Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for April Fools Day, Monday, April 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 8:10, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:22. The Moon, half way from last quarter to new, will rise at 6:37 tomorrow morning.

Last year we were fooled by an abundance of snow in April. Hopefully we won’t be tricked again. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 12 hours and 46 minutes today to 14 hours 11 minutes on the 30th. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will ascend from 50 degrees today to 60 degrees on the 30th. The altitude of the Sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower, but their daylight hours will be a bit longer. 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. This month Mars will be our only evening planet.

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

Addendum

April Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for April 2019 (10 p.m. EDT April 15, 2019). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EST 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, West 75° longitude. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.

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 (28 minutes if you’re picky). 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.

April Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for April mornings 2019 (5 a.m. EST April 15, 2019). 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 dipper drips on Leo
• Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, and
• Extend like a spike to Spica,
• The Summer Triangle is in red.
• LyrR is the radiant of the Lyrid meteor shower that peaks on the 22nd.

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2018/09/27/.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

   Date			Local Time	Event
Apr	1	Mo		        Venus: 34.6° W
 	2	Tu	12:17 AM	Moon-Venus: 3° N
 	2	Tu	07:01 PM	Moon-Mercury: 4° N
 	5	Fr	04:50 AM	New Moon
 	9	Tu	02:40 AM	Moon-Mars: 5° N
 	9	Tu	11:43 AM	Moon-Aldebaran: 2.2° S
 	11	Th	02:59 PM	Mercury Elongation: 27.7° W
 	11	Th	07:59 PM	Moon North Dec.: 22° N
 	12	Fr	02:08 PM	Moon Ascending Node
 	12	Fr	03:06 PM	First Quarter
 	13	Sa	04:12 PM	Moon-Beehive: 0.2° N
 	14	Su	08:08 PM	Mars-Aldebaran: 6.5° N
 	15	Mo	04:22 AM	Moon-Regulus: 2.7° S
 	16	Tu	02:03 PM	Mercury-Venus: 4.3° N
 	16	Tu	06:02 PM	Moon Perigee: 364200 km
 	19	Fr	07:12 AM	Full Moon
 	22	Mo	07:58 PM	Lyrid Shower: ZHR = 20
 	22	Mo	08:06 PM	Uranus Conjunction
 	23	Tu	07:36 AM	Moon-Jupiter: 1.8° S
 	24	We	05:22 PM	Moon South Dec.: 22.1° S
 	25	Th	10:38 AM	Moon-Saturn: 0.4° N
 	25	Th	11:02 AM	Moon Descending Node
 	26	Fr	06:18 PM	Last Quarter
 	28	Su	02:20 PM	Moon Apogee: 404600 km
May	1	We		        Venus: 27.8° W
All event times are given for UTC-5 hr: Eastern Standard or UTC-4 hr: Daylight Saving Time starting April 10th.

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

Ephemeris for Thursday, February 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 6:28, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:20. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:38 tomorrow morning.

Let’s look at the skies of March, which will start tomorrow. 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 tomorrow to 12 hours and 42 minutes on the 31st. Along with that, the altitude of the Sun at noon will increase from 38 degrees tomorrow 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 eleven days. Winter ends and spring will begin at 5:58 p.m. on the 20th.

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

Addenda

March Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for March 2019 (10 p.m. EDT March 15, 2019). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EST 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, West 75° longitude. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.

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 (28 minutes if you’re picky). 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.

March Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for March mornings 2019 (6 a.m. EST March 15, 2019). 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
• Extend like a spike to Spica,
• The Summer Triangle is in red.

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2019/09/27/.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

All event times are given for UTC-5 hr: Eastern Standard or UTC-4 hr: Daylight Saving Time starting March 10th.

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

* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Created using my LookingUp for DOS output as CSV.

Ephemeris for Thursday, January 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 5:49, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:02. The Moon, half way from last quarter to new, will rise at 5:50 tomorrow morning.

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 49 minutes tomorrow the first to 11 hours and 6 minutes on the 28th. The sunrise time will decrease from 8:02 tomorrow to 7:22 at month’s end. The sunset times will increase from 5:51 tomorrow to 6:28 on the 28th. Along with that the altitude of the sun at noon will increase from 28 degrees tomorrow to nearly 38 degrees at month’s end. Local noon, by the way for Interlochen and Traverse City is about 12:55 p.m. Mercury has just entered the evening sky and will be visible in twilight after sunset later this month.

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

Addenda

February Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for February 2019 (9 p.m. EST February 15, 2019). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST 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). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.

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 (28 minutes if you’re picky). 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.

February Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for February mornings 2019 (6 a.m. EST February 15, 2019). 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
• Extend like a spike to Spica,
• The Summer Triangle is in red.

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2019/09/27/

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

All event times are given for UTC-5:00: Eastern Standard or Daylight Time

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

Created using my LookingUp for DOS output as HTML.

Ephemeris for New Years Day, Tuesday, January 1st. The Sun will rise at 8:20. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 52 minutes, setting at 5:12. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:59 tomorrow morning. | Happy New Year. Let’s preview the month of January. We’re a day from the latest sunrise at about the same time as today, 8:20 a.m. and will back down to 8:03 by the 31st. Sunset times are currently increasing by a minute a day from 5:12 p.m. today to 5:49 at month’s end. Listeners will have about the same sunrise time in Ludington, Interlochen/Traverse City, Petoskey and Mackinaw City, but the sunset times will vary markedly with the sunset times earlier in the north than the south. The Quadrantid meteor shower will reach peak on the 3rd in the evening. Also on the 3rd the Earth will be its closest to the Sun for the entire year. And on the 20th there will be a total lunar eclipse in the evening.

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

Addenda

January Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for January 2019 (9 p.m. EST January 15, 2019). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST 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). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.

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 (28 minutes if you’re picky). 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.

January Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for January mornings 2019 (6 a.m. EST January 15, 2019). 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
• Extend like a spike to Spica,
• The Summer Triangle is in red.
• Quadr on the evening and morning star charts is the radiant of the Quadrantid meteor shower which peaks at 9:20 p.m. on the evening of the 3rd.

Twilight

Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2019/09/27/

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

* Eclipse affects east Asia and the north Pacific

All event times are given for UTC-5:00: Eastern Standard or Daylight Time

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

Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, November 30th. The Sun will rise at 7:58. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 5:04. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 1:29 tomorrow morning.

Let’s preview December’s skies. Winter will officially arrive on the 21st at 5:22 p.m., the winter solstice. The noontime sun will dip from 23 ½ degrees to a bit less than 22 degrees above the southern horizon on that day. There will be little movement in the sunset times: In the Traverse City/Interlochen area this will be from 5:03 tomorrow, down to 5:02 and then advancing to 5:11 at the end of the month. The sunrise times will advance from 7:58 tomorrow to 8:20 on the 31st. The big event in December will be the Geminid meteor shower whose maximum is on the morning of the 14th. An old comet will make a close pass of the Earth and may be quite bright by mid-month. Watch for Comet Wirtanen.

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

Addenda

December Evening Star Chart

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST 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). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.

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 (28 minutes if you’re picky). For each week after the 15th subtract ½ hour. The planet positions are updated each Wednesday on this blog. For planet positions on dates other than the 15th, check the Wednesday planet posts on this blog.

December Morning Star Chart

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
• Extend like a spike to Spica,
• The Summer Triangle is in red.
• GemR on the evening and morning star charts is the radiant of the Geminid meteor shower which peaks on the morning of the 14th,

Twilight

Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2018/09/27/

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

All event times are given for UTC-5:00: Eastern Standard or Daylight Time

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

* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Ephemeris for Friday, June 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 9:32, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:00. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 10:38 this evening.

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 30 minutes Sunday to 14 hours 41 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 Friday the 6th. The planets visible this month in the evening are Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and later, Mars.

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

Addendum

July Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for July 2018 (11 p.m. EDT July 15, 2018). 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). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.

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 (28 minutes if you’re picky). 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.

July Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for July 2018 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.

Star chart annotations

• 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 and
• Continue with a spike to Spica.
• The Summer Triangle is in red.
• DAqR – Delta Aquariid meteor shower radiant

Twilight

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 a.m. EDT on the 1st, decreasing to 11:28 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 3:38 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  Su          Venus: 40.7° E
    04  We  1:39 am Mercury-Beehive: 0.6° S
    06  Fr  3:51 am Last Quarter
    06  Fr 11:59 am Aphelion: 1.0167 AU
    09  Mo  7:36 pm Venus-Regulus: 1° N
    10  Tu  5:30 am Moon-Aldebaran: 1.1° S
    12  Th 12:59 am Mercury Elongation: 26.4° E
    12  Th  8:01 am Moon North Dec.: 20.8° N
    12  Th 10:48 pm New Moon
    12  Th 11:01 pm Partial Solar Eclipse (S Australia)
    13  Fr  4:28 am Moon Perigee: 357400 km
    13  Fr 10:50 pm Moon Ascending Node
    14  Sa  6:04 pm Moon-Mercury: 2.2° S
    15  Su 12:14 pm Moon-Regulus: 1.7° S
    15  Su 11:31 pm Moon-Venus: 1.6° S
    19  Th  3:52 pm First Quarter
    20  Fr  7:57 pm Moon-Jupiter: 4.8° S
    25  We  2:10 am Moon-Saturn: 2.2° S
    25  We  4:55 pm Moon South Dec.: 20.8° S
    27  Fr  1:31 am Mars Opposition
    27  Fr  1:44 am Moon Apogee: 406200 km
    27  Fr  4:21 pm Full Moon
    27  Fr  4:22 pm Total Lunar Eclipse (S.America, Europe, Africa, Asia)
    27  Fr  6:40 pm Moon Descending Node
    28  Sa  4:50 pm Delta Aquarid Shower: ZHR = 20
    31  Tu  3:51 am Mars closest to the Earth 57.59 mkm
Aug 01  We          Venus: 45.1° E

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
     July, 2018    Local time zone: EDT
     +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
     | DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
     |      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
     +=======================================================================+
     |Sun  1| 06:01a  09:32p  15:30 | 10:57p  04:35a |      Rise 11:49p   88%|
     |Mon  2| 06:01a  09:31p  15:30 | 10:56p  04:36a |      Rise 12:19a   81%|
     |Tue  3| 06:02a  09:31p  15:29 | 10:56p  04:37a |      Rise 12:47a   72%|
     |Wed  4| 06:02a  09:31p  15:28 | 10:56p  04:37a |      Rise 01:13a   63%|
     |Thu  5| 06:03a  09:30p  15:27 | 10:55p  04:38a |      Rise 01:39a   53%|
     |Fri  6| 06:04a  09:30p  15:26 | 10:54p  04:39a |L Qtr Rise 02:06a   43%|
     |Sat  7| 06:04a  09:30p  15:25 | 10:54p  04:40a |      Rise 02:36a   33%|
     +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
     |Sun  8| 06:05a  09:29p  15:24 | 10:53p  04:41a |      Rise 03:10a   23%|
     |Mon  9| 06:06a  09:29p  15:22 | 10:52p  04:42a |      Rise 03:50a   14%|
     |Tue 10| 06:07a  09:28p  15:21 | 10:51p  04:43a |      Rise 04:38a    7%|
     |Wed 11| 06:08a  09:28p  15:20 | 10:51p  04:44a |      Rise 05:36a    2%|
     |Thu 12| 06:08a  09:27p  15:18 | 10:50p  04:46a |New   Set  09:09p    0%|
     |Fri 13| 06:09a  09:26p  15:17 | 10:49p  04:47a |      Set  10:04p    1%|
     |Sat 14| 06:10a  09:26p  15:15 | 10:48p  04:48a |      Set  10:50p    5%|
     +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
     |Sun 15| 06:11a  09:25p  15:14 | 10:47p  04:49a |      Set  11:29p   12%|
     |Mon 16| 06:12a  09:24p  15:12 | 10:46p  04:50a |      Set  12:02a   21%|
     |Tue 17| 06:13a  09:24p  15:10 | 10:44p  04:52a |      Set  12:32a   31%|
     |Wed 18| 06:14a  09:23p  15:08 | 10:43p  04:53a |      Set  01:01a   41%|
     |Thu 19| 06:15a  09:22p  15:07 | 10:42p  04:54a |F Qtr Set  01:29a   52%|
     |Fri 20| 06:16a  09:21p  15:05 | 10:41p  04:56a |      Set  01:57a   62%|
     |Sat 21| 06:17a  09:20p  15:03 | 10:40p  04:57a |      Set  02:28a   72%|
     +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
     |Sun 22| 06:18a  09:19p  15:01 | 10:38p  04:58a |      Set  03:03a   80%|
     |Mon 23| 06:19a  09:18p  14:59 | 10:37p  05:00a |      Set  03:41a   87%|
     |Tue 24| 06:20a  09:17p  14:57 | 10:36p  05:01a |      Set  04:25a   93%|
     |Wed 25| 06:21a  09:16p  14:55 | 10:34p  05:03a |      Set  05:13a   97%|
     |Thu 26| 06:22a  09:15p  14:53 | 10:33p  05:04a |      Set  06:06a   99%|
     |Fri 27| 06:23a  09:14p  14:50 | 10:31p  05:05a |Full  Rise 09:16p  100%|
     |Sat 28| 06:24a  09:13p  14:48 | 10:30p  05:07a |      Rise 09:51p   99%|
     +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
     |Sun 29| 06:25a  09:12p  14:46 | 10:28p  05:08a |      Rise 10:23p   96%|
     |Mon 30| 06:26a  09:10p  14:44 | 10:27p  05:10a |      Rise 10:51p   91%|
     |Tue 31| 06:27a  09:09p  14:41 | 10:25p  05:11a |      Rise 11:17p   85%|
     +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
     * Nautical Twilight
     ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset

Ephemeris of Sky Events is created with my DOS version LookingUp program.

Ephemeris for Thursday, May 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 19 minutes, setting at 9:20, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:00. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 11:10 this evening.

Let’s preview June skies. There will be a lot of Sun in June and very little night. The daylight hours will increase a bit from 15 hours and 21 minutes Tomorrow to 15 hours and 34 minutes on the 21st, retreating back to 15 hours 31 minutes at month’s end. 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. Summer begins on the 21st at 6:07 a.m. when the sun reaches its farthest north. The actual amount of night-time will be quite short mostly due to the length of daylight, but also because twilight lasts much longer than average because the sun sets at a shallow angle. On the 21st there’s theoretically only 3 ½ hours of total darkness.

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

Addendum

June Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for June 2018 (11 p.m. EDT June 15, 2018). 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). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.

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 (28 minutes if you’re picky). 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.

June Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for June 2018 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.

Star chart annotations

• 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 and
• Continue with a spike to Spica.
• The Summer Triangle is in red.

Twilight

Evening nautical twilight ends at 10:46 p.m. EDT on the 1st, increasing to 10:59 p.m. EDT on the 30th.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 11:44 p.m. EDT on the 1st, increasing to 12:02 a.m. EDT on the 30th.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 3:44 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and decreasing to 3:38 a.m. EDT on the 30th.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 4:42 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and decreasing to 4:40 a.m. EDT on the 30th.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

Date        Time    Event
Jun 01  Fr          Venus: 34.5° E
    01  Fr  3:09 am Moon South Dec.: 20.7° S
    02  Sa 12:34 pm Moon Apogee: 405300 km
    03  Su  7:58 am Moon-Mars: 3.5° S
    03  Su  8:39 am Moon Descending Node
    05  Tu  9:53 pm Mercury Superior Conj.
    06  We  2:32 pm Last Quarter
    07  Th 11:35 pm Venus-Pollux: 4.7° S
    13  We  3:43 pm New Moon
    14  Th  7:55 pm Moon Perigee: 359500 km
    14  Th  8:52 pm Moon North Dec.: 20.8° N
    16  Sa  9:13 am Moon-Venus: 2.3° N
    16  Sa  1:50 pm Moon Ascending Node
    16  Sa  3:38 pm Moon-Beehive: 1.5° N
    18  Mo  3:25 am Moon-Regulus: 1.7° S
    19  Tu 10:23 pm Venus-Beehive: 0.4° N
    20  We  6:51 am First Quarter
    21  Th  6:07 am Summer Solstice
    23  Sa  2:47 pm Moon-Jupiter: 4.6° S
    24  Su  5:35 pm Mercury-Pollux: 4.8° S
    27  We  8:25 am Saturn Opposition
    27  We 11:59 pm Moon-Saturn: 2° S
    28  Th 12:53 am Full Moon
    28  Th 10:30 am Moon South Dec.: 20.8° S
    29  Fr 10:43 pm Moon Apogee: 406100 km
    30  Sa 12:44 pm Moon Descending Node
Jul 01  Su          Venus: 40.7° E

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 NMC Observatory
     June, 2018    Local time zone: EDT
     +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
     | DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
     |      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
     +=======================================================================+
     |Fri  1| 06:00a  09:20p  15:20 | 10:43p  04:37a |      Rise 11:56p   90%|
     |Sat  2| 05:59a  09:21p  15:21 | 10:44p  04:36a |      Rise 12:38a   83%|
     +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
     |Sun  3| 05:59a  09:22p  15:22 | 10:45p  04:36a |      Rise 01:14a   75%|
     |Mon  4| 05:59a  09:22p  15:23 | 10:46p  04:35a |      Rise 01:46a   67%|
     |Tue  5| 05:58a  09:23p  15:25 | 10:47p  04:34a |      Rise 02:15a   58%|
     |Wed  6| 05:58a  09:24p  15:26 | 10:48p  04:34a |L Qtr Rise 02:43a   48%|
     |Thu  7| 05:57a  09:25p  15:27 | 10:49p  04:33a |      Rise 03:10a   38%|
     |Fri  8| 05:57a  09:25p  15:28 | 10:50p  04:33a |      Rise 03:37a   28%|
     |Sat  9| 05:57a  09:26p  15:28 | 10:51p  04:32a |      Rise 04:06a   19%|
     +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
     |Sun 10| 05:57a  09:26p  15:29 | 10:52p  04:32a |      Rise 04:39a   11%|
     |Mon 11| 05:57a  09:27p  15:30 | 10:52p  04:31a |      Rise 05:17a    5%|
     |Tue 12| 05:56a  09:28p  15:31 | 10:53p  04:31a |      Rise 06:02a    1%|
     |Wed 13| 05:56a  09:28p  15:31 | 10:54p  04:31a |New   Set  09:20p    0%|
     |Thu 14| 05:56a  09:29p  15:32 | 10:54p  04:31a |      Set  10:26p    2%|
     |Fri 15| 05:56a  09:29p  15:32 | 10:55p  04:31a |      Set  11:25p    7%|
     |Sat 16| 05:56a  09:29p  15:33 | 10:55p  04:30a |      Set  12:14a   14%|
     +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
     |Sun 17| 05:56a  09:30p  15:33 | 10:56p  04:30a |      Set  12:55a   24%|
     |Mon 18| 05:56a  09:30p  15:33 | 10:56p  04:30a |      Set  01:30a   34%|
     |Tue 19| 05:56a  09:30p  15:33 | 10:56p  04:31a |      Set  02:01a   45%|
     |Wed 20| 05:57a  09:31p  15:33 | 10:57p  04:31a |F Qtr Set  02:29a   56%|
     |Thu 21| 05:57a  09:31p  15:33 | 10:57p  04:31a |      Set  02:57a   66%|
     |Fri 22| 05:57a  09:31p  15:33 | 10:57p  04:31a |      Set  03:24a   76%|
     |Sat 23| 05:57a  09:31p  15:33 | 10:57p  04:31a |      Set  03:54a   84%|
     +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
     |Sun 24| 05:58a  09:31p  15:33 | 10:57p  04:32a |      Set  04:26a   90%|
     |Mon 25| 05:58a  09:31p  15:33 | 10:57p  04:32a |      Set  05:02a   95%|
     |Tue 26| 05:58a  09:31p  15:32 | 10:57p  04:33a |      Set  05:42a   99%|
     |Wed 27| 05:59a  09:31p  15:32 | 10:57p  04:33a |      Set  06:27a  100%|
     |Thu 28| 05:59a  09:31p  15:31 | 10:57p  04:34a |Full  Rise 09:54p   99%|
     |Fri 29| 06:00a  09:31p  15:31 | 10:56p  04:34a |      Rise 10:37p   97%|
     |Sat 30| 06:00a  09:31p  15:30 | 10:56p  04:35a |      Rise 11:15p   93%|
     +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
     * Nautical Twilight
     ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset