Archive
11/02/2015 – Ephemeris – Previewing November Skies
Ephemeris for Monday, November 2nd. The Sun will rise at 7:21. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 5:30. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 11:27 this evening.
November snuck up on us yesterday with the time change and everything. So let’s reconnoiter and look what November will bring us in the skies. The time change back to standard time set us back an hour on sunrise and sunset times, so it’s brighter in the morning and darker in the evening. Out east in New York, the Sun is already setting before 5 p.m. It will never set that early here. The Sun is up for 10 hours 8 minutes today and that will dwindle down to 9 hours and 5 minutes at month’s end. The Sun reaches 30 and a half angular degrees above the southern horizon at local apparent solar noon, which is 12:25 p.m. today. We will officially lose Saturn as the evening planet later this month, but it’s all but invisible now. Venus, Jupiter and Mars are seen in the morning.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Star Chart for November 2015. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST. That is chart time. Note, Traverse City is located 45 minutes behind our time meridian. To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 7:10 p.m. EST on November 1st, decreasing to 6:48 p.m. EST on the 30th.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 5:41 a.m. EST on November 1st, and increasing to 6:14 a.m. EST on the 30th.
Add a half hour to the chart time every week before the 15th and subtract and 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.
- The Summer Triangle is shown in red.
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 Daylight Time on a 24 hour clock. Some additions made to aid clarity.
Conjunctions like the Venus-Regulus: 2.5° S means Venus will appear 2.5° South of Regulus.
Date Local Event
Time EST
Nov 01 Su Venus: 46.3° W
03 Tu 2:20 a.m. Venus-Mars: 0.7° N
03 Tu 7:24 a.m. Last Quarter
05 Th 6:04 p.m. South Taurid Shower: ZHR = 10
06 Fr 10:49 a.m. Moon-Jupiter: 2.5° N
07 Sa 4:56 a.m. Moon-Mars: 2° N
07 Sa 8:54 a.m. Moon-Venus: 1.4° N
07 Sa 10:53 a.m. Moon Ascending Node
07 Sa 4:48 p.m. Moon Apogee: 405700 km
11 We 12:47 p.m. New Moon
12 Th 5:20 p.m. North Taurid Shower: ZHR = 15
14 Sa 7:39 p.m. Moon South Dec.: 18.3° S
17 Tu 9:45 a.m. Mercury Superior Conj.
17 Tu 11:38 p.m. Leonid Shower: ZHR = 15
19 Th 1:27 a.m. First Quarter
21 Sa 8:56 a.m. Moon Descending Node
23 Mo 3:06 p.m. Moon Perigee: 362800 km
25 We 5:44 p.m. Full Moon
26 Th 4:33 a.m. Moon-Aldebaran: 0.7° S Occultation*
27 Fr 3:13 p.m. Moon North Dec.: 18.4° N
29 Su 2:20 p.m. Venus-Spica: 4.2° N
29 Su 6:31 p.m. Saturn Conjunction with the Sun
Dec 01 Tu Venus: 43.3° W
* The occultation will be visible in northern US, Canada, eastern Siberia. In the Grand Traverse area of Michigan the occultation starts around 5:38 a.m. and ends arpund 6:29 a.m. Note that the actual time depends on your exact location.
The Occultation map is here.
10/01/2015 – Previewing the month of October
Ephemeris for Thursday, October 1st. The Sun will rise at 7:40. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 43 minutes, setting at 7:23. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:04 this evening.
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 will drop from 11 hours and 43 minutes today to 10 hours 14 minutes on the 31st. 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. in Interlochen. The planet Saturn will become harder to spot by the end of the month. After that the evening sky will be devoid of bright planets for many months. The outer planets Uranus and Neptune will be available for the telescope.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Star Chart for October 2015. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 8 p.m. EDT. That is chart time. Note, Traverse City is located 1 hour 45 minutes behind our time meridian. To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 9 p.m. EDT on October 1st, decreasing to 8:11 p.m. EDT on the 31st..
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 6:02 a.m. EDT on October 1st, and increasing to 6:40 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Add a half hour to the chart time every week before the 15th and subtract and hour for every week after the 15th.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
The green pointer from the Big Dipper is:
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle to Arcturus.
- The Summer Triangle is shown in red.
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 Daylight Time on a 24 hour clock. Some additions made to aid clarity.
Conjunctions like the Venus-Regulus: 2.5° S means Venus will appear 2.5° South of Regulus.
| Oct | 01 | Th | Venus: 43.6° W | |
| 02 | Fr | 08:51 | Moon-Aldebaran: 0.5° S, Occultation* | |
| 03 | Sa | 19:55 | Moon North Dec.: 18.1° N | |
| 04 | Su | 17:06 | Last Quarter | |
| 08 | Th | 16:32 | Moon-Venus: 0.8° N | |
| 08 | Th | 20:26 | Venus-Regulus: 2.5° S | |
| 09 | Fr | 12:51 | Moon-Mars: 3.8° N | |
| 09 | Fr | 19:30 | Moon-Jupiter: 3° N | |
| 11 | Su | 06:54 | Moon Ascending Node | |
| 11 | Su | 09:17 | Moon Apogee: 406400 km | |
| 11 | Su | 23:14 | Uranus Opposition | |
| 12 | Mo | 20:06 | New Moon | |
| 15 | Th | 22:59 | Mercury Elongation: 18.1° W | |
| 16 | Fr | 09:20 | Moon-Saturn: 3.2° S | |
| 17 | Sa | 17:01 | Mars-Jupiter: 0.4° N | |
| 18 | Su | 14:31 | Moon South Dec.: 18.2° S | |
| 20 | Tu | 16:31 | First Quarter | |
| 21 | We | 18:35 | Orionid Shower: ZHR = 20 | |
| 25 | Su | 03:36 | Moon Descending Node | |
| 25 | Su | 17:40 | Venus-Jupiter: 1° N | |
| 26 | Mo | 01:59 | Venus Elongation: 46.4° W | |
| 26 | Mo | 07:59 | Moon Perigee: 358500 km | |
| 27 | Tu | 07:05 | Full Moon | |
| 29 | Th | 17:45 | Moon-Aldebaran: 0.6° S, occultation** | |
| 31 | Sa | 04:02 | Moon North Dec.: 18.2° N | |
| Nov | 01 | Su | Venus: 46.3° W |
| * Visible in N. Pacific and Alaska in the US. During the daytime in the rest of the US except Hawai’i. Check it out here.
** Visible in Europe, parts of northern Africa and western Asia. Check it out here. |
09/01/2015 – Ephemeris – Previewing September – Part 2: Total Lunar Eclipse
Ephemeris for Tuesday, September 1st. The Sun will rise at 7:04. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 8:19. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 10:07 this evening.
Today in part 2 of the September preview we look ahead at this month’s total lunar eclipse on Sunday evening the 27th. This is the last of four total lunar eclipses in a row that started last year April, continuing last October and this April. Only this past April’s eclipse was visible in clear skies here, but all we could see was the beginning partial phase from here. We will get to see, clouds willing, the whole eclipse between 9 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. Lunar eclipses only can occur at full moon, when the Sun, Earth and Moon are lined up so that the Earth’s shadow falls on the Moon. The Moon will be completely immersed in the Earth’s shadow for over an hour then. You can mark it on your calendars, but I will be reminding you about it all the week before.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The following is my article from September’s newsletter of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society the Stellar Sentinel. Note as with the above tines, the times here are Eastern Daylight Time.
The Last of a Quartet of Lunar Eclipses
The last of a quartet or tetrad of consecutive total lunar eclipses will occur Sunday night September 27th. The others were either clouded out or started too late for totality to be visible from here. We are hoping for good weather for this one.
Lunar eclipses or eclipses of the Moon, as these events are also called, only occur at full moon when the Earth’s shadow is cast upon the Moon. Unlike a solar eclipse, of which the partial phases are dangerous to gaze upon without special protection, a lunar eclipse is perfectly safe to view throughout.
How lunar eclipses occur. Credit NASA/Fred Espenak.
There are three kinds of lunar eclipses or phases of lunar eclipses: penumbral, partial, and total. A total eclipse passes through all three phases. In the penumbra the Sun’s light is increasingly cut off from the outside to the inside of the shadow called the umbra, where all direct sunlight is cut off. Depending on the path of the Moon, it can cut through only the penumbra, in which the eclipse is barely noticeable, a penumbral eclipse; pass only partially through the umbra, a partial eclipse; or immerse completely in the umbra to produce a total eclipse.
Lunar eclipses are easiest to see, because one only has to be on the night side of the Earth to see it. In a solar eclipse, the Moon’s shadow is too small to cover the earth, since it’s only a quarter the size of the Earth, so one has to be in a band a few thousand miles wide to spot the partial phase and has to be in a very narrow couple hundred mile wide path to see the brief totality. We’ll revisit this in 2016 in preparation for the country spanning total solar eclipse of August 21, 2016.
Eclipses, both lunar and solar occur in seasons nearly 6 months apart, which usually have one of each two weeks apart. Occasionally with a central eclipse of one to have two of the other two weeks before and two weeks after.
The reason for this is because the Earth and Moon’s orbits are tilted at about a 5° angle, and the point where they cross, 180° apart is slowly rotating clockwise. This gives us two eclipse seasons a year that slowly move earlier in the calendar. It is only when the Sun is near where the orbital planes cross that we have a chance for an eclipse, otherwise the Moon is too far north or south.
After this eclipse, the next total lunar eclipse will be January 21, 2019. However the Moon will set while in totality for us on that one.
If you’d like to explore eclipses further, check out this NASA website: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html.
The eclipse occurs on the 28th for Universal Time. It’s the evening of the 27th for us. The Moon travels through the Earth’s shadow from right to left. What are seen are points of contact with the shadow and mid-eclipse. From Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses (Espenak & Meeus) NASA.
Contact times are labeled P1, U1, U2, U3, U4, and P4. P2 and P3 are omitted because they are synonymous with U1 and U4 respectively:
- P1 – 8:11:47 p.m. Enter the penumbra (unseen). By about 8:30 the duskiness on the left edge of the moon will start to be noticeable.
- U1 – 9:07:11 p.m. Enter the umbra (partial eclipse begins).
- U2 – 10:11:10 p.m. Totality begins.
- Mid eclipse 10:48:17 p.m.
- U3 – 11:23:05 p.m. Totality ends, egress partial phase begins.
- U4 – 12:27:03 a.m. Partial phase ends. The Moon’s upper right edge should appear dusky for the next half hour or so.
- P4 – 1:22:27 a.m. Penumbral phase ends (unseen).
Note: The duskiness of the penumbral phase of the eclipse can be enhanced by viewing through sunglasses.
During the total phase, light leaks in around the Earth due to the bending of light in the Earth’s atmosphere, so the Moon is illuminated by the collective sunrises and sunsets around the globe. This usually gives the Moon a coppery hue, that some are now calling a blood moon. Occasionally, due to volcanic eruptions the Moon can become very dark.
This full moon is also the Harvest Moon and for those who care, a supermoon, it having reached perigee earlier that day.
Weather permitting there will be two GTAS venues in northern lower Michigan to view this eclipse. The first will be the Northwestern Michigan College Rogers Observatory, south of Traverse City, MI. The second will be at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore at Platte River Point at the end of Lake Michigan Road off M22. These sites will be open for the visible parts of the eclipse from 9 to midnight.
Of course the eclipse can be seen from your yard with no optical aide whatsoever.
The partially eclipsed Moon setting through a thin clouds and the neighbor’s swing set at 7:09 EDT April 4, 2015. Taken with a Motorola Droid Razr phone through 10X50 binoculars. Credit: Bob Moler.
08/31/2015 – Ephemeris – Previewing the skies of September – Part 1
Ephemeris for Monday, August 31st. The Sun will rise at 7:03. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 18 minutes, setting at 8:21. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 9:31 this evening.
Let’s look forward to the skies 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 15 minutes tomorrow the 1st. to 11 hours 46 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 Straits area will see the sun a degree lower. The season of summer is getting short, so enjoy it while you can. Summer ends and autumn begins at 4:20 a.m. on September 23rd. Saturn is setting before midnight now, but Venus and Mars are appearing in the morning sky soon. Tomorrow we’ll look at September’s lunar eclipse.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location
Addendum
Star Chart for September 2015. Created using my LookingUp program.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EDT. That is chart time. Note, Traverse City is located 1 hour 45 minutes behind our time meridian. To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 10:04 p.m. EDT on August 1st, decreasing to 9:02 p.m. EDT on the 30th..
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 5:19 a.m. EDT on August 1st, and increasing to 6:01 a.m. EDT on the 30th.
Add a half hour to the chart time every week before the 15th and subtract and hour for every week after the 15th.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
The green pointer from the Big Dipper is:
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle to Arcturus.
- The Summer Triangle is shown in red.
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 Daylight Time on a 24 hour clock. Some additions made to aid clarity.
Conjunctions like the Mars-Regulus: 0.8° N means Regulus will appear 0.8° north of Mars.
| Sep | 01 | Tu | Venus: 25° W | |
| 04 | Fr | 05:59 | Mercury Elongation: 27.1° E | |
| 05 | Sa | 01:09 | Moon-Aldebaran: 0.6° S Occultation?* | |
| 05 | Sa | 05:54 | Last Quarter | |
| 06 | Su | 13:06 | Moon North Dec.: 18.2° N | |
| 10 | Th | 01:53 | Moon-Venus: 2.9° S | |
| 13 | Su | 02:41 | New Moon | |
| 13 | Su | 02:55 | Partial Solar Eclipse (Southern tip of Africa to Antarctica) | |
| 14 | Mo | 00:38 | Moon Ascending Node | |
| 14 | Mo | 07:28 | Moon Apogee: 406500 km | |
| 18 | Fr | 22:54 | Moon-Saturn: 3.1° S | |
| 21 | Mo | 04:59 | First Quarter | |
| 21 | Mo | 08:02 | Moon South Dec.: 18.1° S | |
| 23 | We | 04:20 | Autumnal Equinox | |
| 24 | Th | 15:38 | Mars-Regulus: 0.8° N | |
| 27 | Su | 17:04 | Moon Descending Node | |
| 27 | Su | 21:46 | Moon Perigee: 356900 km – Super moon | |
| 27 | Su | 22:48 | Total Lunar Eclipse | |
| 27 | Su | 22:50 | Full Moon – Harvest Moon | |
| 30 | We | 10:36 | Mercury Inferior Conjunction with the Sun | |
| Oct | 01 | Th | Venus: 43.6° W |
* For the Grand Traverse Region the Moon will rise at 12:10 a.m. occulting Aldebaran. Aldebaran will appear at the Moon’s unilluminated top right edge at approximately 12:40 a.m.
Note: All lunar conjunctions in the table above are geocentric. Double check with a program like Stellarium to check on the position of the body with respect to the moon for your location.
07/31/2015 – Ephemeris – Looking ahead at August in the skies
Ephemeris for Friday, July 31st. The Sun rises at 6:27. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 9:10. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 9:08 this evening.
Let’s look ahead at the month of August which starts tomorrow. Daylight hours will decrease from 14 hours and 40 minutes tomorrow to 13 hours 18 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 tomorrow to just over 53 degrees on the 31st. Straits area listeners can subtract one more degree from those angles. Local noon, when the sun is due south, is about 1:43 p.m. The Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak at about 2 a.m. on the morning of the 13th, and should be spectacular with a nearly new Moon. On the nights between now and then when the moon has set these meteor numbers will be building to the peak. Saturn will be our only easily visible evening planet.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Star Chart for August 2015. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.The Moon is not plotted.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EDT. That is chart time. Note, Traverse City is located 1 hour 45 minutes behind our time meridian. To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Evening Astronomical twilight ends at 11:12 p.m. EDT on August 1st, decreasing to 10:06 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 4:24 a.m. EDT on August 1st, and increasing to 5:18 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Add a half hour to the chart time every week before the 15th and subtract and hour for every week after the 15th.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
The green pointer from the Big Dipper is:
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Drill a hole in the bowl of the Big Dipper and the water will drip on the back of Leo the Lion.
- Follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle to Arcturus
- Continue with a spike to Spica
- The Summer Triangle is shown in red
- PerR in yellow is the Perseid 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 Daylight Time on a 24 hour clock. Some additions made to aid clarity.
Conjunctions like the Mercury-Regulus: 0.9° N means Regulus will appear 0.9° north of Mercury.
| Aug | 01 | Sa | Venus: 21.5° East of the Sun | |
| 02 | Su | 06:11 | Moon Perigee: 362,100 km | |
| 03 | Mo | 22:53 | Moon Descending Node | |
| 06 | Th | 22:03 | Last Quarter | |
| 07 | Fr | 13:25 | Mercury-Regulus: 0.9° N | |
| 08 | Sa | 19:22 | Moon-Aldebaran: 0.7° S | |
| 10 | Mo | 07:11 | Moon North Dec.: 18.3° N | |
| 13 | Th | 02:17 | Perseid Shower: ZHR* = 90 | |
| 14 | Fr | 10:54 | New Moon | |
| 15 | Sa | 15:19 | Venus Inferior Conjunction with the Sun | |
| 16 | Su | 10:34 | Moon-Mercury: 2.2° N | |
| 17 | Mo | 19:05 | Moon Ascending Node | |
| 17 | Mo | 22:33 | Moon Apogee: 405,900 km | |
| 19 | We | 23:35 | Mars-Beehive: 0.5° S | |
| 22 | Sa | 13:21 | Moon-Saturn: 2.8° S | |
| 22 | Sa | 15:31 | First Quarter | |
| 24 | Mo | 23:44 | Moon South Dec.: 18.2° S | |
| 26 | We | 17:04 | Jupiter Conjunction with the Sun | |
| 29 | Sa | 14:35 | Full Moon | |
| 30 | Su | 11:24 | Moon Perigee: 358,300 km | |
| 31 | Mo | 06:16 | Moon Descending Node | |
| 31 | Mo | 22:12 | Neptune Opposition from the Sun | |
| Sep | 01 | Tu | Venus: 25° West of the Sun |
*ZHR – Zenithal Hourly Rate: Approximate number of meteors per hour when the shower radiant is at the zenith. For more information on this and other meteor showers in 2015 see the International Meteor Organization website calendar section: http://www.imo.net/calendar.
07/02/2015 -Ephemeris – A belated preview of July’s skies
Ephemeris for Thursday, July 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 9:31. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 9:48 this evening and tomorrow the Sun will rise at 6:02.
Lets preview July’s skies a day late. Sorry, it’s been a busy week.. 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 30 minutes Today to 14 hours 44 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 Now 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 on Monday the 6th. The range of the earth’s distance from the sun is 3 million out of 93 million miles.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Star Chart for July 2015. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The Moon is not plotted.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 11 p.m. EDT. That is chart time. Note, Traverse City is located 1 hour 45 minutes behind our time meridian. To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Evening Astronomical twilight ends at midnight. EDT on July 1st, decreasing to 11:14 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 3:32 a.m. EDT on July 1st, and increasing to 4:42 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Add a half hour to the chart time every week before the 15th and subtract and hour for every week after the 15th.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
The green pointer from the Big Dipper is:
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Drill a hole in the bowl of the Big Dipper and the water will drip on the back of Leo the Lion.
- Follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle to Arcturus
- Continue with a spike to Spica
- The Summer Triangle is shown in red
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 Daylight Time on a 24 hour clock. Some additions made to aid clarity.
Conjunctions like the Moon-Jupiter: 4.5° N means Jupiter will appear 4.5° north of the Moon.
Date Local Event
Time
Jul 01 We 02:48 Moon South Dec.: 18.4° S
01 We Venus: 42.4° E
01 We 22:20 Full Moon
05 Su 14:54 Moon Perigee: 367100 km
06 Mo 08:59 Aphelion: 1.0167 AU
07 Tu 20:07 Moon Descending Node
08 We 16:24 Last Quarter
12 Su 13:55 Moon-Aldebaran: 0.9° S
14 Tu 00:24 Moon North Dec.: 18.4° N
14 Tu 17:35 Venus-Regulus: 2.3° S
15 We 21:24 New Moon
18 Sa 13:34 Moon-Jupiter: 4.5° N
18 Sa 21:06 Moon-Venus: 0.5° N
21 Tu 07:02 Moon Apogee: 404800 km
21 Tu 15:32 Moon Ascending Node
23 Th 15:18 Mercury Superior Conjunction with the Sun
24 Fr 00:04 First Quarter
26 Su 04:43 Moon-Saturn: 2.4° S
28 Tu 10:23 Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower: ZHR* = 20
28 Tu 13:34 Moon South Dec.: 18.3° S
31 Fr 06:43 Full Moon
Aug 01 Sa Venus: 21.5° E
*ZHR – Zenithal Hourly Rate: Approximate number of meteors per hour when the shower radiant is at the zenith. For more information on this and other meteor showers in 2015 see the International Meteor Organization website calendar section: http://www.imo.net/calendar.
06/01/2015 – Ephemeris – Starting orbit 41 looking at June skies
Ephemeris for Monday, June 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 9:21. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 6:17 tomorrow morning and tomorrow the Sun will rise at 6:00.
We’ll start Ephemeris’ 41st orbit of the Sun by looking at the skies of June. There’ will be a lot of sun in June and very little night. The daylight hours will increase a bit from 15 hours and 20 minutes today to 15 hours and 34 minutes on the 21st, retreating back to 15 hours 31 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 at local noon will hover around 68 to 69 degrees. Local noon, when the sun is actually due south will occur at about 1:43 p.m. Here’s what we’ve been waiting for: Summer will start on the 21st at 12:38 p.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Star Chart for June 2015. Created using my LookingUp program.
The Moon is not plotted.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 11 p.m. EDT. That is chart time. Note, Traverse City is located 1 hour 45 minutes behind our time meridian. To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Evening Astronomical twilight ends at 11:43 p.m. EDT on June 1st, increasing to midnight EDT on the 30th.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 4:38 a.m. EDT on June 1st, and decreasing to 3:31 a.m. EDT on the 30th.
Add a half hour to the chart time every week before the 15th and subtract and hour for every week after the 15th.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
The green pointer from the Big Dipper is:
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Drill a hole in the bowl of the Big Dipper and the water will drip on the back of Leo the Lion.
- Follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle to Arcturus
- Continue with a spike to Spica
- The Summer Triangle is shown in red
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 Daylight Time on a 24 hour clock. Some additions made to aid clarity.
Conjunctions like the Moon-Saturn: 2.1° S means Saturn will appear 2.3° south of the Moon.
| Jun | 01 | Mo | Venus: 45.3° E | |
| 01 | Mo | 16:02 | Moon-Saturn: 2° S | |
| 02 | Tu | 12:19 | Full Moon | |
| 03 | We | 17:10 | Moon South Dec.: 18.4° S | |
| 06 | Sa | 14:59 | Venus Elongation: 45.4° E | |
| 09 | Tu | 11:42 | Last Quarter | |
| 10 | We | 00:39 | Moon Perigee: 369700 km | |
| 10 | We | 19:29 | Moon Descending Node | |
| 13 | Sa | 04:59 | Venus-Beehive: 0.6° N | |
| 14 | Su | 10:39 | Mars Solar Conjunction | |
| 16 | Tu | 10:05 | New Moon | |
| 16 | Tu | 15:47 | Moon North Dec.: 18.5° N | |
| 20 | Sa | 07:28 | Moon-Venus: 6.3° N | |
| 21 | Su | 12:38 | Summer Solstice | |
| 23 | Tu | 05:39 | Mercury-Aldebaran: 1.9° N | |
| 23 | Tu | 13:01 | Moon Apogee: 404100 km | |
| 24 | We | 07:03 | First Quarter | |
| 24 | We | 12:59 | Mercury Elongation: 22.5° W | |
| 24 | We | 13:23 | Moon Ascending Node | |
| 28 | Su | 21:27 | Moon-Saturn: 2.1° S | |
| 30 | Tu | 22:14 | Venus-Jupiter: 0.3° N | |
| Jul | 01 | We | 02:48 | Moon South Dec.: 18.4° S |
| 01 | We | Venus: 42.4° E | ||
04/30/2015 – Ephemeris – Previewing May skies
Ephemeris for Thursday, April 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 8:46. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 5:26 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the Sun will rise at 6:33.
Let’s look ahead at the month of May, the month when the promise of spring is finally fulfilled. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area will increase from 14 hours and 14 minutes Tomorrow 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 60 degrees tomorrow to 67 degrees at month’s end. The altitude of the sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower than that. Local apparent noon this month, when the sun passes due south, will be about 1:38 p.m. Early this month we’ll have Mercury visible briefly low in the west after sunset. The rest of the bright planets except Mars will also be visible before midnight.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Star Chart for April 2015. Created using my LookingUp program.
The Moon is not plotted. The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 11 p.m. EDT. That is chart time.
Evening Astronomical twilight ends at 10:44 p.m. EDT on May 1st, increasing to 11:41 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 4:37 a.m. EDT on May 1st, and decreasing to 3:40 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Add a half hour to the chart time every week before the 15th and subtract and hour for every week after the 15th.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
The green pointer from the Big Dipper is:
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Drill a hole in the bowl of the Big Dipper and the water will drip on the back of Leo the Lion.
- Follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle to Arcturus
- Continue with a spike to Spica
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 Daylight Time on a 24 hour clock. Some additions made to aid clarity.
Conjunctions like the Moon-Saturn: 2.3° S means Saturn will appear 2.3° south of the Moon.
| May | 01 | Fr | 05:50 | Moon Ascending Node |
| 01 | Fr | Venus: 42.1° E | ||
| 03 | Su | 23:42 | Full Moon | |
| 05 | Tu | 08:36 | Eta Aquarid Shower: ZHR = 60 | |
| 05 | Tu | 12:18 | Moon-Saturn: 2.1° S | |
| 07 | Th | 00:59 | Mercury Elongation: 21.2° E | |
| 07 | Th | 09:39 | Moon South Dec.: 18.3° S | |
| 11 | Mo | 06:36 | Last Quarter | |
| 14 | Th | 16:37 | Moon Descending Node | |
| 14 | Th | 20:23 | Moon Perigee: 366000 km | |
| 18 | Mo | 00:13 | New Moon | |
| 20 | We | 05:41 | Moon North Dec.: 18.4° N | |
| 22 | Fr | 20:53 | Saturn Opposition | |
| 25 | Mo | 13:19 | First Quarter | |
| 26 | Tu | 18:12 | Moon Apogee: 404200 km | |
| 28 | Th | 10:40 | Moon Ascending Node | |
| 29 | Fr | 13:30 | Venus-Pollux: 4° S | |
| 30 | Sa | 12:53 | Mercury Inferior Conj. | |
| Jun | 01 | Mo | Venus: 45.3° E | |
03/31/2015 – Ephemeris – Previewing April skies
Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 31st. The Sun will rise at 7:25. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 8:08. The Moon, half way from first quarter to full, will set at 6:02 tomorrow morning.
The 4th month of the year begins tomorrow. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 12 hours and 45 minutes tomorrow to 14 hours 11 minutes on the 30th. 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 the 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. For the straits area local noon occurs about 4 minutes earlier. This Saturday morning we’ll see the first part of a lunar eclipse. This month Venus and Jupiter are our evening planets.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Star Chart for April 2015. Created using my LookingUp program.
The Moon is not plotted. The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EDT. That is chart time.
Evening Astronomical twilight ends at 9:51 p.m. EDT on April 1st, increasing to 10:42 p.m. EDT on the 30th.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 5:43 a.m. EDT on April 1st, and decreasing to 4:41 a.m. EDT on the 30th.
Add a half hour to the chart time every week before the 15th and subtract and hour for every week after the 15th.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
The green pointer from the Big Dipper is:
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Drill a hole in the bowl of the Big Dipper and the water will drip on the back of Leo the Lion.
- Follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle to Arcturus
- Continue with a spike to Spica
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 Daylight Time on a 24 hour clock. Some additions made to aid clarity.
Conjunctions like the Moon-Saturn: 2.3° S means Saturn will appear 2.3° south of the Moon.
| Apr | 01 | We | Venus: 36.6° E | |
| 01 | We | 08:59 | Moon Apogee: 406000 km | |
| 03 | Fr | 23:17 | Moon Ascending Node | |
| 04 | Sa | 08:01 | Partial Lunar Eclipse* | |
| 04 | Sa | 08:06 | Full Moon | |
| 06 | Mo | 09:48 | Uranus Conjunction | |
| 08 | We | 09:08 | Moon-Saturn: 2.3° S | |
| 08 | We | 10:16 | Jupiter-Beehive: 5.4° S | |
| 09 | Th | 23:52 | Mercury Superior Conj. | |
| 10 | Fr | 03:46 | Moon South Dec.: 18.2° S | |
| 11 | Sa | 11:30 | Venus-Pleiades: 2.6° S | |
| 11 | Sa | 23:44 | Last Quarter | |
| 16 | Th | 23:53 | Moon Perigee: 361000 km | |
| 17 | Fr | 09:07 | Moon Descending Node | |
| 18 | Sa | 14:57 | New Moon | |
| 21 | Tu | 12:35 | Moon-Aldebaran: 0.9° S | |
| 21 | Tu | 14:09 | Moon-Venus: 6.8° N | |
| 22 | We | 19:21 | Lyrid Shower: ZHR = 20 | |
| 22 | We | 19:26 | Moon North Dec.: 18.3° N | |
| 25 | Sa | 19:55 | First Quarter | |
| 28 | Tu | 23:55 | Moon Apogee: 405100 km | |
| 30 | Th | 21:29 | Mercury-Pleiades: 1.7° S | |
* For the Grand Traverse area the partial phase of the eclipse will begin at 6:15 a.m. The eclipse will be interrupted by the moon setting at 7:24 a.m. Sunrise will occur at 7:17 a.m. More information will be provided in the Thursday, April 2nd post.
02/27/2015 – Ephemeris – Previewing the month of March
Ephemeris for Friday, February 27th. The sun will rise at 7:24. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 6:27. The moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 4:08 tomorrow morning.
During March the increase in daylight hours are at its greatest, with Spring 3 weeks away. Daylight hours will increase from 11 hours and 9 minutes Sunday to 12 hours and 42 minutes on the 31st. Along with that the altitude of the sun at noon will increase from 38 degrees Sunday to 49 ½ degrees at month’s end. Local noon, by the way for Interlochen and Traverse City is about 12:50 p.m, which is mainly due to the fact that our standard time meridian happens to run through Philadelphia. That’s before daylight time starts in a bit more than a week. Then our time meridian will run by the eastern tip of Nova Scotia, so local noon, when the Sun is due south will occur at 1:50 p.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Star Chart for March 2015. Created using my LookingUp program.
The Moon is not plotted. The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EDT. That is chart time.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 8:07 p.m. EST on March 1st, increasing to 9:49 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 5:43 a.m. EST on March 1st, and decreasing to 5:45 a.m. EDT on the 31st. (Yes it is a decrease, thanks to the imposition of daylight time on March 8th)
Add a half hour to the chart time every week before the 15th and subtract and hour for every week after the 15th.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
The green pointer from the Big Dipper is:
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Drill a hole in the bowl of the Big Dipper and the water will drip on the back of Leo the Lion.
- Follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle to Arcturus
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 Standard Time on a 24 hour clock. Some additions made to aid clarity.
Conjunctions like the Moon-Saturn: 2.4° S means Saturn will appear 2.4° south of the Moon.
| Mar | 01 | Su | Venus: 30.1° E | |
| 05 | Th | 02:35 | Moon Apogee: 406,400 km | |
| 05 | Th | 13:05 | Full Moon | |
| 07 | Sa | 16:04 | Moon Ascending Node | |
| 12 | Th | 04:25 | Moon-Saturn: 2.4° S | |
| 13 | Fr | 13:48 | Last Quarter | |
| 13 | Fr | 21:39 | Moon South Dec.: 18.3° S | |
| 19 | Th | 15:38 | Moon Perigee: 357,600 km | |
| 20 | Fr | 05:36 | New Moon | |
| 20 | Fr | 05:46 | Total Solar Eclipse | |
| 20 | Fr | 18:45 | Vernal Equinox | |
| 20 | Fr | 22:19 | Moon Descending Node | |
| 21 | Sa | 18:13 | Moon-Mars: 1° N | |
| 22 | Su | 15:51 | Moon-Venus: 2.9° N | |
| 25 | We | 02:55 | Moon-Aldebaran: 0.9° S | |
| 26 | Th | 10:29 | Moon North Dec.: 18.2° N | |
| 27 | Fr | 03:43 | First Quarter |
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 