Archive
06/16/11 – Ephemeris – Supernova in the Whirlpool Galaxy
Thursday, June 16th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 33 minutes, setting at 9:29. The moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 10:23 this evening. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 5:56.
One of the coolest galaxies visible in a telescope is the Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as M51, near the handle of the Big Dipper. With a large enough amateur telescope, the spiral pattern can just be glimpsed. Usually it takes long exposure photographs to reveal the spiral structures of the galaxies that have them. A few weeks ago a supernova appeared in the outer spiral arm of the Whirlpool galaxy, visible in medium size telescopes of 8 inch diameter and up. Based on the study of the light given off by the supernova it appears that this is was a massive star whose core collapsed allowing the rest of the star to explode briefly making the star billions of times brighter than the sun. The supernova will gradually fade in an expanding cloud of gas.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
06/15/11 – Ephemeris – The bright planets for this week and a Lunar Eclipse
Wednesday, June 15th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 9:29. The moon, at full today, will rise at 9:35 this evening. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 5:56.
It’s Wednesday and time again to take a look at the whereabouts of the bright planets. The ringed planet Saturn will be visible in the south southwest as it gets dark. It’s near the bright star Spica to its lower left. Spica has a blue tinge, while Saturn is yellowish. It will set at 2:44 a.m. Saturn is a wonderful sight is a telescope with its rings. Jupiter will rise at 3:19 a.m. in the east. Mars will rise at 4:19. Venus now rises too close to sunrise to be seen in the twilight as is Mercury. There will be a total lunar eclipse this afternoon our time, making it completely invisible from here. However it will be perfectly visible from Asia where among others my grandson Chris is serving as a Marine. I’ve emailed him the times which are also available on the Ephemeris Blog.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Here’s the poop on the Total Lunar Eclipse on the night of the 15th-16th.
I’m giving the timings in both Universal Time (UT), also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Zulu and Afghanistan Standard Time (AST) (UT+4.5 hours).
Event UT AST Partial Eclipse Starts 15th 18:22 15th 22:52 Total Phase Starts 15th 19:22 15th 23:52 Total Phase Ends 15th 21:03 16th 01:33 Partial Eclipse Ends 15th 02:02 16th 02:32
The moon will enter the earth’s shadow from right to left.
During the total phase of the eclipse (we call it totality), the moon will probably appear red in color with gray near the edge of the earth’s shadow.
If you were on the moon, looking back at the earth at maximum eclipse the earth will appear as a red ring, the total of all the sunrises and sunsets around the earth.
06/13/11 – Ephemeris – The lunar crater Aristarchus
Monday, June 13th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 31 minutes, setting at 9:28. The moon, 2 days before full, will set at 4:39 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 5:56.
The moon tonight is bright. The sunrise line or terminator on the moon is crossing the large gray plain called Oceanus Procellarum, the largest of the moon’s seas. These seas were figments of the first telescopic observers imagination. They are really huge impact basins into which interior lava flowed. On the upper left edge of the moon near the terminator is a bright spot on the moon visible in binoculars. In a telescope it is a crater called Aristarchus. It is a fairly new crater, probably less than a billion years old. As a rule the brighter the crater the newer it is. Aristarchus is the brightest spot on the moon. Over the years visual astronomers have seen hazes and bright spots from time to time in and near Aristarchus.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The moon with Aristarchus. Created with Virtual Moon Atlas.
06/15/11 – Ephemeris – The bright planets this week and a total lunar eclipse for Asia
Wednesday, June 15th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 9:29. The moon, at full today, will rise at 9:35 this evening. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 5:56.
It’s Wednesday and time again to take a look at the whereabouts of the bright planets. The ringed planet Saturn will be visible in the south southwest as it gets dark. It’s near the bright star Spica to its lower left. Spica has a blue tinge, while Saturn is yellowish. It will set at 2:44 a.m. Saturn is a wonderful sight is a telescope with its rings. Jupiter will rise at 3:19 a.m. in the east. Mars will rise at 4:19. Venus now rises too close to sunrise to be seen in the twilight as is Mercury. There will be a total lunar eclipse this afternoon our time, making it completely invisible from here. However it will be perfectly visible from Asia where among others my grandson Chris is serving as a Marine. I’ve emailed him the times which are also available on the Ephemeris Blog.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
See http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2011-Fig03.pdf.
I’m giving the timings in both Universal Time (UT), also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Zulu and Afghanistan Standard Time (AST) (UT+4.5 hours)
Event UT AST Partial Eclipse Starts 15th 18:22 15th 22:52 Total Phase Starts 15th 19:22 15th 23:52 Total Phase Ends 15th 21:03 16th 01:33 Partial Eclipse Ends 15th 02:02 16th 02:32
The moon will enter the earth’s shadow from right to left.
During the total phase of the eclipse (we call it totality), the moon will probably appear red in color with gray near the edge of the earth’s shadow.
If you were on the moon, looking back at the earth at maximum eclipse the earth will appear as a red ring, the total of all the sunrises and sunsets around the earth.
06/10/11 – Ephemeris – The moon tonight
Friday, June 10th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 9:26. The moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 2:40 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 5:57.
Tonight the moon is in its gibbous phase. Gibbous means hump backed. One crater that came into light in the last 24 hours is the crater Copernicus, named for the Polish astronomer and cleric who removed the earth from the center of the universe. The crater Copernicus is on the center left on the moon. Its halo of rays will show up better when the moon is full, but now the crater itself can be appreciated. In a telescope its is quite a sight. It has a complex triple central peak, and terraced walls. The small asteroid that hit it less than a billion years ago, struck the moon, gouging out the 56 mile diameter crater we see today. Rebound created the central peaks. An oblique image of it by a Lunar Orbiter in the late 60s was a famous picture of the time.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
06/09/11 – Ephemeris – The moon tonight
Thursday, June 9th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 28 minutes, setting at 9:26. The moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 2:10 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 5:57.
Lets take a look at the moon tonight. It’ll be a day past first quarter and we see features at the terminator, the sunrise line which gives the moon a slightly gibbous shape. In small telescopes, at the north or top end of the moon, the wide flat crater Plato has just entered sunlight. Long shadows from its crater walls will retreat across its flat floor. If you look closely you’ll notice that the floor of Plato is slightly convex to conform with the curvature of the moon itself. South of Plato is a distinctive triangle of three craters on the flat floor of the Sea of Showers The largest is Archimedes, the northern of the other two is Aristellus, while the other is Autolycus. They are near the Apollo 15 landing site.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
06/08/11 – Ephemeris – The bright planets this week
Wednesday, June 8th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 27 minutes, setting at 9:25. The moon, at first quarter today, will set at 1:44 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 5:57.
It’s Wednesday and time again to take a look at the whereabouts of the bright planets. The ringed planet Saturn will be visible in the south southwest as it gets dark. It’s near the bright star Spica to its lower left. Spica has a blue tinge, while Saturn is yellowish. It will set at 3:12 a.m. Saturn is a wonderful sight is a telescope with its rings. The shadows of the rings on the planet and planet on the rings are now near their maximum extent. Its bright moon Titan is also visible. Folks with good telescopes and good eyesight can also see uo to fours of Saturn’s fainter moons. Jupiter will rise at 3:40 a.m. in the east. Mars will rise at 4:30. Venus now rises too close to sunrise to be seen in the twilight as is Mercury.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
06/06/11 – Ephemeris – The moon tonight
Monday, June 6th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 25 minutes, setting at 9:24. The moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 12:50 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 5:58.
The moon tonight is a fat crescent. In binoculars the small Sea of Crises is prominently located as a gray patch at the edge of the moon. The Sea of Fertility is below it, while the sea of Tranquility is between them and near the terminator, the sunrise line on the moon. In telescopes there are three craters south of Tranquility, most prominent of which is Theophilus. With its prominent central peak. Farther to the north of Crises and near the terminator is the crater Posidonus, larger than Theophilus, but has a double crater wall on one side. Larger telescopes can see cracks in its floor . It has no central peak, and shows its age of maybe three and a half billion years.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The moon on June 6, 2011 - Virtual Moon Atlas
05/26/11 – Ephemeris – The bright star Spica
Thursday, May 26th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 9:14. The moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:04 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:03.
The bright star below and left of the planet Saturn these evenings is the 15th brightest night time star in the sky, called Spica. I’ve found that some pronounce it “Speeka”. Either is correct. It is the stalk of wheat the constellation Virgo is holding. Spica is actually two stars in a tight 4 day orbit of each other. They are both reasonably matched in mass and brightness. Astronomers give it a spectral type B which is a slightly blue star. I found out that once photographing a lunar eclipse near Spica, The star came out very blue. The twin stars of Spica are 260 light years away. I’m glad the stars are young now. They will have a very interesting future as they age and interact in the next few million years.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Follow the Spike to Spica, 5/26/2011
Note the unlables Saturn near Spics. The cross near the handle of the Big Dipper ro tail of Ursa major is the zenith at 11 p.m.
05/25/11 – Ephemeris – The bright planets this week.
Wednesday, May 25th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 9:13. The moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 2:42 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:04.
It’s Wednesday and time again to take a look at the whereabouts of the bright planets. The ringed planet Saturn will be visible in the south southeast as it gets dark. It’s near the bright star Spica to its lower left. Spica has a blue tinge, while Saturn is yellowish. It will cross the meridian due south at 10:13 p.m. and will set at 4:08 a.m. The morning planet traffic jam is breaking up. Rising first will be Jupiter at 4:28 a.m. in the east. Mars will rise at 5:13 followed by Venus 3 minutes later. Unless we have very clear skies and you have a very flat eastern horizon, you’d have to wait until maybe 5:15 or later to try to spot Venus. It will take binoculars to first locate them.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
