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Ephemeris: 08/14/2025 – Centaur or Teapot, you decide

August 14, 2025 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, August 14th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 8:49, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:45. The Moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 11:11 this evening.

Low in the south at 10:30 PM shines the heart of summer Milky Way. The constellation that’s seen there is Sagittarius which is supposed to be a centaur with a bow and arrow. We modern folk haven’t seen a centaur outside a Harry Potter movie, so we see its stars looking like a teapot, a short and stout little teapot like in the children’s song. It is tipped to the West with the Milky Way like steam rising from its spout, which is about to pour its tea on the southwestern horizon later tonight. Sagittarius is just begging to be explored with binoculars or a very low power telescope to see its myriad of stars, star clusters and nebulae. As fabulous as all this appears, we cannot see into the heart of the Milky Way for all the clouds of dust in the way.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

An animated constellation of Sagittarius and Teapot asterism finder.
An animated constellation of Sagittarius and Teapot asterism finder in 4 frames for about 10:30 PM, August 14th. First the stars as they would be seen in the sky. Second, lines showing the teapot asterism with the Milky Way seen as steam rising from the spout. Then the lines drawn of the constellation in a modern rendition. And finally, the art image showing the Centaur by Stellarium. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Categories: Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags: , ,

Ephemeris: 08/13/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

August 13, 2025 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for International Left-handers Day, Wednesday, August 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 7 minutes, setting at 8:51, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:44. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:47 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. The Red Planet Mars is getting so low in the western sky in evening twilight that I’ve given up on trying to spot it. This is the curse of trying to view evening planets, which are near the direction of the Sun in late summer and early fall, for us at higher latitudes. Mars won’t pass behind the Sun and enter the morning sky until January 9th. Saturn now rises at 10:23 PM in the east. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, less than 4° from being edge on. By 5:30 AM Saturn will be high in the south, when our winter pal Orion will be rising. Venus and Jupiter will appear very close. Venus is by far the brighter of the two.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Mars and Spica this evening in the western sky an hour after sunset
Mars and Spica this evening in the western sky an hour after sunset here (9:51 PM), August 13, 2025. With the smoke from the Canadian wild files, I doubt any stars or planets could be seen near the horizon. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn, Jupiter and Venus with some bright winter stars at 5:45 AM tomorrow morning
Saturn, Jupiter and Venus with some bright winter stars at 5:45 AM tomorrow morning, August 14th, 2025, looking from east-northeast to southwest. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tomorrow morning, August 14, 2025. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Feature labels are centered. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. On the morning of the August 14th 2025, Saturn will be 19.0″ in diameter, but its rings, even being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here., and extend to 44.2″. They are tilted 3.1° from being edge on. Jupiter will be 33.3″ in diameter. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 13.3″, and be 79.4% illuminated. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on August 13, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 14th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
A low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow
This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, August 13th and 14th, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others are not. The transit column is the time that the body crosses the meridian and is due south. Elong, for elongation, is the angle between the Sun and that body. RA is right ascension, which is the object’s east-west position on the celestial sphere in hours and minutes. Dec is declination which is the north-south position of the object on the celestial sphere in degrees and minutes. R is the distance of that object from the Sun in astronomical units. An astronomical unit is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. And Delta is the distance of that object from the Earth, also in astronomical units. I omit the ‘m’ in am and pm for compactness. The data was generated using my LookingUp for DOS app and displayed as a table by my Ephemeris Helper app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 08/12/2025 – A brief shot at viewing the Perseid meteors under darkened, but not dark skies

August 12, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 12th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 8:52, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:43. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 10:26 this evening.

Tonight we get a second chance to see some of the Perseid meteor shower. As I said yesterday, the Moon is going to interfere with this year’s display. But, there is a small interval during twilight this evening, before the moon rises, where the sky could be dark enough to see more than a few Perseids. For nearly half an hour after 10 PM, it might be dark enough to see the Perseids under reasonably dark skies. The radiant where the meteors appear to come from will be low in the north northeast, about 17° above the horizon which means the expected number of meteors one would see in a half hour would be about 15 and with a not quite dark skies probably be a little less than that. But it is a chance to see the Perseids this year.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

The dome of the sky at 10 PM this evening, August 12th 2025
The dome of the sky at 10 PM this evening, August 12th 2025. This is near the end of nautical twilight, a time when we amateur astronomers begin to view the brighter deep sky objects such as star clusters and nebulae. So it should be dark enough to see all but the faintest Perseid meteors before the Moon rises. The radiant PerR is low in the north northeast at that time, but the meteors will be seen all over the sky. Their tracks can be traced back to the radiant. Created using my LookingUp app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Meteor Shower, Observing Tags:

Ephemeris: 08/11/2025 – The best times to see the Perseid meteor shower

August 11, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, August 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 8:54, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:42. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 10:06 this evening.

Tonight’s most interesting astronomical events will occur tomorrow morning. The Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak tomorrow afternoon, so tomorrow morning and Wednesday morning will be about the best times to see the meteors, except that the bright Moon is going to interfere. So only the brightest meteors will be visible. Bonus: in morning twilight tomorrow the planets Venus and Jupiter will be in conjunction, meaning they’ll be at their closest appearance to each other by a little bit less than twice the width of the Moon apart. Early risers may have been noticing that Venus and Jupiter will have been slowly approaching each other, with Jupiter below and left of Venus. Tomorrow morning, Jupiter will pass just above Venus.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

My best Perseid photo. From the 1970's.
My best Perseid photo. From the 1970’s. The other streaks are stars due to the earth’s rotation during the time exposure of the stationary camera. The camera was aimed near the radiant, where the meteoric streaks are shorter because they are coming almost right at us. This one would be visible on the brightest moonlit night.

Categories: Conjunction, Ephemeris Program, Meteor Shower, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: , ,

Ephemeris: 08/06/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

August 6, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 26 minutes, setting at 9:01, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:36. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 4:13 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. The Red Planet Mars, May be seen very low in the western sky at 10 PM. Mars is moving toward Spica, a bit higher in the west-southwest. Mars will pass Spica on September 12th. By then they will be too low in the sky to be seen in twilight. Mars will leave the evening sky on January 9th. Saturn now rises at 10:50 PM in the east. In a telescope Saturn sports a very thin ring, less than 4° from being edge on. By 5:30 AM Saturn will be high in the south, when our winter pal Orion will be rising. Venus and Jupiter will appear very close. Venus is by far the brighter of the two. Their paths will cross on the morning of the 12th, where they will appear less than 2 moon-widths apart.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Mars and Spica this evening in the western sky near 10 PM, August 6, 2025
Mars and Spica this evening in the western sky near 10 PM, August 6, 2025. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tonight, August 6, 2025. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Feature labels are centered. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Saturn, Venus and Jupiter with some bright winter stars at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning, August 7th, 2025, looking from east-northeast to south.
Saturn, Venus and Jupiter with some bright winter stars at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning, August 7th, 2025, looking from east-northeast to south. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. On the evening of August 6, 2025, Mars will be 4.4″ in diameter, too small to be shown here. My lower size limit is 10″. On the morning of the 7th, Saturn will be 18.8″ in diameter, but its rings, even being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here., and extend to 43.8″. They are tilted 3.3° from being edge on. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 13.8″, and be 77.2% illuminated. Jupiter will be 32.9″ in diameter, though its satellites may not be visible in the morning twilight. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on August 6, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 7th.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on August 6, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 7th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
A low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, August 6th and 7th, 2025.
This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, August 6th and 7th, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others are not. The transit column is the time that the body crosses the meridian and is due south. Elong, for elongation, is the angle between the Sun and that body. RA is right ascension, which is the object’s east-west position on the celestial sphere in hours and minutes. Dec is declination which is the north-south position of the object on the celestial sphere in degrees and minutes. R is the distance of that object from the Sun in astronomical units. An astronomical unit is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. And Delta is the distance of that object from the Earth, also in astronomical units. I omit the ‘m’ in am and pm for compactness. The data was generated using my LookingUp for DOS app and displayed as a table by my Ephemeris Helper app.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 08/04/2025 – Mars’ twin

August 4, 2025 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Monday, August 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 31 minutes, setting at 9:04, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:33. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 2:10 tomorrow morning.

Low in the south as it gets dark is the red giant star Antares. It lies at the heart of Scorpius the scorpion. Its name means Rival of Mars, because it has the same hue as the red planet.  In Mars case the color comes from iron oxide, rust.  In Antares case it has a cool surface temperature, relatively speaking, of 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit (3,660 K).  As a red giant star Antares is near the end of its life, though compared to the Sun it is young – possibly 12 million years old.  At that age the Sun was just getting started.  Antares, with around 13 to 16 times the Sun’s mass, has already run out of fusible hydrogen in its core and has bloated out to double Mars’ orbit in size.  Antares is 550 light years away and has a companion star in its system that looks greenish in contrast to Antares red.  But, when Antares A, the red giant’s light is blocked, the companion looks bluish.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Antares finder: The southern sky at 10 PM tonight and 9 days from now, when the Moon is out of the way.
Antares finder: The southern sky at 10 PM tonight and 9 days from now, when the Moon is out of the way. The Teapot pattern of stars on the left of the image is Sagittarius. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Antares and companion.
Antares and companion. Credit to John Hothersall, posted on stargazerslounge.com, July 5, 2016 with the caption: “This is my best image of the two as the colour of the companion is obvious as seeing was good. Orbital period 1200-2600 years and separation 503 AU.”
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing, Stars Tags:

Ephemeris: 07/31/2025 – The Perseids are coming

July 31, 2025 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, July 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 41 minutes, setting at 9:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:29. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 11:59 this evening.

Over the past couple of weeks folks who are outdoors after the Moon sets in the morning might have been seeing some shooting stars or meteors appearing to zip through the sky. The ones I’m talking about seem to come from the northeast. These are the precursors of the Perseid meteor shower which will reach its peak on the mornings of August 12 and 13 this year with the interference of a bright Moon. Over the millennia the meteoroid stream that feeds the meteors to our skies has spread out to last over a month from the latter half of July to three-quarters of August. I try to use the proper terminology for all this. A meteoroid is the tiny body in space. In the Perseid’s case the size of a grain of sand to a pea. Meteor is the streak we see in the sky as it burns up. A meteorite is the body that makes it to the ground. To my knowledge no Perseid has made it that far.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Perseid fireballs in NASA all sky camera
Perseid fireballs in one of NASA’s all sky cameras during the morning hours of August 13, 2017. This is a long time exposure. The bright swath in the image is the Moon that morning. Since it is a time exposure, the radiant is also moving with the earth’s rotation so the meteors only seem to come from the northeastern sky. North is at the top, and East is to the left. Credit NASA.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Meteor Shower, Observing Tags:

Ephemeris: 07/30/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the Moon and the naked-eye planets

July 30, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, July 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 43 minutes, setting at 9:10, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:28. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 11:40 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. The Red Planet Mars, will be seen low in the western sky at 10:15 PM. Mars is moving toward Spica, higher in the west-southwest, which will be above the Moon tonight. Mars will pass Spica on September 12th. By then they will be too low in the sky to be seen in twilight. Saturn now rises at 11:15 PM in the east. When I had my first telescope, eagerly waiting for Saturn to rise, I had to wait more than a half hour to get a sharp image of it. By 5:30 AM Saturn will be high in the south, when our winter pal Orion will be rising. Venus will rise at 3:29 AM in the east-northeast and will be higher in the east by 5:30. Jupiter will be below and left of Venus.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Mars, Spica and the Moon this evening in the western sky near 10 PM
Mars, Spica and the Moon this evening in the western sky near 10 PM tonight, July 30, 2025. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tonight, July 30, 2025. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Feature labels are centered, except for Theophilus, Cyrillus, Catharina, and Proclus whose labels are to the left to avoid clutter. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Venus, Saturn and Jupiter with some bright winter stars at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning
Venus, Saturn and Jupiter with some bright winter stars at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning, July 31st, 2025, looking from east-northeast to south Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus and Jupiter as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. On the evening of July 23, 2025, Mars will be 4.5″ in diameter, too small to be shown here. My lower size limit is 10″. On the morning of the 31st, Saturn will be 18.6″ in diameter, but its rings, even being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here., and extend to 43.4″. They are tilted 3.3° from being edge on. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 14.4″, and be 74.9% illuminated. Jupiter will be 32.6″ in diameter, though its satellites may not be visible in the morning twilight. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on July 30, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 31st
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on July 30, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 31st. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
A low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, July 30th and 31st, 2025
This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, July 30th and 31st, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others are not. The transit column is the time that the body crosses the meridian and is due south. Elong, for elongation, is the angle between the Sun and that body. RA is right ascension, which is the object’s east-west position on the celestial sphere in hours and minutes. Dec is declination which is the north-south position of the object on the celestial sphere in degrees and minutes. R is the distance of that object from the Sun in astronomical units. An astronomical unit is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. And Delta is the distance of that object from the Earth, also in astronomical units. I omit the ‘m’ in am and pm for compactness. The data was generated using my LookingUp for DOS app and displayed as a table by my Ephemeris Helper app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 07/28/2025 – Deneb, a truly brilliant star

July 28, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, July 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 9:12, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:26. The Moon, halfway from new to first quarter, will set at 11:06 this evening.

This evening when it gets dark enough the bright star Deneb in Cygnus the swan will be high in the east-northeast. Deneb is the dimmest star of the summer triangle. Of the other stars of the triangle, Vega is higher in the east, while Altair is lower in the southeast. Deneb’s apparent magnitude, or brightness as seen from Earth, is deceptive. Its vast distance of possibly 2,600 light years is over 100 times the distance of Vega. If brought as close as Vega, Deneb would be almost as bright as the quarter moon. It is possibly as bright as 200 thousand Suns; and a huge star, possibly as large as half the diameter of Earth’s orbit. For all this, it is only 19 to 25 times the mass of the Sun.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Cygnus finder animation
Animated Cygnus finder chart. Included also are, beside Deneb, the other stars of the Summer Triangle: Vega and Altair and their constellations Lyra the harp and Aquila. See if you can find them. Created using Stellarium.
The ultraviolet light given off by Deneb is causing the nearby nebulae, rich in hydrogen to glow.
The intense ultraviolet light given off by Deneb, at the upper right edge, is causing the nearby hydrogen rich nebulae glow their characteristic red color. The North American Nebula is on the left, and the Pelican Nebula is to the right of it. The North American Nebula can be descerned with the naked eye just below Deneb as seen in the summer as a faint glow, though not its shape. Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Adam Block (CC BY 4.0)

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing, Stars Tags: , ,

Ephemeris: 07/23/2025 – Our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

July 23, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, July 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 58 minutes, setting at 9:18, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:20. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 5:43 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. The Red Planet Mars, will be seen low in the western sky at 10:30 PM. Mars is moving toward Spica, higher in the southwest. It will pass above Spica on September 12th. Mars moves much faster against the background stars than the more distant Jupiter and Saturn. Speaking of Saturn, it now rises just before midnight at just about due east, and by 5:30 AM will be high in the south. Venus will rise at 3:25 AM in the east-northeast and will be higher in that general direction by 5:30. Jupiter will be below and left of it then. That they will appear among the winter stars will become more apparent in the next few weeks.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Mars and Spica this evening in the western sky near 10:30 PM tonight.
Mars and Spica this evening in the western sky near 10:30 PM tonight, July 23, 2025. Created using Stellarium.
Venus, Saturn and Jupiter with some bright stars at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning.
Venus, Saturn and Jupiter with some bright stars at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning, July 24th, 2025, looking from northeast to south-south Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus and Jupiter (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. On the evening of July 23, 2025, Mars will be 4.5″ in diameter, too small to be shown here. My lower size limit is 10″. On the morning of the 24th, Saturn will be 18.4″ in diameter, but its rings, even being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here., and extend to 42.9″. They are tilted 3.5° from being edge on. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 15.0″, and be 72.6% illuminated. Jupiter will be 32.4″ in diameter, though its satellites may not be visible in the morning twilight. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on July 23, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 24th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
A low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow.
This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, July 23rd and 24th, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others are not. The transit column is the time that the body crosses the meridian and is due south. Elong, for elongation, is the angle between the Sun and that body. RA is right ascension, which is the object’s east-west position on the celestial sphere in hours and minutes. Dec is declination which is the north-south position of the object on the celestial sphere in degrees and minutes. R is the distance of that object from the Sun in astronomical units. An astronomical unit is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. And Delta is the distance of that object from the Earth, also in astronomical units. I omit the ‘m’ in am and pm for compactness. The data was generated using my LookingUp for DOS app and displayed as a table by my Ephemeris Helper app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing Tags: , , , , ,