Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Friday, June 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 9:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:01. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 1:48 tomorrow morning.

Lets preview July’s skies. The sun, having reached its northern solstice, is beginning to slide southward again, at first imperceptibly, then with greater speed. The daylight hours will decrease from 15 hours and 29 minutes tomorrow to 14 hours 40 minutes at month’s end. The daylight hours will be slightly shorter south of Interlochen, and slightly longer to the north. The altitude of the sun at local noon, when the sun is due south will decrease from 68 degrees tomorrow to 63 degrees at month’s end. The sun will be a degree lower in the Straits area. Despite the warmth, the earth will reach its greatest distance from the sun late Monday. The planet Jupiter will descend lower and lower in the west as the month progresses.

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

Addenda

July Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for July 2017 (11 p.m. July 15, 2017). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 11 p.m. EDT in the evening and 4:30 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 11 p.m. and 4:30 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.

July Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for July 2017 mornings based on 4:30 a.m. July 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,
• Then follow the Spike to Spica
• The Summer Triangle is in red
• DAqr is the Delta Aquariid Meteor Shower radiant

Evening nautical twilight ends at 11:00 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 10:28 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 12:03 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 11:17 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 3:41 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 4:28 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 4:41 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 5:17 a.m. EDT on the 31st.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

Date        Time    Event
Jul 01  Sa          Venus: 43.7° W
    01  Sa  3:28 am Moon-Jupiter: 2.9° S
    03  Mo  8:59 pm Aphelion: 1.0167 AU
    04  Tu  8:21 pm Venus-Pleiades: 6.7° S
    06  Th 12:27 am Moon Apogee: 405900 km
    06  Th 11:34 pm Moon-Saturn: 3.6° S
    08  Sa  6:49 am Moon South Dec.: 19.4° S
    09  Su 12:07 am Full Moon
    09  Su  9:33 pm Mercury-Beehive: 0.1° N
    12  We  1:17 am Moon Descending Node
    13  Th  2:06 pm Venus-Aldebaran: 3.1° N
    16  Su  3:26 pm Last Quarter
    19  We  7:37 pm Moon-Aldebaran: 0.4° S
    20  Th  7:13 am Moon-Venus: 2.7° N
    21  Fr  1:09 pm Moon Perigee: 361200 km
    21  Fr  6:11 pm Moon North Dec.: 19.4° N
    23  Su  5:46 am New Moon
    24  Mo  8:47 pm Moon Ascending Node
    25  Tu  4:49 am Moon-Mercury: 0.9° S
    25  Tu  6:14 am Moon-Regulus: 0°
    25  Tu  1:07 pm Mercury-Regulus: 0.9° S
    26  We  7:59 pm Mars Conjunction
    27  Th 10:41 pm Delta Aquariid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 20
    28  Fr  4:15 pm Moon-Jupiter: 3.4° S
    29  Sa 11:59 pm Mercury Elongation: 27.2° E
    30  Su 11:23 am First Quarter
Aug 01  Tu       Venus: 38.4° 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.

July Rising and Setting Events

     LU                  Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
July, 2017    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Sat  1| 06:01a  09:32p  15:30 | 10:57p  04:35a |      Set  02:16a   60%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  2| 06:01a  09:31p  15:29 | 10:56p  04:36a |      Set  02:44a   69%|
|Mon  3| 06:02a  09:31p  15:29 | 10:56p  04:37a |      Set  03:13a   77%|
|Tue  4| 06:03a  09:31p  15:28 | 10:55p  04:38a |      Set  03:46a   85%|
|Wed  5| 06:03a  09:30p  15:27 | 10:55p  04:39a |      Set  04:22a   91%|
|Thu  6| 06:04a  09:30p  15:26 | 10:54p  04:39a |      Set  05:02a   96%|
|Fri  7| 06:05a  09:30p  15:24 | 10:54p  04:40a |      Set  05:48a   99%|
|Sat  8| 06:05a  09:29p  15:23 | 10:53p  04:41a |      Set  06:38a  100%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  9| 06:06a  09:29p  15:22 | 10:52p  04:43a |Full  Rise 09:45p   99%|
|Mon 10| 06:07a  09:28p  15:21 | 10:51p  04:44a |      Rise 10:25p   97%|
|Tue 11| 06:08a  09:28p  15:19 | 10:50p  04:45a |      Rise 11:00p   92%|
|Wed 12| 06:09a  09:27p  15:18 | 10:49p  04:46a |      Rise 11:32p   86%|
|Thu 13| 06:09a  09:26p  15:16 | 10:48p  04:47a |      Rise 12:03a   78%|
|Fri 14| 06:10a  09:26p  15:15 | 10:47p  04:48a |      Rise 12:32a   69%|
|Sat 15| 06:11a  09:25p  15:13 | 10:46p  04:49a |      Rise 01:02a   59%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 16| 06:12a  09:24p  15:12 | 10:45p  04:51a |L Qtr Rise 01:33a   48%|
|Mon 17| 06:13a  09:23p  15:10 | 10:44p  04:52a |      Rise 02:08a   37%|
|Tue 18| 06:14a  09:23p  15:08 | 10:43p  04:53a |      Rise 02:47a   26%|
|Wed 19| 06:15a  09:22p  15:06 | 10:42p  04:55a |      Rise 03:33a   16%|
|Thu 20| 06:16a  09:21p  15:04 | 10:41p  04:56a |      Rise 04:26a    8%|
|Fri 21| 06:17a  09:20p  15:02 | 10:39p  04:57a |      Rise 05:28a    3%|
|Sat 22| 06:18a  09:19p  15:00 | 10:38p  04:59a |      Rise 06:35a    0%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 23| 06:19a  09:18p  14:58 | 10:37p  05:00a |New   Set  09:31p    1%|
|Mon 24| 06:20a  09:17p  14:56 | 10:35p  05:01a |      Set  10:13p    3%|
|Tue 25| 06:21a  09:16p  14:54 | 10:34p  05:03a |      Set  10:49p    9%|
|Wed 26| 06:22a  09:15p  14:52 | 10:32p  05:04a |      Set  11:21p   16%|
|Thu 27| 06:23a  09:14p  14:50 | 10:31p  05:06a |      Set  11:50p   25%|
|Fri 28| 06:24a  09:13p  14:48 | 10:29p  05:07a |      Set  12:18a   34%|
|Sat 29| 06:25a  09:11p  14:45 | 10:28p  05:09a |      Set  12:46a   44%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 30| 06:27a  09:10p  14:43 | 10:26p  05:10a |F Qtr Set  01:15a   53%|
|Mon 31| 06:28a  09:09p  14:41 | 10:25p  05:12a |      Set  01:47a   63%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Above created using my LookingUp program for MS-DOS

Ephemeris for Thursday, June 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 9:20, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:59. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 2:49 tomorrow morning.

This is the 42nd anniversary of this program as we start our 43rd orbit of the Sun. Let’s take a look at June skies. There will be a lot of Sun this month. The daylight hours will increase a bit from 15 hours and 20 minutes today to 15 hours and 33 minutes on the 21st, retreating back to 15 hours 30 minutes at month’s end. At this time of the year the sunset times for Ludington, Interlochen, Petoskey and Mackinaw City are very nearly the same. However the sunrise times are at their most divergent. With Ludington’s sunrise being 14 minutes later than Mackinaw City’s. The altitude of the sun above the southern horizon on the solstice, June 21st will be 68 and three-quarters degrees in Interlochen. Summer will start at 12:25 a.m.

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

Addenda

June Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for June 2017 (11 p.m. June 15, 2017). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 11 p.m. EDT in the evening and 5 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 11 p.m. and 5 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.

June Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for June 2017 mornings based on 4:30 a.m. June 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,
• Then follow the Spike to Spica
• The Summer Triangle is in red

Evening nautical twilight ends at 10:47 p.m. EDT on the 1st, increasing to 11:00 p.m. EDT on the 30th.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 11:46 p.m. EDT on the 1st, increasing to 12:03 a.m. EDT on the 30th.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 3:42 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and changing to 3:37 a.m. EDT on the 30th.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 4:41 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and changing to 4:40 a.m. EDT on the 30th.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

 Date Time Event
Jun 01 Th          Venus: 45.8° W
    01 Th  8:42 am First Quarter
    03 Sa  6:59 am Venus Greatest Western Elongation: 45.9°
    03 Sa  7:57 am Moon-Jupiter: 2.5° S
    06 Tu 11:19 pm Mercury-Pleiades: 5.5° S
    08 Th  6:21 pm Moon Apogee: 406400 km
    09 Fr  9:10 am Full Moon
    09 Fr  9:25 pm Moon-Saturn: 3.4° S
    10 Sa 11:36 pm Moon South Dec.: 19.4° S
    14 We 10:40 pm Moon Descending Node
    15 Th  5:15 am Saturn Opposition
    17 Sa  7:33 am Last Quarter
    20 Tu  5:13 pm Moon-Venus: 2.4° N
    21 We 12:25 am Summer Solstice
    21 We  9:55 am Mercury Superior Conjunction with the Sun
    22 Th 10:23 am Moon-Aldebaran: 0.5° S
    23 Fr  6:49 am Moon Perigee: 357900 km
    23 Fr 10:31 am New Moon
    24 Sa  7:12 am Moon North Dec.: 19.4° N
    26 Mo  7:18 am Moon-Beehive: 3.2° N
    27 Tu 12:26 pm Moon Ascending Node
    27 Tu  8:26 pm Moon-Regulus: 0.1° N
    30 Fr  8:51 pm First Quarter
Jul 01 Sa          Venus: 43.7° W

June 2017 Calendar

LU                  Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
June, 2017    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Thu  1| 06:00a  09:21p  15:21 | 10:44p  04:37a |F Qtr Set  02:49a   55%|
|Fri  2| 05:59a  09:22p  15:22 | 10:46p  04:36a |      Set  03:18a   65%|
|Sat  3| 05:59a  09:23p  15:23 | 10:47p  04:35a |      Set  03:45a   74%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  4| 05:58a  09:23p  15:25 | 10:48p  04:34a |      Set  04:12a   82%|
|Mon  5| 05:58a  09:24p  15:26 | 10:49p  04:34a |      Set  04:40a   89%|
|Tue  6| 05:58a  09:25p  15:27 | 10:50p  04:33a |      Set  05:10a   94%|
|Wed  7| 05:57a  09:26p  15:28 | 10:50p  04:33a |      Set  05:44a   98%|
|Thu  8| 05:57a  09:26p  15:29 | 10:51p  04:32a |      Set  06:22a  100%|
|Fri  9| 05:57a  09:27p  15:30 | 10:52p  04:32a |Full  Rise 09:26p  100%|
|Sat 10| 05:57a  09:27p  15:30 | 10:53p  04:31a |      Rise 10:17p   98%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 11| 05:56a  09:28p  15:31 | 10:54p  04:31a |      Rise 11:03p   95%|
|Mon 12| 05:56a  09:28p  15:32 | 10:54p  04:31a |      Rise 11:45p   89%|
|Tue 13| 05:56a  09:29p  15:32 | 10:55p  04:30a |      Rise 12:23a   83%|
|Wed 14| 05:56a  09:29p  15:33 | 10:55p  04:30a |      Rise 12:57a   75%|
|Thu 15| 05:56a  09:30p  15:33 | 10:56p  04:30a |      Rise 01:29a   65%|
|Fri 16| 05:56a  09:30p  15:34 | 10:56p  04:30a |      Rise 01:59a   55%|
|Sat 17| 05:56a  09:31p  15:34 | 10:57p  04:30a |L Qtr Rise 02:29a   44%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 18| 05:56a  09:31p  15:34 | 10:57p  04:30a |      Rise 03:00a   34%|
|Mon 19| 05:56a  09:31p  15:34 | 10:57p  04:30a |      Rise 03:33a   23%|
|Tue 20| 05:57a  09:31p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:30a |      Rise 04:11a   14%|
|Wed 21| 05:57a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:30a |      Rise 04:54a    7%|
|Thu 22| 05:57a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:31a |      Rise 05:45a    2%|
|Fri 23| 05:57a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:31a |New   Set  09:01p    0%|
|Sat 24| 05:58a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:31a |      Set  10:03p    1%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 25| 05:58a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:32a |      Set  10:56p    5%|
|Mon 26| 05:58a  09:32p  15:33 | 10:58p  04:32a |      Set  11:41p   12%|
|Tue 27| 05:59a  09:32p  15:33 | 10:58p  04:33a |      Set  12:18a   20%|
|Wed 28| 05:59a  09:32p  15:32 | 10:58p  04:33a |      Set  12:51a   29%|
|Thu 29| 06:00a  09:32p  15:32 | 10:57p  04:34a |      Set  01:21a   39%|
|Fri 30| 06:00a  09:32p  15:31 | 10:57p  04:35a |F Qtr Set  01:49a   50%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Ephemeris for Monday, January 2nd. 2017.  The Sun will rise at 8:19.  It’ll be up for 8 hours and 54 minutes, setting at 5:14.  The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 10:00 this evening.

Let’s look ahead at the month of January. Today we will have out latest sunrise at 8:19.  That time will drop to 8:02 on the 31st.  Sunset times are already increasing, now at 5:14, will extend to 5:50 at month’s end, which will push the daylight hours to 9 hours 48 minutes by then.  The altitude of the Sun at local noon will increase from under 23 degrees today to 28 degrees at month’s end.  Tomorrow morning will see the peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower.  They will be best seen in the early morning and seem to come from near the handle of the Big Dipper, where possibly more than 60 meteors an hour might be seen.  On Wednesday we will reach our closest distance from the Sun of the year at 91.3 million miles.

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

Addendum

January Star Charts

Evening

Star Chart for January 2017 evenings. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

Morning

Star Chart for January 2017 mornings. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

Since the night time hours are long I’ve decided to add a morning star chart .

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
• QuadR is the Radiant of the Quadrantid meteor shower

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 increasing to 6:23 a.m. EST on the 31st.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 7:10 a.m. EST on the 1st, and Increasing to 6:57 a.m. EST on the 31st.

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
Jan 01  Su       Venus: 46.8° E
    02  Mo 04:20 Moon-Venus: 2° S
    02  Mo 13:14 Moon Descending Node
    03  Tu 01:47 Moon-Mars: 0.3° S
    03  Tu 09:10 Quadrantid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 120
    04  We 05:59 Perihelion: 0.9833 AU
    05  Th 14:47 First Quarter
    09  Mo 04:03 Mercury-Saturn: 6.7° N
    09  Mo 09:07 Moon-Aldebaran: 0.4° S
    10  Tu 01:07 Moon Perigee: 363200 km
    11  We 04:32 Moon North Dec.: 18.9° N
    12  Th 06:34 Full Moon
    12  Th 07:59 Venus Greatest Elongation: 47.1° East
    14  Sa 23:07 Moon-Regulus: 0.9° N
    15  Su 05:45 Moon Ascending Node
    19  Th 00:26 Moon-Jupiter: 3° S
    19  Th 04:59 Mercury Greatest Elongation: 24.1° West
    19  Th 17:14 Last Quarter
    21  Sa 19:14 Moon Apogee: 404900 km
    24  Tu 05:37 Moon-Saturn: 4° S
    25  We 06:59 Moon South Dec.: 18.9° S
    25  We 19:46 Moon-Mercury: 4° S
    27  Fr 19:07 New Moon
    29  Su 17:21 Moon Descending Node
    31  Tu 01:12 Jupiter-Spica: 3.5° N
    31  Tu 09:34 Moon-Venus: 4.2° N
    31  Tu 20:09 Moon-Mars: 2.4° N
Feb 01  We       Venus: 45.5° E

January 2017 Calendar

LU                  Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
January, 2017    Local time zone: EST
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Sun  1| 08:20a  05:13p  08:53 | 06:23p  07:09a |      Set  08:55p   13%|
|Mon  2| 08:20a  05:14p  08:54 | 06:24p  07:09a |      Set  10:00p   21%|
|Tue  3| 08:20a  05:15p  08:55 | 06:25p  07:10a |      Set  11:06p   31%|
|Wed  4| 08:20a  05:16p  08:56 | 06:26p  07:10a |      Set  12:14a   41%|
|Thu  5| 08:19a  05:17p  08:57 | 06:27p  07:10a |F Qtr Set  01:24a   52%|
|Fri  6| 08:19a  05:18p  08:58 | 06:28p  07:09a |      Set  02:35a   63%|
|Sat  7| 08:19a  05:19p  08:59 | 06:29p  07:09a |      Set  03:47a   74%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  8| 08:19a  05:20p  09:01 | 06:30p  07:09a |      Set  04:58a   83%|
|Mon  9| 08:19a  05:21p  09:02 | 06:31p  07:09a |      Set  06:07a   91%|
|Tue 10| 08:18a  05:22p  09:04 | 06:32p  07:09a |      Set  07:11a   97%|
|Wed 11| 08:18a  05:23p  09:05 | 06:33p  07:09a |      Set  08:07a  100%|
|Thu 12| 08:17a  05:25p  09:07 | 06:34p  07:08a |Full  Rise 06:04p  100%|
|Fri 13| 08:17a  05:26p  09:08 | 06:35p  07:08a |      Rise 07:12p   97%|
|Sat 14| 08:16a  05:27p  09:10 | 06:36p  07:08a |      Rise 08:20p   92%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 15| 08:16a  05:28p  09:12 | 06:37p  07:07a |      Rise 09:26p   85%|
|Mon 16| 08:15a  05:30p  09:14 | 06:38p  07:07a |      Rise 10:31p   77%|
|Tue 17| 08:15a  05:31p  09:16 | 06:39p  07:06a |      Rise 11:33p   68%|
|Wed 18| 08:14a  05:32p  09:18 | 06:40p  07:06a |      Rise 12:33a   59%|
|Thu 19| 08:13a  05:33p  09:20 | 06:42p  07:05a |L Qtr Rise 01:32a   49%|
|Fri 20| 08:13a  05:35p  09:22 | 06:43p  07:05a |      Rise 02:30a   40%|
|Sat 21| 08:12a  05:36p  09:24 | 06:44p  07:04a |      Rise 03:27a   31%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 22| 08:11a  05:37p  09:26 | 06:45p  07:03a |      Rise 04:23a   23%|
|Mon 23| 08:10a  05:39p  09:28 | 06:46p  07:03a |      Rise 05:18a   15%|
|Tue 24| 08:09a  05:40p  09:30 | 06:47p  07:02a |      Rise 06:09a    9%|
|Wed 25| 08:08a  05:42p  09:33 | 06:49p  07:01a |      Rise 06:57a    4%|
|Thu 26| 08:07a  05:43p  09:35 | 06:50p  07:00a |      Rise 07:41a    1%|
|Fri 27| 08:06a  05:44p  09:37 | 06:51p  07:00a |New   Set  05:43p    0%|
|Sat 28| 08:05a  05:46p  09:40 | 06:52p  06:59a |      Set  06:45p    1%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 29| 08:04a  05:47p  09:42 | 06:54p  06:58a |      Set  07:51p    4%|
|Mon 30| 08:03a  05:49p  09:45 | 06:55p  06:57a |      Set  08:58p   10%|
|Tue 31| 08:02a  05:50p  09:47 | 06:56p  06:56a |      Set  10:06p   17%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Ephemeris for Thursday, December 1st.  The Sun will rise at 8:00.  It’ll be up for 9 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 5:03.  The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 7:10 this evening.

Let’s look at this month of December.  The hours of daylight will change little except to be darker in the morning and lighter in the evenings.  In the Traverse City/Interlochen area sunset will change from 5:03 today, down to 5:02 and then advancing to 5:12 at the end of the month.  The earliest sunset will be around the 10th.  There is more movement in the sunrise times which will advance from 8 o’clock this morning to 8:20 on the 31st.Dec.  Winter will officially arrive at the winter solstice on the 21st at 5:45 a.m.  The noontime sun will dip from about 23 ½ degrees today to a bit less than 22 degrees above the southern horizon on that day.  Daylight hours will drop from 9 hours 3 minutes tomorrow to 8 hours and 48 minutes on the solstice.

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

Addendum

December Star Charts

Evening

Star Chart for December 2016. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

Morning

Star Chart for December 2016 mornings. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

Since the night time hours are lengthening I’ve decided to add a morning star chart .

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).  We start the month on daylight time (UT – 4 hours) then fall back to standard time (UT – 5 hours) on the 6th at 2 a.m.  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.

Evening nautical twilight ends at 6:12 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 6:22 p.m. EST on the 30th.

Morning nautical twilight starts at 6:51 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and drops an hour on the 6th, and then increases again to 7:09 a.m. EST on the 30th.

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 outlined in red.  Vega in Lyra (Lyr), Deneb in Cygnus (Cyg) and Altair in Aquila (Aql).
• GemR is the Geminid meteor shower radiant.

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.

    Date    Time     Event
Dec 01  Th           Venus: 43.2° E
    01  Th  2:56 pm  Moon South Dec.: 18.9° S
    03  Sa  7:34 am  Moon-Venus: 6.3° S
    05  Mo  5:39 am  Moon-Mars: 3.1° S
    06  Tu 12:35 pm  Moon Descending Node
    07  We  4:03 am  First Quarter
    10  Sa  6:03 am  Saturn Conjunction with the Sun
    10  Sa 10:59 pm  Mercury Greatest Elongation: 20.8° East
    12  Mo  6:27 pm  Moon Perigee: 358500 km
    12  Mo 11:14 pm  Moon-Aldebaran: 0.4° S
    13  Tu  6:57 pm  Geminid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 120
    13  Tu  7:05 pm  Full Moon (Super Moon)
    14  We  4:43 pm  Moon North Dec.: 18.9° N
    18  Su  1:14 pm  Moon-Regulus: 1.1° N
    18  Su 11:46 pm  Moon Ascending Node
    20  Tu  8:56 pm  Last Quarter
    21  We  5:45 am  Winter Solstice
    22  Th  3:00 am  Ursid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 10
    22  Th 11:37 am  Moon-Jupiter: 2.7° S
    25  Su 12:55 am  Moon Apogee: 405900 km
    28  We  1:41 pm  Mercury Inferior Conjunction
    28  We 10:30 pm  Moon South Dec.: 19° S
    29  Th  1:53 am  New Moon
Jan 01  Su           Venus: 46.8° E

Ephemeris for Tuesday, November 1st.  The Sun will rise at 8:21.  It’ll be up for 10 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 6:30.  The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 8:03 this evening.

The month of November is one early sunsets, especially with the return to standard time next Sunday, and shortening of day light hours.  Daylight hours will decrease from 10 hours 9 minutes today to 9 hours 4 minutes at month end.    The altitude of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon, which will drop from 31 degrees to 23½ degrees over the month.  Apparent local noon this month will be around 12:30 p.m. once the time change happens.  The sunset time on the 30th will be only 2 minutes later than the earliest sunset of the year.    The sunrise time on the 30th will have 22 minutes to go to the latest sunrise.  The Leonid meteor shower will have a peak on the 17th, but the bright Moon will interfere with it.

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

Addendum

November Star Charts

Evening

Evening Star Chart for November 2016. Created using my LookingUp program. To enlarge in Firefox right-click on image then click View image.

Morning

 

Since the night time hours are lengthening I’ve decided to add a morning star chart .

Morning Star Chart for November 2016. Created using my LookingUp program. To enlarge in Firefox right-click on image then click View image.

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).  We start the month on daylight time (UT – 4 hours) then fall back to standard time (UT – 5 hours) on the 6th at 2 a.m.  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.

Evening nautical twilight ends at 7:35 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 6:13 p.m. EST on the 30th.

Morning nautical twilight starts at 7:16 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and drops an hour on the 6th, and then increases again to 6:50 a.m. EST on the 30th.

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 outlined in red.  Vega in Lyra (Lyr), Deneb in Cygnus (Cyg) and Altair in Aquila (Aql).

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.

    Date    Time    Event
 Nov 01 Tu          Venus: 37.7° E
    02 We  2:38 pm Moon-Saturn: 4.1° S
    04 Fr  8:04 am Moon South Dec.: 18.7° S
    05 Sa 12:13 am South Taurid Shower: ZHR = 10
    06 Su  2:00 am Eastern Standard Tim starts
    07 Mo  2:51 pm First Quarter
    09 We 10:57 am Moon Descending Node
    11 Fr 11:29 pm North Taurid Shower: ZHR = 15
    14 Mo  6:23 am Moon Perigee: 356500 km
    14 Mo  8:52 am Full Moon (Super Moon)
    15 Tu 11:50 am Moon-Aldebaran: 0.4° S
    17 Th  4:32 am Moon North Dec.: 18.8° N
    17 Th  5:47 am Leonid Shower: ZHR = 15
    21 Mo  3:33 am Last Quarter
    21 Mo  5:08 am Moon-Regulus: 1.4° N
    21 Mo  9:48 pm Moon Ascending Node
    23 We  1:48 pm Mercury-Saturn: 3.4° N
    24 Th  8:47 pm Moon-Jupiter: 2.1° S
    27 Su  3:08 pm Moon Apogee: 406600 km
    29 Tu  7:18 am New Moon
Dec 01 Th          Venus: 43.2° E

Ephemeris for Friday, September 30th.  The Sun will rise at 7:40.  It’ll be up for 11 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 7:24.  The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.

Let’s look at the skies for the month of October.  The sun will still be moving south rapidly.  Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will drop from 11 hours and 41 minutes tomorrow to 10 hours, 12 minutes at month’s end..  The altitude of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 42 degrees tomorrow, and will descend to 31 degrees on Halloween, also in the Interlochen 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.  Sunrise times will increase from 7:41 tomorrow all the way to 8:20 a.m. in Interlochen and Traverse City on the 31st.  Sunset times will decrease from 7:22 p.m. tomorrow to 6:32 when the trick-or-treaters haunt our neighborhoods on Halloween.

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

Addendum

October Star Chart

Star Chart for October 2016. Created using my LookingUp program. To enlarge in Firefox right-click on image then click View image.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EDT.  That is chart time.  Note, Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian.  (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian.) To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1:45 earlier than the current time if you are near your time meridian.

Evening nautical twilight ends at 8:25 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 7:37 p.m. EDT on the 31st.

Morning nautical twilight starts at 6:38 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 7:15 a.m. EDT on the 31st.

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
• The Summer Triangle is outlined in red.  Vega in Lyra (Lyr), Deneb in Cygnus (Cyg) and Altair in Aquila (Aql).

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.

    Date    Time    Event
Oct 01  Sa          Venus: 30.9° E
    03  Mo  1:30 pm Moon-Venus: 5.6° S
    04  Tu  7:02 am Moon Apogee: 406100 km
    06  Th  4:04 am Moon-Saturn: 4.2° S
    08  Sa  2:03 am Moon South Dec.: 18.5° S
    09  Su 12:33 am First Quarter
    13  Th  5:43 am Moon Descending Node
    15  Sa  6:15 am Uranus Opposition
    16  Su 12:23 am Full Moon
    16  Su  7:36 pm Moon Perigee: 357900 km
    19  We  2:18 pm Moon-Aldebaran: 0.3° S
    20  Th  7:38 pm Moon North Dec.: 18.6° N
    21  Fr 12:45 am Orionid Shower: ZHR = 20
    22  Sa  3:14 pm Last Quarter
    25  Tu 12:01 am Moon-Regulus: 1.7° N
    25  Tu  9:45 pm Moon Ascending Node
    26  We  6:54 am Venus-Antares: 3.1° N
    27  Th 11:53 am Mercury Superior Conj.
    28  Fr  5:33 am Moon-Jupiter: 1.6° S
    29  Sa  9:47 pm Venus-Saturn: 3° N
    30  Su 12:38 pm New Moon
    31  Mo  2:29 pm Moon Apogee: 406700 km
Nov 01  Tu          Venus: 37.7° E