Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Thursday, November 30th. The Sun will rise at 7:58. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 5:03. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 5:07 tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow starts the last month of the 2017. We are now in the holiday season and about to celebrate the southernmost travel of the Sun in the sky and its return northward. The Sun will stop its travel south, the winter solstice on the 21st at 11:29 a.m. That will make that day the shortest day in terms of daylight hours. However the earliest sunset and latest sunrise don’t coincide with that date. The reason is the Earth is closer to the sun than average and moving faster in its orbit of the sun than it normally does. It skews the sunrise and sunset times, making them later than they would be on average. That makes the sunset times bottom out about December 9th. at 5:02 p.m. And that latest sunrise will top out on January 2nd at 8:20 a.m.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addenda

December Evening Sky Chart

Star Chart for December 2017 (9 p.m. December 15, 2017). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EDT 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.

December Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for December 2017 mornings based on 6 a.m. December 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.
• Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus.
• The Summer Triangle is in red
• GemR is the Geminid meteor shower radiant. Peaks on December 14th, the Moon will not interfere this year.

Twilight

Evening nautical twilight ends at 6:16 p.m. EST on the 1st, decreasing to 6:21 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 6:51 p.m. EST on the 1st, decreasing to 6:56 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 6:20 a.m. EST on the 1st, and increasing to 6:35 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 6:56 a.m. EST on the 1st, and increasing to 7:10 a.m. EDT on the 31st.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

  Date      Time    Event
Dec 01  Fr          Venus: 9.4° W
    03  Su  8:00 am Moon-Aldebaran: 0.8° S
    03  Su 10:47 am Full Moon
    04  Mo  3:42 am Moon Perigee: 357500 km
    05  Tu  6:43 am Moon North Dec.: 20° N
    07  Th  4:30 am Moon-Beehive: 2.5° N
    07  Th  7:39 pm Moon Ascending Node
    08  Fr  5:25 pm Moon-Regulus: 0.7° S
    10  Su  2:51 am Last Quarter
    12  Tu  8:40 pm Mercury Inferior Conjunction with the Sun
    13  We 11:27 am Moon-Mars: 4.5° S
    14  Th  1:07 am Geminid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 120!
    14  Th  9:26 am Moon-Jupiter: 4.7° S
    18  Mo  1:31 am New Moon
    18  Mo  8:27 am Moon Apogee: 406600 km
    19  Tu  4:31 am Moon South Dec.: 20.1° S
    21  Th 11:29 am Winter Solstice
    21  Th  3:18 pm Saturn Conjunction with the Sun
    22  Fr  5:04 am Moon Descending Node
    22  Fr 10:00 am Ursid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 10
                    Note:  The Ursid radiant is near the Little Dipper’s
                           bowl
    26  Tu  4:20 am First Quarter
    30  Sa  7:25 pm Moon-Aldebaran: 0.7° S
Jan 01  Mo          Venus: 1.9° W

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 an entire year
or calendar pages for your time zone.

Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events

     LU                  Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
December, 2017    Local time zone: EST
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Fri  1| 08:00a  05:03p  09:03 | 06:12p  06:50a |      Set  06:22a   96%|
|Sat  2| 08:01a  05:03p  09:01 | 06:12p  06:51a |      Set  07:38a   99%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  3| 08:02a  05:02p  09:00 | 06:12p  06:52a |Full  Rise 05:36p  100%|
|Mon  4| 08:03a  05:02p  08:59 | 06:12p  06:53a |      Rise 06:32p   97%|
|Tue  5| 08:04a  05:02p  08:57 | 06:12p  06:54a |      Rise 07:35p   92%|
|Wed  6| 08:05a  05:02p  08:56 | 06:12p  06:55a |      Rise 08:43p   84%|
|Thu  7| 08:06a  05:02p  08:55 | 06:12p  06:56a |      Rise 09:54p   75%|
|Fri  8| 08:07a  05:02p  08:54 | 06:12p  06:57a |      Rise 11:04p   64%|
|Sat  9| 08:08a  05:02p  08:53 | 06:12p  06:58a |      Rise 12:13a   54%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 10| 08:09a  05:02p  08:52 | 06:12p  06:59a |L Qtr Rise 01:19a   43%|
|Mon 11| 08:10a  05:02p  08:51 | 06:12p  06:59a |      Rise 02:23a   33%|
|Tue 12| 08:11a  05:02p  08:51 | 06:12p  07:00a |      Rise 03:25a   24%|
|Wed 13| 08:11a  05:02p  08:50 | 06:12p  07:01a |      Rise 04:27a   16%|
|Thu 14| 08:12a  05:02p  08:49 | 06:13p  07:02a |      Rise 05:27a   10%|
|Fri 15| 08:13a  05:02p  08:49 | 06:13p  07:02a |      Rise 06:26a    5%|
|Sat 16| 08:14a  05:03p  08:49 | 06:13p  07:03a |      Rise 07:22a    2%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 17| 08:14a  05:03p  08:48 | 06:14p  07:04a |      Rise 08:16a    0%|
|Mon 18| 08:15a  05:03p  08:48 | 06:14p  07:04a |New   Set  05:46p    1%|
|Tue 19| 08:16a  05:04p  08:48 | 06:14p  07:05a |      Set  06:34p    3%|
|Wed 20| 08:16a  05:04p  08:48 | 06:15p  07:05a |      Set  07:27p    6%|
|Thu 21| 08:17a  05:05p  08:48 | 06:15p  07:06a |      Set  08:23p   12%|
|Fri 22| 08:17a  05:05p  08:48 | 06:16p  07:06a |      Set  09:22p   19%|
|Sat 23| 08:18a  05:06p  08:48 | 06:16p  07:07a |      Set  10:22p   27%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 24| 08:18a  05:06p  08:48 | 06:17p  07:07a |      Set  11:24p   36%|
|Mon 25| 08:18a  05:07p  08:48 | 06:18p  07:08a |      Set  12:28a   46%|
|Tue 26| 08:19a  05:08p  08:49 | 06:18p  07:08a |F Qtr Set  01:35a   56%|
|Wed 27| 08:19a  05:08p  08:49 | 06:19p  07:08a |      Set  02:43a   67%|
|Thu 28| 08:19a  05:09p  08:50 | 06:20p  07:09a |      Set  03:55a   77%|
|Fri 29| 08:19a  05:10p  08:50 | 06:20p  07:09a |      Set  05:08a   86%|
|Sat 30| 08:19a  05:11p  08:51 | 06:21p  07:09a |      Set  06:22a   93%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 31| 08:20a  05:12p  08:52 | 06:22p  07:09a |      Set  07:32a   98%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Ephemeris for Halloween, Tuesday, October 31st. The Sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 6:32. The Moon, half way from first quarter to full, will set at 4:58 tomorrow morning.

Let’s look ahead at the skies for the month of November. The sun is still moving south rapidly. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will drop from 10 hours and 10 minutes tomorrow to 9 hours 5 minutes on the 30th. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be at 30 degrees tomorrow and will descend to 23 and a half degrees on the 30th. The altitude of the Sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower. Local noon, this month, is about 12:30 p.m.

The Leonid meteor shower will reach a peak on the 16th and again on the 17th and is expected to be lackluster and will peak in our afternoon both days, and may only produce 10 meteors per hour.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addenda

November Evening Sky Chart

Star Chart for November 2017 (9 p.m. November 15, 2017). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EDT 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.

November Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for November 2017 mornings based on 6 a.m. November 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.
• Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus and
• Follow the spike to Spica
• The Summer Triangle is in red
• LeoR is the Leonid meteor shower radiant. Peaks on November 16th and 17th.

Twilight

Evening nautical twilight ends at 7:39 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 6:16 p.m. EST on the 30th.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 8:13 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 6:51 p.m. EST on the 30th.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 6:47 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 6:19 a.m. EST on the 30th.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 7:21 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 6:55 a.m. EST on the 30th.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

    Date   Time     Event 
Nov 01  We          Venus: 16.8° W
    02  Th  8:58 am Venus-Spica: 3.5° N
    04  Sa 12:23 am Full Moon
    05  Su  6:22 am South Taurid Shower: ZHR = 5
    05  Su  7:09 am Moon Perigee: 361400 km
    05  Su  9:19 pm Moon-Aldebaran: 0.7° S
    07  Tu  8:28 pm Moon North Dec.: 19.8° N
    09  Th  8:58 pm Moon-Beehive: 2.7° N
    10  Fr  3:37 pm Last Quarter
    10  Fr  5:40 pm Moon Ascending Node
    11  Sa 11:07 am Moon-Regulus: 0.4° S
    12  Su  5:39 am North Taurid Shower: ZHR = 5
    12  Su 12:48 pm Mercury-Antares: 2.2° N
    14  Tu  7:40 pm Moon-Mars: 3.4° S
    17  Fr 11:56 am Leonid Shower: ZHR = 10
    18  Sa  6:42 am New Moon
    20  Mo  7:34 am Moon-Saturn: 3.3° S
    21  Tu  1:52 pm Moon Apogee: 406100 km
    21  Tu  9:06 pm Moon South Dec.: 20° S
    23  Th  6:59 pm Mercury Elongation: 22° E
    25  Sa  3:22 am Moon Descending Node
    26  Su 12:03 pm First Quarter
    29  We  9:27 am Mars-Spica: 3.1° N
Dec 01  Fr          Venus: 9.4° W

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
November, 2017    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Wed  1| 08:21a  06:31p  10:09 | 07:36p  07:16a |      Set  06:08a   93%|
|Thu  2| 08:22a  06:29p  10:07 | 07:34p  07:17a |      Set  07:21a   98%|
|Fri  3| 08:23a  06:28p  10:04 | 07:33p  07:18a |      Set  08:36a  100%|
|Sat  4| 08:25a  06:27p  10:01 | 07:32p  07:19a |Full  Rise 07:18p   99%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
| EST  |      Time Change      |                |                       |
|Sun  5| 07:26a  05:25p  09:59 | 06:31p  06:21a |      Rise 07:01p   95%|
|Mon  6| 07:27a  05:24p  09:56 | 06:30p  06:22a |      Rise 07:52p   89%|
|Tue  7| 07:29a  05:23p  09:53 | 06:29p  06:23a |      Rise 08:49p   80%|
|Wed  8| 07:30a  05:22p  09:51 | 06:27p  06:24a |      Rise 09:52p   70%|
|Thu  9| 07:32a  05:20p  09:48 | 06:26p  06:25a |      Rise 10:59p   60%|
|Fri 10| 07:33a  05:19p  09:46 | 06:25p  06:27a |L Qtr Rise 12:07a   48%|
|Sat 11| 07:34a  05:18p  09:43 | 06:24p  06:28a |      Rise 01:15a   38%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 12| 07:36a  05:17p  09:41 | 06:24p  06:29a |      Rise 02:21a   28%|
|Mon 13| 07:37a  05:16p  09:38 | 06:23p  06:30a |      Rise 03:26a   19%|
|Tue 14| 07:38a  05:15p  09:36 | 06:22p  06:31a |      Rise 04:30a   12%|
|Wed 15| 07:40a  05:14p  09:34 | 06:21p  06:33a |      Rise 05:32a    6%|
|Thu 16| 07:41a  05:13p  09:31 | 06:20p  06:34a |      Rise 06:34a    2%|
|Fri 17| 07:42a  05:12p  09:29 | 06:19p  06:35a |      Rise 07:34a    0%|
|Sat 18| 07:44a  05:11p  09:27 | 06:19p  06:36a |New   Set  05:48p    0%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 19| 07:45a  05:10p  09:25 | 06:18p  06:37a |      Set  06:24p    2%|
|Mon 20| 07:46a  05:09p  09:23 | 06:17p  06:38a |      Set  07:04p    6%|
|Tue 21| 07:48a  05:09p  09:21 | 06:17p  06:40a |      Set  07:50p   11%|
|Wed 22| 07:49a  05:08p  09:19 | 06:16p  06:41a |      Set  08:39p   17%|
|Thu 23| 07:50a  05:07p  09:17 | 06:16p  06:42a |      Set  09:33p   25%|
|Fri 24| 07:51a  05:07p  09:15 | 06:15p  06:43a |      Set  10:31p   34%|
|Sat 25| 07:53a  05:06p  09:13 | 06:15p  06:44a |      Set  11:31p   43%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 26| 07:54a  05:05p  09:11 | 06:14p  06:45a |F Qtr Set  12:33a   53%|
|Mon 27| 07:55a  05:05p  09:09 | 06:14p  06:46a |      Set  01:38a   63%|
|Tue 28| 07:56a  05:04p  09:08 | 06:13p  06:47a |      Set  02:45a   73%|
|Wed 29| 07:57a  05:04p  09:06 | 06:13p  06:48a |      Set  03:54a   82%|
|Thu 30| 07:59a  05:03p  09:04 | 06:13p  06:49a |      Set  05:07a   90%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Ephemeris for Monday, October 2nd. The Sun will rise at 7:41. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 38 minutes, setting at 7:20. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 5:04 tomorrow morning.

Let’s look at the skies for this month of October. The sun will still be moving south rapidly. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area will drop from 11 hours and 38 minutes today to 10 hours 13 minutes on the 31st. The altitude of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 42 degrees today, and will descend to 31 degrees on Halloween, also in the Interlochen/Traverse City area. The Straits area will have the sun a degree lower. Local noon, when the sun is due south will be about 1:30 p.m. in Interlochen/Traverse City.

Later this month Jupiter will cross from the evening sky to the morning. Saturn will become lower in the southwest in the evening sky. And bits of Halley’s comet will return later in the month as the Orion meteor shower.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addenda

October Evening Sky Chart

Star Chart for October 2017 (9 p.m. October 15, 2017). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EDT 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.

October Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for October 2017 mornings based on 6 a.m. October 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
• DraR is the Draconid meteor shower radiant.  Peaks on October 8th, but the Moon will interfere this year.
• OriR is the Orionid meteor shower radiant.  Peaks on October 21st with a zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of 20

Twilight

Evening nautical twilight ends at 8:29 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 7:40 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 9:03 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 8:14 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 6:09 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 6:07 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 6:43 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 6:42 a.m. EDT on the 31st.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

Oct 01  Su          Venus: 24.5° W
    01  Su 10:05 pm Moon Descending Node
    05  Th 12:15 pm Venus-Mars: 0.2° N
    05  Th  2:40 pm Full Moon (Harvest Moon)
    08  Su  4:33 pm Mercury Superior Conjunction with the Sun
    09  Mo  1:51 am Moon Perigee: 366,900 km
    09  Mo  2:05 pm Moon-Aldebaran: 0.6° S
    11  We  2:21 pm Moon North Dec.: 19.6° N
    12  Th  8:25 am Last Quarter
    13  Fr  4:29 pm Moon-Beehive: 3° N
    14  Sa  6:10 pm Moon Ascending Node
    15  Su  6:54 am Moon-Regulus: 0.2° S
    17  Tu  6:04 am Moon-Mars: 1.9° S
    17  Tu  8:21 pm Moon-Venus: 2.1° S
    19  Th  1:24 pm Uranus Opposition from the Sun
    19  Th  3:12 pm New Moon
    21  Sa  6:54 am Orionid Shower: ZHR = 20
    24  Tu  7:54 am Moon-Saturn: 3.6° S
    24  Tu 10:25 pm Moon Apogee: 405,200 km
    25  We  2:13 pm Moon South Dec.: 19.7° S
    26  Th  2:02 pm Jupiter Conjunction with the Sun
    27  Fr  6:22 pm First Quarter
    29  Su  2:41 pm Moon Descending Node
Nov 01  We          Venus: 16.8° W

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
October, 2017    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Sun  1| 07:41a  07:22p  11:41 | 08:25p  06:38a |      Set  04:00a   84%|
|Mon  2| 07:42a  07:20p  11:38 | 08:23p  06:39a |      Set  05:05a   91%|
|Tue  3| 07:43a  07:19p  11:35 | 08:22p  06:40a |      Set  06:12a   96%|
|Wed  4| 07:44a  07:17p  11:32 | 08:20p  06:41a |      Set  07:21a   99%|
|Thu  5| 07:45a  07:15p  11:29 | 08:18p  06:42a |Full  Rise 07:38p  100%|
|Fri  6| 07:47a  07:13p  11:26 | 08:16p  06:44a |      Rise 08:10p   98%|
|Sat  7| 07:48a  07:11p  11:23 | 08:14p  06:45a |      Rise 08:45p   93%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  8| 07:49a  07:10p  11:20 | 08:12p  06:46a |      Rise 09:25p   86%|
|Mon  9| 07:50a  07:08p  11:17 | 08:11p  06:47a |      Rise 10:09p   77%|
|Tue 10| 07:52a  07:06p  11:14 | 08:09p  06:49a |      Rise 11:01p   67%|
|Wed 11| 07:53a  07:04p  11:11 | 08:07p  06:50a |      Rise 11:59p   56%|
|Thu 12| 07:54a  07:02p  11:08 | 08:05p  06:51a |L Qtr Rise 01:02a   45%|
|Fri 13| 07:56a  07:01p  11:05 | 08:04p  06:52a |      Rise 02:08a   34%|
|Sat 14| 07:57a  06:59p  11:02 | 08:02p  06:54a |      Rise 03:16a   24%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 15| 07:58a  06:57p  10:59 | 08:00p  06:55a |      Rise 04:23a   15%|
|Mon 16| 07:59a  06:56p  10:56 | 07:59p  06:56a |      Rise 05:30a    8%|
|Tue 17| 08:01a  06:54p  10:53 | 07:57p  06:57a |      Rise 06:35a    4%|
|Wed 18| 08:02a  06:52p  10:50 | 07:56p  06:58a |      Rise 07:39a    1%|
|Thu 19| 08:03a  06:50p  10:47 | 07:54p  07:00a |New   Set  07:14p    0%|
|Fri 20| 08:05a  06:49p  10:44 | 07:52p  07:01a |      Set  07:43p    2%|
|Sat 21| 08:06a  06:47p  10:41 | 07:51p  07:02a |      Set  08:14p    5%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 22| 08:07a  06:46p  10:38 | 07:49p  07:03a |      Set  08:49p   10%|
|Mon 23| 08:09a  06:44p  10:35 | 07:48p  07:05a |      Set  09:27p   16%|
|Tue 24| 08:10a  06:42p  10:32 | 07:46p  07:06a |      Set  10:09p   24%|
|Wed 25| 08:11a  06:41p  10:29 | 07:45p  07:07a |      Set  10:56p   32%|
|Thu 26| 08:13a  06:39p  10:26 | 07:44p  07:08a |      Set  11:48p   41%|
|Fri 27| 08:14a  06:38p  10:23 | 07:42p  07:09a |F Qtr Set  12:44a   51%|
|Sat 28| 08:15a  06:36p  10:21 | 07:41p  07:11a |      Set  01:43a   60%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 29| 08:17a  06:35p  10:18 | 07:39p  07:12a |      Set  02:45a   70%|
|Mon 30| 08:18a  06:33p  10:15 | 07:38p  07:13a |      Set  03:51a   79%|
|Tue 31| 08:19a  06:32p  10:12 | 07:37p  07:14a |      Set  04:58a   87%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Ephemeris for Thursday, August 31st. The Sun will rise at 7:04. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 8:20. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 2:24 tomorrow morning.

Let’s look at the skies for the month of September. The sun will moving at its greatest speed in its retreat to the south. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will drop from 13 hours and 13 minutes tomorrow to 11 hours 44 minutes on the 30th. The altitude of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 54 degrees tomorrow, and will descend to 42 degrees on the 30th. The season of summer is getting short, so enjoy it while you can. Summer ends and autumn begins at 4:02 p.m. on September 22nd. We are losing Jupiter in the evening sky in September, but this month, but on the 12th Mercury will be at its greatest separation from the Sun in the morning sky and relatively easy to spot.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addenda

September Evening Sky Chart

Star Chart for September 2017 (10 p.m. September 15, 2017). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EDT 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 10 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.

September Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for September 2017 mornings based on 6 a.m. September 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

Evening nautical twilight ends at 9:28 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 8:31 p.m. EDT on the 30th.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 10:06 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 9:05 p.m. EDT on the 30th.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 5:26 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 6:07 a.m. EDT on the 30th.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 6:04 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 6:42 a.m. EDT on the 30th.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

Sep 01  Fr          Venus: 31.7° W
    01  Fr  2:10 am Venus-Beehive: 1.5° S
    04  Mo  2:41 pm Moon Descending Node
    05  Tu 12:18 am Neptune Opposition
    06  We  3:03 am Full Moon
    10  Su  1:30 am Mercury-Regulus: 0.7° S
    10  Su  5:39 pm Jupiter-Spica: 3.1° N
    12  Tu  5:59 am Mercury Elongation: 17.9° W
    12  Tu  8:09 am Moon-Aldebaran: 0.4° S
    13  We  2:25 am Last Quarter
    13  We 12:04 pm Moon Perigee: 369900 km
    14  Th  9:00 am Moon North Dec.: 19.4° N
    16  Sa 10:50 am Moon-Beehive: 3.2° N
    16  Sa  2:26 pm Mercury-Mars Conjunction: 0.1° N
    17  Su  2:28 pm Moon Ascending Node
    17  Su  8:56 pm Moon-Venus: 0.6° N
    18  Mo 12:32 am Moon-Regulus: 0.1° S
    19  Tu  5:30 pm Venus-Regulus: 0.5° N
    20  We  1:30 am New Moon
    22  Fr  3:51 am Moon-Jupiter: 4° S
    22  Fr  4:02 pm  Autumnal Equinox
    26  Tu  8:09 pm Moon-Saturn: 3.8° S
    27  We  2:49 am Moon Apogee: 404300 km
    27  We 10:54 pm First Quarter
    28  Th  6:06 am Moon South Dec.: 19.5° S
Oct 01  Su          Venus: 24.5° W

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.

August Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events

LU                Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
September, 2017    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Fri  1| 07:05a  08:18p  13:13 | 09:25p  05:59a |      Set  03:16a   82%|
|Sat  2| 07:06a  08:17p  13:10 | 09:23p  06:00a |      Set  04:13a   89%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  3| 07:07a  08:15p  13:07 | 09:21p  06:01a |      Set  05:13a   94%|
|Mon  4| 07:09a  08:13p  13:04 | 09:19p  06:03a |      Set  06:17a   98%|
|Tue  5| 07:10a  08:11p  13:01 | 09:17p  06:04a |      Set  07:22a  100%|
|Wed  6| 07:11a  08:09p  12:58 | 09:14p  06:05a |Full  Rise 08:38p   99%|
|Thu  7| 07:12a  08:07p  12:55 | 09:12p  06:07a |      Rise 09:08p   97%|
|Fri  8| 07:13a  08:06p  12:52 | 09:10p  06:08a |      Rise 09:39p   91%|
|Sat  9| 07:14a  08:04p  12:49 | 09:08p  06:09a |      Rise 10:11p   84%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 10| 07:16a  08:02p  12:46 | 09:06p  06:11a |      Rise 10:47p   75%|
|Mon 11| 07:17a  08:00p  12:43 | 09:04p  06:12a |      Rise 11:27p   64%|
|Tue 12| 07:18a  07:58p  12:40 | 09:02p  06:13a |      Rise 12:13a   53%|
|Wed 13| 07:19a  07:56p  12:37 | 09:00p  06:15a |L Qtr Rise 01:05a   42%|
|Thu 14| 07:20a  07:54p  12:34 | 08:58p  06:16a |      Rise 02:05a   31%|
|Fri 15| 07:21a  07:52p  12:30 | 08:56p  06:17a |      Rise 03:10a   21%|
|Sat 16| 07:23a  07:51p  12:27 | 08:54p  06:19a |      Rise 04:18a   12%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 17| 07:24a  07:49p  12:24 | 08:52p  06:20a |      Rise 05:27a    6%|
|Mon 18| 07:25a  07:47p  12:21 | 08:50p  06:21a |      Rise 06:36a    2%|
|Tue 19| 07:26a  07:45p  12:18 | 08:48p  06:22a |      Rise 07:43a    0%|
|Wed 20| 07:27a  07:43p  12:15 | 08:46p  06:24a |New   Set  08:17p    1%|
|Thu 21| 07:29a  07:41p  12:12 | 08:44p  06:25a |      Set  08:45p    4%|
|Fri 22| 07:30a  07:39p  12:09 | 08:42p  06:26a |      Set  09:14p    8%|
|Sat 23| 07:31a  07:37p  12:06 | 08:41p  06:28a |      Set  09:44p   15%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 24| 07:32a  07:35p  12:03 | 08:39p  06:29a |      Set  10:17p   22%|
|Mon 25| 07:33a  07:34p  12:00 | 08:37p  06:30a |      Set  10:52p   30%|
|Tue 26| 07:35a  07:32p  11:57 | 08:35p  06:31a |      Set  11:32p   39%|
|Wed 27| 07:36a  07:30p  11:54 | 08:33p  06:33a |F Qtr Set  12:16a   49%|
|Thu 28| 07:37a  07:28p  11:50 | 08:31p  06:34a |      Set  01:05a   58%|
|Fri 29| 07:38a  07:26p  11:47 | 08:29p  06:35a |      Set  01:59a   68%|
|Sat 30| 07:39a  07:24p  11:44 | 08:27p  06:36a |      Set  02:58a   76%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise