Archive

Archive for the ‘Observing’ Category

Ephemeris: 02/19/2025 – All the naked-eye planets are seen in the evening this week

February 19, 2025 Comments off

Ephemeris: 02/19/2025 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 40 minutes, setting at 6:17, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:34. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 1:59 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 7 PM this evening four of the five naked eye planets will be out. Starting from the West we have Venus the brightest of all in the west southwest. Far below it, near the horizon, will be the much dimmer Saturn, which we are about to lose, or may already have, to the evening twilight. Jupiter, the second-brightest planet will be high in the south. It has reversed course and is heading back eastward now. Farther below it is the spectacular constellation of Orion the hunter. The fourth planet out is Mars, the third-brightest planet now, with its distinctive reddish hue, west of the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini, and in the east-southeast.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

A 7 PM February 19, 2025 planet panorama
A 7 PM February 19, 2025 planet panorama. Venus and Saturn are in the west-southwest, and Jupiter is in the south-southeast. Mars is in the east. This looks like the last time Saturn will be visible in the evening sky for a while. The in this projection the ecliptic (not shown) is a straight line, so the planets and Moon nearly line up, but the horizon is curved. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tomorrow morning
The Moon tomorrow morning, February 20, 2025, as it might appear in a small telescope at 6 AM, in the south. Selected features are labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Telescopic Venus, Jupiter and Mars
Telescopic Venus, Jupiter and Mars (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. All the planets are shown for tonight, 8 PM, February 19, 2025. Apparent diameters: Venus 42.4″ and rapidly growing as it approaches us, 22.9% illuminated, it now appears larger than Jupiter; Jupiter 40.8″; Mars, 11.8″. Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
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 February 19, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 20th. 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, February 19 and 20, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others 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, Planets Tags: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 02/18/2025 – Finding Orion’s greater hunting dog

February 18, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, February 18th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 37 minutes, setting at 6:15, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:36. The Moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 12:52 tomorrow morning.

The great winter constellation or star group Orion the Hunter, is located in the south-southeastern sky at 8 p.m. His elongated rectangle of a torso is almost vertical. In the center of the rectangle are three stars in a line that mark his belt. As a hunter, especially one of old, he has two hunting dogs. The larger, Canis Major can be found by following the three belt stars of Orion down and to the left. There lies the brilliant star called Sirius, also known as the Dog Star. It’s in the heart of a stick figure dog low in the southeast, facing Orion, that appears to be begging. There’s a fine star cluster, called M41, at the 5 o’clock position from Sirius, easily visible in binoculars or a small telescope.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

An animated GIF Finder for Canis Major the great dog of Orion in three frames
An animated GIF Finder for Canis Major the great dog of Orion in three frames. First, the stars as you would see them in the sky; second with constellation lines and a pointer from the belt of Orion to Sirius; third with the fanciful figures of the constellations. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Categories: Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags: , ,

Ephemeris: 02/12/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

February 12, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Darwin Day, Wednesday, February 12th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 6:07, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:45. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 6:21 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 7 PM this evening four of the five naked eye planets will be out. Starting from the West we have Venus the brightest of all in the west southwest. Far below it, near the horizon, will be the much dimmer Saturn, which we are about to lose to the evening twilight. Jupiter, the second-brightest planet will be high in the south-southeast. It is reversing course and beginning to head back eastward now. Farther below it is the spectacular constellation of Orion the hunter. The 4th planet out is Mars, the third-brightest planet now, with its distinctive reddish hue, west of the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini, and just about due east. The full Moon will be rising in the east.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

A 7 PM February 12, 2025 planet panorama
A 7 PM February 12, 2025 planet panorama. Venus and Saturn are in the west-southwest, and Jupiter is in the south-southeast. Mars is in the east. The in this projection the ecliptic (not shown) is a straight line, so the planets and Moon nearly line up, but the horizon is curved. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tonight, February 12, 2025, as it might appear in a small telescope at 7 PM
The Moon tonight, February 12, 2025, as it might appear in a small telescope at 7 PM, shortly after rising. Since this is about 10 hours after the Moon was full, shadows are beginning to be visible in craters at the upper right edge. Selected features are labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification
Telescopic Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. All the planets are shown for tonight, 8 PM,February 5, 2025. Apparent diameters: Saturn 15.8″, its rings 36.8″, 2.2 degrees from edge on and closing; Venus 38.0″ and rapidly growing as it approaches us, 28.9% illuminated; Jupiter 41.8″; Mars, 12.7″. Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on February 12, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 13th.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on February 12, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 13th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
This is 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, February 12 and 13, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others 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, Planets Tags: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 02/06/2025 – The Moon tonight, two days after first quarter

February 6, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, February 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 5:59, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:54. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 4:30 tomorrow morning.

Tonight the moon will be about a day and a half past first quarter it is showing some very nice craters for the binoculars or small telescope. Near the south end of the moon near the terminator, the sunrise line, is the crater called Clavius which has an arc of several craters within it, each of decreasing size. North or above that is the sharp-edged crater called Tycho which, during a full moon, shows several long ejecta rays across the face of the Moon, but are almost invisible now. Near the top edge of the Moon the flat floored crater called Plato is seen by the edge of the large sea Mare Imbrium or Sea of Showers. A mountain range at the opposite side of Imbrium is called the Apennines Mountains.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

The Moon tonight, February 6, 2025, as it might appear in a small telescope
The Moon tonight, February 6, 2025, as it might appear in a small telescope. Selected features are labeled, including those mentioned in the program. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
The crater Clavius as seen from above
The crater Clavius as seen from above. It’s one of the largest on the Moon of 140 miles or 225 kilometers in diameter. It sports a curious arc of inner craters. It looks like 5 craters in an arc of decreasing size, moving counterclockwise from the 5 o’clock position on the crater wall. The largest crater looks like it’s older than the others. This is an image from the Virtual Moon Atlas a free software program.
The crater Plato seen from overhead
The crater Plato seen from overhead with the Virtual Moon Atlas, along with the Alps Mountains (Montes Alpes) . Plato is known as a walled plain some 63 miles in diameter or 101 kilometers in diameter. An interesting feature of the Alps mountains is the long gash called the Alpine valley.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing, The Moon Tags: ,

Ephemeris: 02/05/2025 – Let’s take our weekly look at the naked-eye planets

February 5, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 1 minute, setting at 5:57, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:55. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 3:14 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 7:30 PM this evening four of the five naked eye planets will be out. Starting from the West we have Venus the brightest of all in the west southwest. Far below it, near the horizon, will be the much dimmer Saturn. Jupiter, the second-brightest planet will be high in the south-southeast. It is reversing course and beginning to head back eastward now. Farther below it is the spectacular constellation of Orion the hunter. The 4th planet out is Mars, the third-brightest planet now, with its distinctive reddish hue, near the star Pollux in Gemini, and just about due east. The fifth naked eye planet, Mercury, is too close to the Sun to be visible.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

A 7 PM February 5, 2025 planet panorama
A 7 PM February 5, 2025 planet panorama. Venus and Saturn are in the west-southwest, and Jupiter is in the south-southeast. Mars is in the east. The in this projection the ecliptic (not shown) is a straight line, so the planets and Moon nearly line up, but the horizon is curved. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tonight, February 5, 2025, as it might appear in a small telescope. Selected features are labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars
Telescopic Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. All the planets are shown for tonight, 8 PM,February 5, 2025. Apparent diameters: Saturn 15.9″, its rings 37.0″, 2.6 degrees from edge on and closing; Venus 34.3″, 34.5% illuminated; Jupiter 42.7″; Mars, 13.3″. Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on February 5, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 6th.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on February 5, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 6th. 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, February 5 and 6, 2025
This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, February 5 and 6, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others 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: 01/31/2025 – Previewing February Skies

January 31, 2025 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, January 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 47 minutes, setting at 5:50, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:01. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 8:39 this evening.

January was a wild and crazy month, let’s hope February is short and sweet. Well, at least it’ll be short. The daylight hours throughout the month will be getting longer. Daylight hours will increase from 9 hours and 50 minutes tomorrow to 11 hours and 8 minutes on the 28th. The sunrise time will decrease from 8:01 today to 7:21 at month’s end. The sunset times will increase from 5:51 tomorrow to 6:29 on the 28th. Along with that the altitude of the Sun at noon will increase from 28.4 degrees tomorrow to 37.6 degrees at month’s end. It will be a degree lower for folks in the Straits area because they are a degree of latitude farther north. Local noon, by the way for Interlochen and Traverse City is about 12:56 p.m. The Moon will be near Saturn tonight.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

February Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for February 2024, (9 p.m. EST February 14, 2025). Created using my LookingUp program.
Star Chart for February 2025, (9 p.m. EST February 14, 2025). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 14th at 9 PM EST in the evening and 6 AM 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 (rotating star finder) you may have to set it to 45 minutes or one hour 45 minutes (Daylight Time) earlier than the current time.

Note the chart times of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. are for the 14th and 15th. For each week before these dates, add ½ hour (28 minutes if you’re picky). For each week after, subtract ½ hour. Planet positions on dates other than the 15th can be found in the Wednesday planet posts on this blog.

February Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for February mornings, 2025 (6 a.m. EST February 15, 2024). No naked-eye planets are visible at chart time. Created using my LookingUp program.
Star Chart for February mornings, 2025 (6 a.m. EST February 15, 2025). No naked-eye planets are visible at chart time. 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

      EST        
  Morning Twilight Evening Twilight Dark Night Moon
Date Astro. Nautical Nautical Astro. Start End Illum.
2025-02-01 6h22m 6h56m 19h00m 19h35m 21h58m 6h22m 0.17
2025-02-02 6h21m 6h55m 19h02m 19h36m 23h16m 6h21m 0.27
2025-02-03 6h20m 6h54m 19h03m 19h37m – 6h20m 0.37
2025-02-04 6h19m 6h53m 19h04m 19h38m 0h35m 6h19m 0.49
2025-02-05 6h18m 6h52m 19h05m 19h39m 1h55m 6h18m 0.6
2025-02-06 6h17m 6h51m 19h07m 19h41m 3h15m 6h17m 0.71
2025-02-07 6h16m 6h49m 19h08m 19h42m 4h30m 6h16m 0.8
2025-02-08 6h14m 6h48m 19h09m 19h43m 5h36m 6h14m 0.88
2025-02-09 6h13m 6h47m 19h11m 19h44m – – 0.94
2025-02-10 6h12m 6h46m 19h12m 19h46m – – 0.98
2025-02-11 6h11m 6h44m 19h13m 19h47m – – 1
2025-02-12 6h09m 6h43m 19h14m 19h48m – – 1
2025-02-13 6h08m 6h42m 19h16m 19h50m – – 0.97
2025-02-14 6h07m 6h40m 19h17m 19h51m 19h51m 20h35m 0.93
2025-02-15 6h05m 6h39m 19h18m 19h52m 19h52m 21h39m 0.88
2025-02-16 6h04m 6h38m 19h20m 19h53m 19h53m 22h43m 0.81
2025-02-17 6h02m 6h36m 19h21m 19h55m 19h55m 23h47m 0.73
2025-02-18 6h01m 6h35m 19h22m 19h56m 19h56m – 0.64
2025-02-19 6h00m 6h33m 19h23m 19h57m 19h57m 0h53m 0.55
2025-02-20 5h58m 6h32m 19h25m 19h58m 19h58m 2h00m 0.46
2025-02-21 5h56m 6h30m 19h26m 20h00m 20h00m 3h07m 0.36
2025-02-22 5h55m 6h29m 19h27m 20h01m 20h01m 4h10m 0.26
2025-02-23 5h53m 6h27m 19h29m 20h02m 20h02m 5h06m 0.18
2025-02-24 5h52m 6h25m 19h30m 20h04m 20h04m 5h52m 0.1
2025-02-25 5h50m 6h24m 19h31m 20h05m 20h05m 5h50m 0.04
2025-02-26 5h48m 6h22m 19h33m 20h06m 20h06m 5h48m 0.01
2025-02-27 5h47m 6h21m 19h34m 20h08m 20h08m 5h47m 0
2025-02-28 5h45m 6h19m 19h35m 20h09m 20h09m 5h45m 0.02

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

   Date       Time    Event     
Feb  1  Sa            Venus: 45° E
     1  Sa   3:27 PM  Moon-Venus: 2.4° N
     1  Sa   5:06 PM  Moon Ascending Node
     1  Sa   9:43 PM  Moon Perigee: 367500 km
     5  We   3:02 AM  First Quarter
     6  Th   1:43 AM  Moon-Pleiades: 0.5° S
     8  Sa   5:40 AM  Moon North Dec.: 28.6° N
     9  Su   6:57 AM  Mercury Superior Conj.
     9  Su   2:36 PM  Moon-Mars: 0.8° S
    10  Mo  12:19 AM  Moon-Pollux: 2.2° N
    11  Tu  12:03 AM  Moon-Beehive: 2.7° S
    12  We   8:53 AM  Full Moon
    12  We   6:21 PM  Moon-Regulus: 2.3° S
    15  Sa   1:53 AM  Moon Descending Node
    17  Mo   7:01 AM  Moon-Spica: 0.3° N
    17  Mo   8:11 PM  Moon Apogee: 404900 km
    20  Th  12:32 PM  Last Quarter
    21  Fr   3:21 AM  Moon-Antares: 0.5° N
    22  Sa   5:32 PM  Moon South Dec.: 28.7° S
    27  Th   7:45 PM  New Moon
Mar  1  Sa            Venus: 30.4° E
All event times are given for UTC-5 Eastern Standard 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

LU               Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
February, 2025    Local time zone: EST
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Sat  1| 08:01a  05:51p  09:50 | 06:58p  06:55a |      Set  09:57p   15%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  2| 08:00a  05:53p  09:53 | 06:59p  06:54a |      Set  11:15p   24%|
|Mon  3| 07:59a  05:54p  09:55 | 07:00p  06:53a |      Set  12:35a   35%|
|Tue  4| 07:57a  05:56p  09:58 | 07:01p  06:52a |      Set  01:55a   46%|
|Wed  5| 07:56a  05:57p  10:01 | 07:03p  06:51a |F Qtr Set  03:14a   57%|
|Thu  6| 07:55a  05:59p  10:03 | 07:04p  06:50a |      Set  04:30a   68%|
|Fri  7| 07:54a  06:00p  10:06 | 07:05p  06:48a |      Set  05:36a   78%|
|Sat  8| 07:52a  06:01p  10:09 | 07:06p  06:47a |      Set  06:29a   86%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  9| 07:51a  06:03p  10:12 | 07:08p  06:46a |      Set  07:10a   93%|
|Mon 10| 07:49a  06:04p  10:14 | 07:09p  06:45a |      Set  07:42a   97%|
|Tue 11| 07:48a  06:06p  10:17 | 07:10p  06:43a |      Set  08:06a  100%|
|Wed 12| 07:47a  06:07p  10:20 | 07:12p  06:42a |Full  Rise 06:21p  100%|
|Thu 13| 07:45a  06:08p  10:23 | 07:13p  06:41a |      Rise 07:29p   98%|
|Fri 14| 07:44a  06:10p  10:26 | 07:14p  06:39a |      Rise 08:34p   94%|
|Sat 15| 07:42a  06:11p  10:29 | 07:16p  06:38a |      Rise 09:38p   89%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 16| 07:41a  06:13p  10:32 | 07:17p  06:37a |      Rise 10:42p   82%|
|Mon 17| 07:39a  06:14p  10:35 | 07:18p  06:35a |      Rise 11:47p   75%|
|Tue 18| 07:38a  06:15p  10:37 | 07:19p  06:34a |      Rise 12:52a   66%|
|Wed 19| 07:36a  06:17p  10:40 | 07:21p  06:32a |      Rise 01:59a   57%|
|Thu 20| 07:34a  06:18p  10:43 | 07:22p  06:31a |L Qtr Rise 03:06a   47%|
|Fri 21| 07:33a  06:20p  10:46 | 07:23p  06:29a |      Rise 04:09a   38%|
|Sat 22| 07:31a  06:21p  10:49 | 07:25p  06:28a |      Rise 05:06a   28%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 23| 07:29a  06:22p  10:52 | 07:26p  06:26a |      Rise 05:53a   19%|
|Mon 24| 07:28a  06:24p  10:55 | 07:27p  06:24a |      Rise 06:30a   12%|
|Tue 25| 07:26a  06:25p  10:59 | 07:28p  06:23a |      Rise 07:00a    6%|
|Wed 26| 07:24a  06:26p  11:02 | 07:30p  06:21a |      Rise 07:25a    2%|
|Thu 27| 07:23a  06:28p  11:05 | 07:31p  06:20a |New   Set  06:14p    0%|
|Fri 28| 07:21a  06:29p  11:08 | 07:32p  06:18a |      Set  07:34p    1%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Created using my LookingUp for MS-DOS app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Month preview, Observing Tags:

Ephemeris: 01/30/2025 – What’s up with Betelgeuse

January 30, 2025 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, January 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 45 minutes, setting at 5:49, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:02. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 7:20 this evening.

The constellation Orion is in the southeast at 8 PM, so what’s up with Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is the bright reddish upper leftmost star of the torso of Orion the hunter, it’s in his shoulder. Betelgeuse has been acting up lately. In 2019 and 2020 Betelgeuse had dimmed significantly. Astronomers didn’t know why at the time, but found out later that it ejected a large cloud of gas and dust which blocked the light from the star. Since then Betelgeuse has increased its brightness significantly, so it’s much brighter than normal. Again, we don’t exactly know why. Some have speculated that Betelgeuse is will soon go supernova. We’ve known that for a while, but soon is measured in hundreds of thousands of years. So astronomers are keeping an eye on Betelgeuse to see what happens next.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

The constellation Orion the hunter in its orientation at 8:00 PM tonight, January 29th with lines outlining his body.
The constellation Orion the hunter in its orientation at 8:00 PM tonight, January 30th with lines outlining his body. Its two brightest stars Betelgeuse and Rigel labeled. Both Betelgeuse and Rigel are very massive stars with a short lifetime. By short, I mean millions of years not billions like the Sun. Betelgeuse is much farther along in its life cycle than Rigel which is 30% farther away. Created using Stellarium.
Betelgeuse before and after dimming
This comparison image shows the star Betelgeuse before and after its unprecedented dimming. The observations, taken with the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in January and December 2019, show how much the star has faded and how its apparent shape has changed. Credit: ESO/M. Montargès et al.
Betelgeuse's dust plume
An image of the star Betelgeuse taken in infrared shows it’s surrounded by a vast cloud of dust that erupted from the surface (the bright star itself is masked out, though an image of it has been superposed there for scale — it’s about the size of the orbit of Jupiter, over a billion km wide). Credit: ESO/P. Kervella/M. Montargès et al., Acknowledgement: Eric Pantin via Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy blog on syfy.com, which is no longer active.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing, Stars Tags: ,

Ephemeris: 01/29/2025 – Our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

January 29, 2025 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 5:47, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:03. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 8 PM this evening four of the five naked eye planets will be out. Starting from the West we have Venus the brightest of all low in the west southwest. Almost directly below it will be the much dimmer Saturn. Jupiter, the second-brightest planet will be high in the south-southeast. Below it is the letter V shape of stars that is the head of Taurus the bull. Farther below is the spectacular constellation of Orion the hunter. The 4th planet out is Mars, the third-brightest planet now, with its distinctive reddish hue, near the star Pollux in Gemini, and just about due east. The fifth naked eye planet, Mercury, is too close to the Sun in the morning to be visible.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

An 8 PM January 29, 2025 planet panorama
An 8 PM January 29, 2025 planet panorama. Venus and Saturn are in the west-southwest, and Jupiter is in the south-southeast. Mars is in the east. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification
Telescopic Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. All the planets are shown for tonight, 8 PM, January 29, 2025. Apparent diameters: Saturn 16.0″, its rings 37.3″, 3.0 degrees from edge on andclosing; Venus 30.7″, 40.0% illuminated; Jupiter 43.8″; Mars, 13.9″. Planetary surface detail is more subtle than shown here. Europa will disappear behind Jupiter at 9:44 PM EST (UT-5), and reappear from the planet’s shadow at 2:39 AM. The ” means seconds of arc, or 1/3600th of a degree. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
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 January 29, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 30th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
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, January 29 and 30, 2025. Some of the columns are self-explanatory, others 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: 01/28/2025 – Tranquility amongst chaos

January 28, 2025 1 comment

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, January 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 40 minutes, setting at 5:46, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:04. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 8:34 tomorrow morning.

We’ve come off a tumultuous week, and while this program deals with topics generally in the heavens. Events on the Earth more than occasionally intrude. I often remind folks that the Earth is a planet too; an astronomical object in someone else’s sky. I consider astronomy not to be just about the heavens but about the entire universe of which the Earth is a part. The heavens above the Earth to the naked eye at least seems to be a tranquil place. That is because we cannot, with our human senses, pick up the energies of the great collisions and the other cataclysms in the universe, due to distance, our protective atmosphere and our limited senses. So going out under the stars for a while is a way to get away from it all: far, far away.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Silhouette of photographer with camera and Milky Way blackground
Silhouette of photographer with camera and Milky Way blackground. Designed by Freepik. https://www.freepik.com

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing, Stars Tags:

Ephemeris: 01/27/2025 – Gemini the twins with Mars this year

January 27, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, January 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 38 minutes, setting at 5:44, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:05. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 8:00 tomorrow morning.

Another famous winter constellation is Gemini. The constellation of Gemini the Twins is visible halfway to the zenith in the east, at the top and left of Orion the hunter, at 9 pm. The namesake stars of the two lads, are the two bright stars at the left end of Gemini, and are high and are due east. Castor is on top, while Pollux is below. From them come two lines of stars that outline the two, extending horizontally toward Orion. Mars is passing in front of the stars of Gemini during the first quarter of this year, reaching the western end of its retrograde loop and doubling back to the east. In Greek mythology the Gemini twins were half brothers, Castor was fathered by a mere mortal, while Pollux was fathered by Zeus, but were born together as twins. When Castor was killed during the quest for the Golden Fleece, Pollux pleaded with Zeus to let him die also, so Zeus placed them together in the sky.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

The image of Gemini in four frames.
The image of Gemini in four frames. The first are the stars of the constellation Gemini with the planet Mars as it would be seen tonight, January 27th 2025. The second are the lines of the constellation as I see it, with the star names of Castor and Pollux and another star of the constellation. The third is Stellarium’s image of the twins against the stars. The fourth frame is the track of Mars against the stars of Gemini over the period of the three months January through March 2025 shown at 10 day intervals. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Categories: Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Mythology, Observing Tags: , , ,