Archive
08/30/2012 – Ephemeris – Previewing September skies
Ephemeris for Thursday, August 30th. The sun will rise at 7:03. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 18 minutes, setting at 8:21. The moon, 1 day before full, will set at 7:12 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look ahead at the skies for September a couple of days early. The sun is 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 12 minutes Saturday to 11 hours 44 minutes on the 30th. The altitude of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 54 degrees Saturday, and will descend to 42 degrees on the 30th. Folks in the straits area will see the sun a degree lower than that. The official season of summer is getting short too, so enjoy it while you can. Summer ends and autumn begins at 10:49 a.m. on September 22nd. That Harvest Moon will be on the 29th. Tomorrows full moon will be the rare Blue Moon – More on that tomorrow.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
07/31/2012 – Ephemeris – Previewing August Skies
Ephemeris for Tuesday, July 31st. The sun rises at 6:28. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 40 minutes, setting at 9:08. The moon, 1 day before full, will set at 5:59 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look ahead at the month of August in the skies which begins tomorrow. Daylight hours will decrease from 14 hours and 37 minutes tomorrow to 13 hours 15 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. 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 big event of the month will be the Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak on Sunday morning the 12th. Head out as soon as it gets dark, about 10:30 Saturday evening to watch the show. At that early hour the meteors may be few, but they will leave long tails in the sky, coming from the northeast. [Later as the meteor source or radiant rises more and more meteors will be visible.]
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
06/29/2012 – Ephemeris – Preview July skies
Ephemeris for Friday, June 29th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 31 minutes, setting at 9:31. The moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 2:58 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:00.
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 Sunday 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 today 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 Wednesday the 4th. It’s a time to slow down and appreciate the wonderful stars of summer.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
04/30/2012 – Ephemeris – Preview May Skies
Ephemeris for Monday, April 30th. The sun rises at 6:33. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 8:46. The moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 3:41 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow we’ll start the month when the promise of spring is finally fulfilled. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area will increase from 14 hours and 15 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 today 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 will be a few minutes longer. Local apparent noon this month, when the sun passes due south, will be about 1:38 p.m. The big event of this month will be a partial eclipse of the sun on Sunday May 20th, where we’ll see about 45 minutes of the eclipse as the sun sets.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
03/30/2012 – Ephemeris – April Preview
Ephemeris for Friday, March 30th. The sun will rise at 7:26. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 41 minutes, setting at 8:08. The moon, at first quarter today, will set at 3:36 tomorrow morning.
The 4th month of the year begins Sunday with Palm Sunday. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 12 hours and 48 minutes Sunday to 14 hours 13 minutes on April 30th. The altitude, or angle, of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 50 degrees Sunday 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. The full moon next Friday is the Pascal full moon meaning the western churches will celebrate Easter the following Sunday. Passover starts that Friday night, while Orthodox Easter is the 15th.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
03/01/2012 – Ephemeris – Preview of March skies
Ephemeris for Thursday, March 1st. The sun will rise at 7:19. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 6:30. The moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 3:18 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the skies for the month of March. The sun will pass the celestial equator as the promising season of spring will begin. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 11 hours and 11 minutes today to 12 hours 44 minutes on the 31st. The altitude, or angle, of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 38 degrees today and will ascend to nearly 50 degrees on the 31st. The altitude of the sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower. Local apparent noon this month, when the sun passes due south, will be about 12:49 p.m. Spring will begin on the 20th at 1:14 a.m. Mars will be in opposition with the sun Saturday and closest to us on Monday.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
01/31/2012 – Ephemeris – February preview
Ephemeris for Tuesday, January 31st. The sun will rise at 8:02. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 5:49. The moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 2:50 tomorrow morning.
Let’s preview the month of February. It will be a day longer this year because it’s a leap year, the adjustment to keep the calendar in sync with the seasons. The daylight hours throughout February will be getting longer. Daylight hours will increase from 9 hours and 48 minutes tomorrow to 11 hours and 8 minutes on the 29th. The altitude of the sun at noon will increase from 28 degrees tomorrow to nearly 38 degrees at month’s end. The straits area will see the sun a degree lower. Local noon, by the way for Interlochen and Traverse City is about 12:55 p.m, which is mainly due to the fact that our standard time meridian happens to run through Philadelphia and the sun is currently running 12 minutes slow.
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.
Addendum
Sunrise planets at 5 day intervals for February 2012
Click on the image to animate.
Sunset planets at 5 day intervals for February 2012
Click on the image to animate.
11/01/11 – Ephemeris – Preview November Skies
Tuesday, November 1st. The sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 6:31. The moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 12:11 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the skies for the month of November. The sun is still moving south rapidly. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will drop from 10 hours and 11 minutes today to 9 hours 6 minutes on the 30th. The altitude, or angle, of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be at 30 degrees today and will descend to 23 and a half degrees on the 30th. The altitude of the sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower. Local noon, this month after we go back to standard time, will be about 12:30 p.m. Right now the planet Jupiter is rising in the east in the evening and Venus will soon be seen in the evening twilight. The Leonid meteor shower will be at its peak on the morning of the 18th.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
09/30/11 – Ephemeris – Previewing October skies
Friday, September 30th. The sun will rise at 7:38. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 7:25. The moon, half way from new to first quarter, will set at 9:14 this evening.
Let’s look at the skies for the month of October which starts tomorrow. The sun will still be moving south rapidly. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area will drop from 11 hours and 43 minutes tomorrow 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 31degrees 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 Jupiter will move higher in the southeast in the evening next month. I’m hoping with the sun’s activity increasing we’ll get a shot at seeing some northern lights next month.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
08/01/11 – Ephemeris – Previewing August skies
Monday, August 1st. The sun rises at 6:28. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 39 minutes, setting at 9:08. The moon, 2 days past new, will set at 9:52 this evening.
Let’s look ahead at the month of August in the skies. Daylight hours will decrease from 14 hours and 39 minutes today to 13 hours 17 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. 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 on the morning of the 12th, but will be mostly unseen due to the bright moon. However on the nights between now and then when the moon has set these meteors will still be plentiful. We saw two bright ones Saturday night at the Sleeping Bear Dunes viewing night.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 