Archive
10/02/2017 – Ephemeris – Looking ahead at October skies
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
08/31/2017 – Ephemeris – Looking ahead at the month of September
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
08/01/2017 – Ephemeris – A look at the busy month of August in astronomy
Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 1st. The Sun rises at 6:29. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 38 minutes, setting at 9:07. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 2:21 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look ahead at the month of August in the skies. Daylight hours will decrease from 14 hours and 38 minutes today to 13 hours 16 minutes on the 31st. The altitude of the sun at local noon, that is degrees of angle above the horizon will decrease from 63 degrees today to just over 53 degrees on the 31st. The Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak on the evening of the 12th. However the bright waning gibbous moon will rise just after 11:30 for a very short dark sky viewing period. The big event this month will be the total solar eclipse that will be visible from all 50 of the United States and total for a narrow strip of land stretching from Oregon to South Carolina. That will occur on the afternoon of Monday the 21st.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
August Evening Star Chart
Star Chart for August 2017 (10 p.m. August 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 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 10 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.
August Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for August 2017 mornings based on 5 a.m. August 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
- PerR is the Perseid Meteor Shower radiant
Evening nautical twilight ends at 10:26 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 9:30 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 11:15 p.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 10:09 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 4:30 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 5:24 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 5:19 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 6:03 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
Date Time Event
Aug 01 Tu Venus: 38.4° W
02 We 1:55 pm Moon Apogee: 405000 km
03 Th 3:31 am Moon-Saturn: 3.8° S
04 Fr 2:17 pm Moon South Dec.: 19.4° S
07 Mo 2:11 pm Full Moon
07 Mo 2:22 pm Partial Lunar Eclipse (Not visible from here)
08 Tu 6:56 am Moon Descending Node
12 Sa 2:35 pm Perseid Shower: ZHR = 90
14 Mo 9:15 pm Last Quarter
16 We 2:39 am Moon-Aldebaran: 0.4° S
18 Fr 2:50 am Moon North Dec.: 19.4° N
18 Fr 9:14 am Moon Perigee: 366100 km
19 Sa 12:45 am Moon-Venus: 2.3° N
20 Su 3:15 am Moon-Beehive: 3.2° N
21 Mo 6:34 am Moon Ascending Node
21 Mo 2:26 pm Total Solar Eclipse
21 Mo 2:30 pm New Moon
25 Fr 9:00 am Moon-Jupiter: 3.7° S
26 Sa 4:32 pm Mercury Inferior Conj.
29 Tu 4:13 am First Quarter
30 We 7:25 am Moon Apogee: 404300 km
30 We 10:23 am Moon-Saturn: 3.9° S
31 Th 10:03 pm Moon South Dec.: 19.4° S
Sep 01 Fr Venus: 31.7° 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 Rising and Setting Events
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC August, 2017 Local time zone: EDT +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM | | | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN| +=======================================================================+ |Tue 1| 06:29a 09:08p 14:38 | 10:23p 05:13a | Set 02:21a 72%| |Wed 2| 06:30a 09:06p 14:36 | 10:21p 05:15a | Set 03:00a 80%| |Thu 3| 06:31a 09:05p 14:34 | 10:20p 05:16a | Set 03:43a 87%| |Fri 4| 06:32a 09:04p 14:31 | 10:18p 05:18a | Set 04:32a 93%| |Sat 5| 06:33a 09:02p 14:29 | 10:16p 05:19a | Set 05:26a 97%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 6| 06:34a 09:01p 14:26 | 10:15p 05:21a | Set 06:24a 99%| |Mon 7| 06:36a 09:00p 14:23 | 10:13p 05:22a |Full Rise 09:01p 100%| |Tue 8| 06:37a 08:58p 14:21 | 10:11p 05:24a | Rise 09:35p 98%| |Wed 9| 06:38a 08:57p 14:18 | 10:09p 05:25a | Rise 10:06p 95%| |Thu 10| 06:39a 08:55p 14:16 | 10:07p 05:27a | Rise 10:36p 89%| |Fri 11| 06:40a 08:54p 14:13 | 10:06p 05:28a | Rise 11:06p 81%| |Sat 12| 06:41a 08:52p 14:10 | 10:04p 05:30a | Rise 11:36p 72%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 13| 06:43a 08:51p 14:08 | 10:02p 05:31a | Rise 12:09a 62%| |Mon 14| 06:44a 08:49p 14:05 | 10:00p 05:33a |L Qtr Rise 12:46a 51%| |Tue 15| 06:45a 08:48p 14:02 | 09:58p 05:34a | Rise 01:28a 39%| |Wed 16| 06:46a 08:46p 13:59 | 09:56p 05:36a | Rise 02:16a 28%| |Thu 17| 06:47a 08:44p 13:57 | 09:54p 05:37a | Rise 03:13a 18%| |Fri 18| 06:49a 08:43p 13:54 | 09:52p 05:39a | Rise 04:16a 10%| |Sat 19| 06:50a 08:41p 13:51 | 09:50p 05:40a | Rise 05:24a 4%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 20| 06:51a 08:39p 13:48 | 09:48p 05:42a | Rise 06:35a 1%| |Mon 21| 06:52a 08:38p 13:45 | 09:47p 05:43a |New Set 08:44p 0%| |Tue 22| 06:53a 08:36p 13:42 | 09:45p 05:44a | Set 09:18p 2%| |Wed 23| 06:54a 08:34p 13:39 | 09:43p 05:46a | Set 09:49p 6%| |Thu 24| 06:56a 08:33p 13:37 | 09:41p 05:47a | Set 10:18p 12%| |Fri 25| 06:57a 08:31p 13:34 | 09:39p 05:49a | Set 10:46p 20%| |Sat 26| 06:58a 08:29p 13:31 | 09:37p 05:50a | Set 11:15p 28%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 27| 06:59a 08:27p 13:28 | 09:35p 05:52a | Set 11:46p 37%| |Mon 28| 07:00a 08:26p 13:25 | 09:33p 05:53a | Set 12:19a 47%| |Tue 29| 07:01a 08:24p 13:22 | 09:31p 05:54a |F Qtr Set 12:56a 56%| |Wed 30| 07:03a 08:22p 13:19 | 09:29p 05:56a | Set 01:38a 65%| |Thu 31| 07:04a 08:20p 13:16 | 09:27p 05:57a | Set 02:24a 74%| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ * Nautical Twilight ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise
06/30/2017 – Ephemeris – A look ahead at the month of July
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
06/01/2017 – Ephemeris – A look ahead at the month of June
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
05/01/2017 – Ephemeris – Previewing May 2017 Skies
Ephemeris for Monday, May 1st. The Sun rises at 6:32. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 8:47. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 2:24 tomorrow morning.
Today starts the month of May when the promise of spring is finally fulfilled. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area will increase from 14 hours and 15 minutes today to 15 hours 19 minutes on the 31st. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will ascend from 61 degrees now to 67 degrees at month’s end. The altitude of the sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower than that but your daylight hours will be a few minutes longer. Local apparent noon this month, when the sun passes due south, will be about 1:38 p.m.
This is the month of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower which will reach its peak this Thursday and Friday. There will be dark skies around 5 a.m. to see the meteors coming from the southeast.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
May Evening Star Chart
Evening Star Chart for May 2017 (11 p.m. May 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.
May Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for May 2017 mornings based on 5 a.m. May 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
- The Eta Aquariid meteor shower radiant is in yellow and marked EAqR is active from April 19th to May 28th and peaks May 6th. Zenithal Hourly Rate at peak is expected to be 50, though considerably less than that is expected due to its radiant’s low position in our skies. Data from the International Meteor Organization 2017 calendar.
Evening nautical twilight ends at 10:02 p.m. EDT on the 1st, increasing to 10:46 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 10:47 p.m. EDT on the 1st, increasing to 11:44 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 4:40 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 3:44 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 5:24 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and Increasing to 4:42 a.m. EDT 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 for Michigan, US
Date Time Event May 01 Mo Venus: 39.9° W 02 Tu 2:23 pm Moon-Beehive: 3.7° N 02 Tu 10:47 pm First Quarter 04 Th 5:49 am Moon-Regulus: 0.6° N 04 Th 6:42 am Moon Ascending Node 04 Th 10:54 pm Eta Aquariid Shower: ZHR = 60 05 Fr 9:51 am Mars-Aldebaran: 6.2° N 07 Su 5:24 pm Moon-Jupiter: 2.3° S 10 We 5:43 pm Full Moon 12 Fr 3:51 pm Moon Apogee: 406200 km 13 Sa 7:07 pm Moon-Saturn: 3.4° S 14 Su 4:29 pm Moon South Dec.: 19.3° S 17 We 6:59 pm Mercury Elongation: 25.8° W 18 Th 8:33 pm Last Quarter 18 Th 9:30 pm Moon Descending Node 22 Mo 8:32 am Moon-Venus: 2.4° N 23 Tu 9:20 pm Moon-Mercury: 1.6° N 25 Th 3:44 pm New Moon 25 Th 9:23 pm Moon Perigee: 357200 km 27 Sa 7:36 pm Moon North Dec.: 19.4° N 29 Mo 9:50 pm Moon-Beehive: 3.4° N 31 We 7:56 am Moon Ascending Node 31 We 12:08 pm Moon-Regulus: 0.3° N Jun 01 Th Venus: 45.8° W
May 2017 Calendar
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC May, 2017 Local time zone: EDT +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM | | | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN| +=======================================================================+ |Mon 1| 06:32a 08:48p 14:15 | 10:00p 05:20a | Set 02:24a 38%| |Tue 2| 06:30a 08:49p 14:18 | 10:02p 05:18a |F Qtr Set 03:07a 49%| |Wed 3| 06:29a 08:50p 14:21 | 10:03p 05:16a | Set 03:43a 59%| |Thu 4| 06:28a 08:51p 14:23 | 10:05p 05:15a | Set 04:16a 70%| |Fri 5| 06:26a 08:52p 14:26 | 10:06p 05:13a | Set 04:45a 78%| |Sat 6| 06:25a 08:54p 14:28 | 10:08p 05:11a | Set 05:12a 86%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 7| 06:24a 08:55p 14:31 | 10:09p 05:09a | Set 05:39a 92%| |Mon 8| 06:22a 08:56p 14:33 | 10:11p 05:08a | Set 06:07a 97%| |Tue 9| 06:21a 08:57p 14:36 | 10:13p 05:06a | Set 06:36a 99%| |Wed 10| 06:20a 08:58p 14:38 | 10:14p 05:04a |Full Rise 08:45p 100%| |Thu 11| 06:18a 09:00p 14:41 | 10:16p 05:03a | Rise 09:42p 99%| |Fri 12| 06:17a 09:01p 14:43 | 10:17p 05:01a | Rise 10:38p 96%| |Sat 13| 06:16a 09:02p 14:45 | 10:19p 05:00a | Rise 11:30p 91%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 14| 06:15a 09:03p 14:48 | 10:20p 04:58a | Rise 12:19a 85%| |Mon 15| 06:14a 09:04p 14:50 | 10:22p 04:57a | Rise 01:03a 78%| |Tue 16| 06:13a 09:05p 14:52 | 10:23p 04:55a | Rise 01:44a 70%| |Wed 17| 06:12a 09:06p 14:54 | 10:25p 04:54a | Rise 02:21a 60%| |Thu 18| 06:11a 09:08p 14:56 | 10:26p 04:52a |L Qtr Rise 02:54a 50%| |Fri 19| 06:10a 09:09p 14:58 | 10:28p 04:51a | Rise 03:26a 40%| |Sat 20| 06:09a 09:10p 15:00 | 10:29p 04:50a | Rise 03:57a 30%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 21| 06:08a 09:11p 15:02 | 10:30p 04:48a | Rise 04:28a 20%| |Mon 22| 06:07a 09:12p 15:04 | 10:32p 04:47a | Rise 05:02a 12%| |Tue 23| 06:06a 09:13p 15:06 | 10:33p 04:46a | Rise 05:38a 5%| |Wed 24| 06:05a 09:14p 15:08 | 10:35p 04:45a | Rise 06:20a 1%| |Thu 25| 06:04a 09:15p 15:10 | 10:36p 04:44a |New Set 09:04p 0%| |Fri 26| 06:04a 09:16p 15:12 | 10:37p 04:42a | Set 10:16p 2%| |Sat 27| 06:03a 09:17p 15:13 | 10:39p 04:41a | Set 11:21p 7%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 28| 06:02a 09:18p 15:15 | 10:40p 04:40a | Set 12:18a 15%| |Mon 29| 06:02a 09:19p 15:17 | 10:41p 04:39a | Set 01:05a 24%| |Tue 30| 06:01a 09:19p 15:18 | 10:42p 04:38a | Set 01:45a 34%| |Wed 31| 06:00a 09:20p 15:19 | 10:43p 04:38a | Set 02:19a 44%| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ * Nautical Twilight ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise
03/31/2017 – Ephemeris – Previewing April Skies
Ephemeris for Friday, March 31st. The Sun will rise at 7:24. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 8:09. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 12:35 tomorrow morning.
The second quarter of the year begins with April Fools Day tomorrow. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 12 hours and 47 minutes tomorrow to 14 hours 12 minutes on April 30th as spring really takes hold. The altitude, or angle, of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 50 degrees tomorrow and will ascend to 60 degrees on April 30th. The altitude of the sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower. The actual time of local apparent noon this month for the Interlochen/Traverse City area, when the sun passes due south, will be about 1:43 p.m. Jupiter will reach opposition from the Sun this month, and be a great planet to view in a telescope all night long.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
April Evening Star Chart
Star Chart for April 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 5 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the 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.
April Morning Chart
Star Chart for April 2017 mornings. 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
- Straighten to a spike to Spica
- The Summer Triangle is in red
- The Lyrid meteor shower radiant is in yellow and marked LyrR
Evening nautical twilight ends at 9:17 p.m. EDT on the 1st, increasing to 10:01 p.m. EDT on the 30th.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 9:54 p.m. EDT on the 1st, increasing to 10:45 p.m. EDT on the 30th.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 5:46 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 4:42 a.m. EDT on the 30th.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 6:23 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and Increasing to 5:26 a.m. EDT on the 30th.
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 Apr 01 Sa Venus: 13.4° W 01 Sa 04:49 Moon-Aldebaran: 0.3° S 01 Sa 05:59 Mercury Greatest Eastern Elongation: 19° 03 Mo 02:12 Moon North Dec.: 19° N 03 Mo 14:39 First Quarter 05 We 08:45 Moon-Beehive: 4° N 07 Fr 00:30 Moon-Regulus: 0.8° N 07 Fr 05:14 Moon Ascending Node 07 Fr 16:58 Jupiter Opposition from the Sun 10 Mo 17:20 Moon-Jupiter: 2.4° S 11 Tu 02:08 Full Moon 14 Fr 01:43 Uranus Conjunction with the Sun 15 Sa 06:05 Moon Apogee: 405500 km 16 Su 14:39 Moon-Saturn: 3.6° S 17 Mo 09:12 Moon South Dec.: 19.1° S 19 We 05:57 Last Quarter 20 Th 01:46 Mercury Inferior Conjunction with the Sun 21 Fr 04:16 Mars-Pleiades: 3.5° S 21 Fr 18:30 Moon Descending Node 22 Sa 07:40 Lyrid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 20 23 Su 13:59 Moon-Venus: 5.3° N 26 We 08:16 New Moon 27 Th 12:18 Moon Perigee: 359300 km 28 Fr 13:20 Moon-Aldebaran: 0.5° S 30 Su 09:33 Moon North Dec.: 19.2° N May 01 Mo Venus: 39.9° W
April 2017 Calendar
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC April, 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| 07:23a 08:10p 12:47 | 09:15p 06:18a | Set 01:43a 30%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 2| 07:21a 08:12p 12:50 | 09:16p 06:16a | Set 02:44a 41%| |Mon 3| 07:19a 08:13p 12:53 | 09:18p 06:14a |F Qtr Set 03:38a 53%| |Tue 4| 07:17a 08:14p 12:56 | 09:19p 06:12a | Set 04:25a 63%| |Wed 5| 07:15a 08:15p 12:59 | 09:21p 06:10a | Set 05:05a 74%| |Thu 6| 07:14a 08:17p 13:02 | 09:22p 06:08a | Set 05:40a 82%| |Fri 7| 07:12a 08:18p 13:06 | 09:24p 06:06a | Set 06:11a 90%| |Sat 8| 07:10a 08:19p 13:09 | 09:25p 06:04a | Set 06:40a 95%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 9| 07:08a 08:20p 13:12 | 09:27p 06:02a | Set 07:08a 98%| |Mon 10| 07:06a 08:21p 13:15 | 09:28p 06:00a | Set 07:36a 100%| |Tue 11| 07:05a 08:23p 13:18 | 09:29p 05:58a |Full Rise 08:54p 99%| |Wed 12| 07:03a 08:24p 13:21 | 09:31p 05:56a | Rise 09:54p 97%| |Thu 13| 07:01a 08:25p 13:24 | 09:32p 05:54a | Rise 10:52p 93%| |Fri 14| 06:59a 08:26p 13:27 | 09:34p 05:52a | Rise 11:49p 87%| |Sat 15| 06:58a 08:28p 13:30 | 09:35p 05:50a | Rise 12:43a 80%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 16| 06:56a 08:29p 13:33 | 09:37p 05:48a | Rise 01:34a 72%| |Mon 17| 06:54a 08:30p 13:36 | 09:38p 05:46a | Rise 02:22a 64%| |Tue 18| 06:52a 08:31p 13:39 | 09:40p 05:44a | Rise 03:05a 54%| |Wed 19| 06:51a 08:33p 13:41 | 09:41p 05:42a |L Qtr Rise 03:45a 44%| |Thu 20| 06:49a 08:34p 13:44 | 09:43p 05:40a | Rise 04:21a 34%| |Fri 21| 06:47a 08:35p 13:47 | 09:44p 05:39a | Rise 04:55a 25%| |Sat 22| 06:46a 08:36p 13:50 | 09:46p 05:37a | Rise 05:27a 16%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 23| 06:44a 08:38p 13:53 | 09:48p 05:35a | Rise 05:59a 9%| |Mon 24| 06:43a 08:39p 13:56 | 09:49p 05:33a | Rise 06:33a 3%| |Tue 25| 06:41a 08:40p 13:59 | 09:51p 05:31a | Rise 07:08a 1%| |Wed 26| 06:39a 08:41p 14:01 | 09:52p 05:29a |New Set 09:01p 1%| |Thu 27| 06:38a 08:43p 14:04 | 09:54p 05:27a | Set 10:16p 4%| |Fri 28| 06:36a 08:44p 14:07 | 09:55p 05:25a | Set 11:29p 9%| |Sat 29| 06:35a 08:45p 14:10 | 09:57p 05:23a | Set 12:35a 17%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 30| 06:33a 08:46p 14:13 | 09:58p 05:22a | Set 01:34a 27%| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ * Nautical Twilight ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise
02/28/2017 – Ephemeris – Previewing the skies of March 2017
Ephemeris for Fat Tuesday, February 28th. The Sun will rise at 7:21. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 6:29. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 9:03 this evening.
Let’s preview the month of March which begins tomorrow. In March the increase in daylight hours is at its greatest, with Spring 3 weeks away. Daylight hours will increase from 11 hours and 11 minutes tomorrow to 12 hours and 44 minutes on the 31st. Along with that the altitude of the sun at local noon will increase from 38 degrees today to 49 ½ degrees at month’s end. The big astronomical event of this month will be a near grazing occultation of the bright star Aldebaran by the Moon. Aldebaran is the bright star in the face of Taurus the bull. This will occur just after 11 p.m. Saturday night the 4th. The southern half of the IPR listening area will be able to see it. See bobmoler.wordpress.com for more information.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
March Star Charts
Evening
Star Chart for March 2017. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
Morning
Star Chart for March 2017 mornings. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EDT, 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.
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 7:32 p.m. EST on the 1st, increasing to 9:16 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 8:06 p.m. EST on the 1st, increasing to 9:53 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 5:43 a.m. EST on the 1st, and increasing to 5:48 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 6:17 a.m. EST on the 1st, and Increasing to 6:25 a.m. EDT 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 Mar 01 We Venus: 32.5° E 01 We 1:58 am Moon-Mars: 4.4° N 01 We 9:22 pm Neptune Conjunction 03 Fr 2:24 am Moon Perigee: 369100 km 04 Sa 9:38 pm Moon-Aldebaran: 0.2° S Occultation! 05 Su 6:32 am First Quarter 06 Mo 7:08 pm Mercury Superior Conjunction with the Sun 06 Mo 7:43 pm Moon North Dec.: 18.9° N 10 Fr 5:20 pm Moon-Regulus: 0.9° N 10 Fr 11:17 pm Moon Ascending Node 12 Su 2:00 am Daylight Saving Time starts (Spring Forward) 12 Su 10:54 am Full Moon 14 Tu 4:04 pm Moon-Jupiter: 2.7° S 18 Sa 1:25 pm Moon Apogee: 404700 km 20 Mo 6:29 am Vernal Equinox. Spring starts 20 Mo 6:49 am Moon-Saturn: 3.8° S 20 Mo 11:58 am Last Quarter 21 Tu 1:22 am Moon South Dec.: 18.9° S 25 Sa 6:31 am Venus Inferior Conjunction with the Sun 25 Sa 11:41 am Moon Descending Node 27 Mo 10:57 pm New Moon 30 Th 8:39 am Moon Perigee: 363900 km Apr 01 Sa Venus: 13.4° W
March 2017 Calendar
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC March, 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| 07:19a 06:30p 11:11 | 07:34p 06:16a | Set 10:15p 14%| |Thu 2| 07:18a 06:32p 11:14 | 07:35p 06:15a | Set 11:26p 23%| |Fri 3| 07:16a 06:33p 11:17 | 07:36p 06:13a | Set 12:37a 33%| |Sat 4| 07:14a 06:34p 11:20 | 07:37p 06:11a | Set 01:45a 44%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 5| 07:12a 06:36p 11:23 | 07:39p 06:09a |F Qtr Set 02:50a 56%| |Mon 6| 07:11a 06:37p 11:26 | 07:40p 06:08a | Set 03:48a 67%| |Tue 7| 07:09a 06:38p 11:29 | 07:41p 06:06a | Set 04:40a 77%| |Wed 8| 07:07a 06:40p 11:32 | 07:43p 06:04a | Set 05:25a 86%| |Thu 9| 07:05a 06:41p 11:35 | 07:44p 06:02a | Set 06:04a 92%| |Fri 10| 07:03a 06:42p 11:38 | 07:45p 06:00a | Set 06:38a 97%| |Sat 11| 07:02a 06:44p 11:42 | 07:47p 05:59a | Set 07:09a 100%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ | EDT | Time Change | | | |Sun 12| 08:00a 07:45p 11:45 | 08:48p 06:57a |Full Rise 08:00p 100%| |Mon 13| 07:58a 07:46p 11:48 | 08:49p 06:55a | Rise 09:03p 98%| |Tue 14| 07:56a 07:47p 11:51 | 08:51p 06:53a | Rise 10:05p 94%| |Wed 15| 07:54a 07:49p 11:54 | 08:52p 06:51a | Rise 11:05p 89%| |Thu 16| 07:52a 07:50p 11:57 | 08:53p 06:49a | Rise 12:04a 82%| |Fri 17| 07:51a 07:51p 12:00 | 08:55p 06:47a | Rise 01:01a 74%| |Sat 18| 07:49a 07:53p 12:03 | 08:56p 06:46a | Rise 01:57a 66%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 19| 07:47a 07:54p 12:07 | 08:57p 06:44a | Rise 02:50a 56%| |Mon 20| 07:45a 07:55p 12:10 | 08:59p 06:42a |L Qtr Rise 03:40a 47%| |Tue 21| 07:43a 07:56p 12:13 | 09:00p 06:40a | Rise 04:27a 37%| |Wed 22| 07:41a 07:58p 12:16 | 09:01p 06:38a | Rise 05:09a 28%| |Thu 23| 07:39a 07:59p 12:19 | 09:03p 06:36a | Rise 05:48a 19%| |Fri 24| 07:38a 08:00p 12:22 | 09:04p 06:34a | Rise 06:24a 12%| |Sat 25| 07:36a 08:01p 12:25 | 09:05p 06:32a | Rise 06:58a 6%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 26| 07:34a 08:03p 12:28 | 09:07p 06:30a | Rise 07:31a 2%| |Mon 27| 07:32a 08:04p 12:32 | 09:08p 06:28a |New Set 07:43p 0%| |Tue 28| 07:30a 08:05p 12:35 | 09:10p 06:26a | Set 08:56p 1%| |Wed 29| 07:28a 08:06p 12:38 | 09:11p 06:24a | Set 10:10p 5%| |Thu 30| 07:26a 08:08p 12:41 | 09:12p 06:22a | Set 11:24p 11%| |Fri 31| 07:25a 08:09p 12:44 | 09:14p 06:20a | Set 12:36a 20%| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ * Nautical Twilight ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset
Grazing Occultation of Aldebaran March 4 or 5, 2017 (Depending on your location)
Path of the occultation of Aldebaran for March 4-5, 2017. Note where the top edge of the path goes. Right through northern Michigan.
Here’s the line where the limit of the occultation passes in northwestern lower Michigan. Occult4 kml file plotted on Google Earth.
The central time of the occultation is 11:13 p.m. Start viewing the Moon before 11 p.m. The farther south one is of the line the earlier the occultation starts and the longer it lasts. I’ll have lots more information in Thursday’s post.
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
01/02/2017 – Ephemeris – Looking ahead at January 2017
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
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