|Thu 18| 08:14a 05:32p 09:17 | 06:40p 07:06a | Set 07:15p 3%|
|Fri 19| 08:14a 05:33p 09:19 | 06:41p 07:05a | Set 08:15p 8%|
|Sat 20| 08:13a 05:34p 09:21 | 06:42p 07:05a | Set 09:17p 14%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 21| 08:12a 05:36p 09:23 | 06:44p 07:04a | Set 10:20p 21%|
|Mon 22| 08:11a 05:37p 09:25 | 06:45p 07:04a | Set 11:24p 30%|
|Tue 23| 08:10a 05:38p 09:28 | 06:46p 07:03a | Set 12:30a 40%|
|Wed 24| 08:10a 05:40p 09:30 | 06:47p 07:02a |F Qtr Set 01:38a 51%|
|Thu 25| 08:09a 05:41p 09:32 | 06:48p 07:01a | Set 02:48a 62%|
|Fri 26| 08:08a 05:43p 09:34 | 06:50p 07:01a | Set 03:59a 72%|
|Sat 27| 08:07a 05:44p 09:37 | 06:51p 07:00a | Set 05:09a 82%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 28| 08:06a 05:45p 09:39 | 06:52p 06:59a | Set 06:14a 90%|
|Mon 29| 08:05a 05:47p 09:42 | 06:53p 06:58a | Set 07:13a 96%|
|Tue 30| 08:04a 05:48p 09:44 | 06:55p 06:57a | Set 08:04a 100%|
|Wed 31| 08:02a 05:50p 09:47 | 06:56p 06:56a |Full Rise 06:15p 100%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset
Total Lunar Eclipse January 31, 2018
I’ll have more on this toward the end of the month. Credit NASA.
The original page for this graphic is: https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2018Jan31T.pdf
Total Lunar Eclipse January 31
Event Time EST Time UT
GT Area
Enter penumbra 5:51 a.m. 10:51 Unseen
Begin partial phase 6:48 a.m. 11:48
Totality begins 7:51 a.m. 12:51
Moon sets 8:04 a.m.
Mid eclipse 13:28
Totality ends 14:07
End partial phase 15:11
Leave penumbra 16:08 Unseen
The shading of the penumbra is generally seen within 1/2
hour before and after the partial begins and ends.
Update
Our bird feeder at about 2 p.m. It was cleaned off and filled 6 hours before. Dining are a downy woodpecker, behind the suet block; a flicker with a seed in its beak and three chickadees. Can you spot the third?
While I was writing this post on the afternoon of the 30th, we were getting a rather intense lake effect snow storm, at about an inch an hour. By nightfall the snow on top of the feeder just about reached the hook. We also get cardinals, blue jays, sparrows. Poor juncos. They seem to feed on the ground, and the snow came too fast and covered the seed that had dropped, so they were looking in vain.
I really love the chickadees, they’re fearless. When I’m filling the bird feeder the other birds scatter, but the chickadees sit in the tree, a couple of feet over my head and wait patiently until I hang it back up.
08/08/2017 – Ephemeris – Eclipse seasons
Ephemeris for Monday, August 7th. The Sun rises at 6:36. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 8:59. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 9:00 this evening.
At two weeks before the great solar eclipse, the world is experiencing another eclipse, this one is a partial lunar eclipse where the Moon will just clip the northern part of the Earth’s shadow this afternoon our time. It will be mainly visible from Asia. Eclipses occur in seasons of about a month long that occur at a bit less than six month intervals, so eclipses will occur a little earlier next year to the this. That’s because the crossing points of the Moon’s and the Earth’s orbital planes regress slowly westward. In an eclipse season two eclipses will occur: a solar and a lunar eclipse. On rare occasion when a lunar eclipse occurs in the center of a season a partial solar eclipse can occur two weeks before and again after the lunar eclipse, but they will affect the opposite polar regions of the Earth.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Table of this and next three eclipse seasons
| Date | Eclipse Type | Notes |
| 08/07/2017 | Lunar Eclipse – partial | Moon clips northern part of Earth’s umbra |
| 08/21/2017 | Solar Eclipse – total | Path of totality crosses US |
| 01/31/2018 | Lunar Eclipse – total | Moon crosses just south of center of umbra |
| 02/15/2018 | Solar Eclipse – partial | Visible mostly from Antarctica |
| 07/13/2018 | Solar Eclipse – partial | Seen from southern Australia |
| 07/27/2018 | Lunar Eclipse – total | Moon crosses center of umbra |
| 08/11/2018 | Solar Eclipse – partial | Seen from northern Europe, Asia |
| 01/06/2019 | Solar Eclipse – partial | Seen mostly from northern Pacific Ocean |
| 01/21/2019 | Lunar Eclipse – total | Moon crosses just north of center of umbra |
07/10/2017 – Ephemeris – There’s a penumbral eclipse of the Moon tonight
Ephemeris for Friday, February 10th. The Sun will rise at 7:49. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 6:04. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 5:58 this evening.
This evening there will be a penumbral eclipse of the moon, which will reach its peak at 7:45 p.m. The moon, on its left side will be slightly darkened as the Moon passes through the Earth’s partial outer shadow where the Sun is only partially blocked by the Earth. Only the left side of he Moon will show the effect, which is best seen wearing sunglasses to reduce the Moon’s glare. The Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory will be open to view the event from 6:45 to 8:45 p.m. but only if it’s clear. This event does not require a telescope to appreciate, but it might be nice to view it with others. The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Road between Keystone and Garfield roads.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
How lunar eclipses occur. For this eclipse the Moon will miss the umbra but will penetrate the deep into the penumbra. Credit NASA/Fred Espenak.
Diagram of the penumbral lunar eclipse on the evening of February 10, 2016 for the Eastern time zone. Diagram adapted from Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC.
This is the maximum of the February 10th penumbral lunar eclipse. The Moon will appear to move diagonally down to the left. It is shown at maximum eclipse at 7:45 p.m. (0:45 UT February 11). The diagram is oriented for viewing from northern Michigan. Created using Cartes du Ciel.
NASA’s pdf page on this eclipse: https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2017Feb11N.pdf
02/09/2017 – Ephemeris – Tomorrow’s penumbral eclipse of the Moon
Ephemeris for Thursday, February 9th. The Sun will rise at 7:50. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 12 minutes, setting at 6:03. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 7:28 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow evening, clouds willing, we see an odd partial eclipse of the Moon called a penumbral lunar eclipse. What is a penumbra? It’s the fuzzy outer part of a shadow that’s cast when the light source isn’t a pin point. Look at your shadow in the sunlight, especially that of your head. The outline isn’t sharp. That outer fuzziness of the shadow is your penumbra where the Sun isn’t completely blocked., while the dark inner shadow is the umbra, where the Sun is completely blocked by your head. Tomorrow evening the eclipse will actually start before the Moon rises. The Moon should appear pretty much normal until it passes deep into the penumbra of the Earth’s shadow. Deepest penetration will occur at 7:45 pm. Where the upper left part of the Moon will appear dimmer than the rest of it.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Diagram of the penumbral lunar eclipse on the evening of February 10, 2016 for the Eastern time zone. Diagram adapted from Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC.
P1 is the first contact with the shadow and P4 the last. Nothing will be noticed at these times. Only when closest to the greatest eclipse will the part of the moon nearest the inner shadow will show darkening.
Only from the lighter parts of the map will the eclipse be visible. Diagram from Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC.
01/31/2017 – Ephemeris – Looking ahead at February 2017
Ephemeris for Tuesday, January 31st. The Sun will rise at 8:02. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:50. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 10:06 this evening.
February is the shortest month, even so the daylight hours throughout the month will be getting longer. Daylight hours will increase from 9 hours and 50 minutes tomorrow to 11 hours and 7 minutes on the 28th. The sunrise time will decrease from 8:01 tomorrow to 7:21 at months end. The sunset times will increase from 5:51 tomorrow to 6:29 on the 28th. Along with that the altitude of the sun at noon will increase from 28.4 degrees today to 38.6 degrees at month’s end. It will be a degree lower for folks in the Straits area because they are a degree of latitude farther north. Local noon, by the way for Interlochen and Traverse City is about 12:55 p.m. On the evening of the 10th the Moon will enter the Earth’s outer shadow with an penumbral lunar eclipse. I’ll have more information on that then. Moon will be near the planets Mars and Venus in the southwestern sky early tonight.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
February Star Charts
Evening
Star Chart for February 2017. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
Morning
Star Chart for February 2017 mornings. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST, and again at 6 a.m. Those are chart times. Note, Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian. during EDT and 45 minutes behind our daylight standard time meridian. during EST). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1:45 or 0:45 earlier than the current time if you were near your time meridian.
Add a half hour to the chart time every week before the 15th and subtract a half hour for every week after the 15th.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, and
- Straighten to a spike to Spica
- The Summer Triangle is shown in red
Evening nautical twilight ends at 6:56 p.m. EST on the 1st, increasing to 7:31 p.m. EST on the 28th.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 7:30 p.m. EST on the 1st, increasing to 8:05 p.m. EST on the 28th.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 6:22 a.m. EST on the 1st, and increasing to 5:45 a.m. EST on the 28th.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 6:56 a.m. EST on the 1st, and Increasing to 6:19 a.m. EST on the 28th.
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
Credit: Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC)
To generate your own calendar go to http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html
Times are Eastern Time and follow the time change dates.
Date Time Event Feb 01 We Venus: 45.5° E 02 Th 5:11 am Venus-Mars: 5.4° N 03 Fr 11:19 pm First Quarter 05 Su 4:14 pm Moon-Aldebaran: 0.2° S 06 Mo 8:59 am Moon Perigee: 368800 km 07 Tu 1:34 pm Moon North Dec.: 18.9° N 10 Fr 7:33 pm Full Moon 10 Fr 7:45 pm Penumbral Lunar Eclipse 11 Sa 9:04 am Moon-Regulus: 0.8° N 11 Sa 2:49 pm Moon Ascending Node 15 We 9:55 am Moon-Jupiter: 2.9° S 18 Sa 2:33 pm Last Quarter 18 Sa 4:14 pm Moon Apogee: 404400 km 20 Mo 6:44 pm Moon-Saturn: 3.9° S 21 Tu 3:50 pm Moon South Dec.: 18.8° S 26 Su 1:28 pm Moon Descending Node 26 Su 9:54 am Annular Solar Eclipse - South Atlantic 26 Su 9:58 am New Moon Mar 01 We Venus: 32.5° E
February 2017 Calendar
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC February, 2017 Local time zone: EST +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM | | | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN| +=======================================================================+ |Wed 1| 08:01a 05:51p 09:50 | 06:57p 06:55a | Set 11:15p 26%| |Thu 2| 08:00a 05:53p 09:52 | 06:59p 06:54a | Set 12:25a 37%| |Fri 3| 07:59a 05:54p 09:55 | 07:00p 06:53a |F Qtr Set 01:35a 48%| |Sat 4| 07:57a 05:56p 09:58 | 07:01p 06:52a | Set 02:45a 59%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 5| 07:56a 05:57p 10:00 | 07:03p 06:51a | Set 03:53a 70%| |Mon 6| 07:55a 05:58p 10:03 | 07:04p 06:50a | Set 04:56a 80%| |Tue 7| 07:54a 06:00p 10:06 | 07:05p 06:48a | Set 05:54a 89%| |Wed 8| 07:52a 06:01p 10:09 | 07:06p 06:47a | Set 06:45a 95%| |Thu 9| 07:51a 06:03p 10:11 | 07:08p 06:46a | Set 07:28a 99%| |Fri 10| 07:50a 06:04p 10:14 | 07:09p 06:45a |Full Rise 05:59p 100%| |Sat 11| 07:48a 06:06p 10:17 | 07:10p 06:43a | Rise 07:06p 99%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 12| 07:47a 06:07p 10:20 | 07:12p 06:42a | Rise 08:12p 96%| |Mon 13| 07:45a 06:08p 10:23 | 07:13p 06:41a | Rise 09:16p 90%| |Tue 14| 07:44a 06:10p 10:26 | 07:14p 06:39a | Rise 10:18p 84%| |Wed 15| 07:42a 06:11p 10:28 | 07:15p 06:38a | Rise 11:18p 76%| |Thu 16| 07:41a 06:13p 10:31 | 07:17p 06:37a | Rise 12:18a 67%| |Fri 17| 07:39a 06:14p 10:34 | 07:18p 06:35a | Rise 01:16a 58%| |Sat 18| 07:38a 06:15p 10:37 | 07:19p 06:34a |L Qtr Rise 02:12a 48%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 19| 07:36a 06:17p 10:40 | 07:21p 06:32a | Rise 03:07a 39%| |Mon 20| 07:34a 06:18p 10:43 | 07:22p 06:31a | Rise 03:59a 30%| |Tue 21| 07:33a 06:20p 10:46 | 07:23p 06:29a | Rise 04:49a 21%| |Wed 22| 07:31a 06:21p 10:49 | 07:25p 06:28a | Rise 05:34a 14%| |Thu 23| 07:30a 06:22p 10:52 | 07:26p 06:26a | Rise 06:16a 8%| |Fri 24| 07:28a 06:24p 10:55 | 07:27p 06:25a | Rise 06:54a 3%| |Sat 25| 07:26a 06:25p 10:58 | 07:28p 06:23a | Rise 07:29a 0%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 26| 07:25a 06:26p 11:01 | 07:30p 06:21a |New Set 06:43p 0%| |Mon 27| 07:23a 06:28p 11:04 | 07:31p 06:20a | Set 07:53p 2%| |Tue 28| 07:21a 06:29p 11:07 | 07:32p 06:18a | Set 09:03p 7%| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ * Nautical Twilight ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse February 10/11, 2016
The moment of mid-eclipse at 7:45 p.m. February 10, 2016 EST (0:45 UT February 11). The Moon is traveling from upper right to lower left. Orientation is alt-az for northern Michigan. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
In the early evening hours of February 10th the Moon will pass through the Earth’s outer or penumbral shadow. It will not get particularly dark since the Moon will still be somewhat illuminated by the Sun.
Anything shows two types of shadows in the sunlight. Your shadow appears fuzzy. That fuzziness is your penumbra, where the sunlight is only partially blocked. The dark inner part of your shadow is your umbra.
The eclipse starts at 5:34 p.m. (22:34 UT) at which time you will see nothing out of thee ordinary. Since the Moon is entering the shadow at a shallow angle it will take 2 hours and 11 minutes to reach the maximum eclipse. I’m guessing here, but one will probably not notice anything before 7 p.m. (0:00 UT) To help see the effect better, put on sunglasses. They will reduce the Moon’s glare to help see the darkening effect. Officially the eclipse will end at 9:53 p.m. (2:53 UT the 11th)
Binocular Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova
Comet 45P’s track for February. The comet is expected to be about a magnitude brighter than displayed (7th magnitude). Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
In the chart above the comet’s position is marked by a comet symbol. The comet’s tail, if visible at all, will actually point to the right along its track. The data for this chart is taken from Seiichi Yoshida’s Weekly Information about Bright Comets: http://www.aerith.net/comet/weekly/current.html
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 