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Ephemeris: 11/20/2023 – Observing the Moon tonight

November 20, 2023 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, November 20th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 24 minutes, setting at 5:10, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:47. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 12:42 tomorrow morning.

The moon was exactly first quarter at 5:50 this morning. By this evening it will be slightly gibbous. If I want to see the most detail on the Moon of any kind, the best time to observe it is within a few days of first quarter. More craters are visible, and other features are easier to see then. The southern part of the Moon or the bottom part, as we see it, is littered with craters. It’s called the lunar highlands, and they are really higher than the darker and flatter regions, which are called seas. There is no water in them but if the Moon did have water, that’s where it would be. There are a couple of mountain ranges which are actually the edges of a sea called Mare Imbrium that are just coming into view. They show up nicely with their shadows. It’s shadows that make the detail on the moon stand out, because the Moon basically is darker gray on lighter gray, so the only contrast is with shadows. That’s why I find the full moon to be so disappointing. No shadows.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Annotated Moon map for tonight
The Moon about 18 hours after first quarter, 8 pm November 20, 2023. It’s all Latin. Montes are mountains, a mare (pronounced mar-e) is a sea, a sinus is a bay. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Categories: Binoculars, Ephemeris Program, Observing, Telescope, The Moon

Ephemeris: 11/17/2023 – Observing this weekend’s Leonid meteor shower

November 17, 2023 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Friday, November 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 5:12, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:43. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 8:45 this evening.

The Leonid meteor shower will reach peak this weekend. The normal peak will be actually this evening before the radiant, where the meteors seem to come from, rise which they will do at 11 pm. So tomorrow morning it would be a good time to see them. We only expect about 15 meteors an hour at peak. There is a possibility of another peak on the 21st which is Tuesday morning just before dawn composed of supposedly bright meteors from the passage of the comet crossed Earth’s orbit in 1767. So if it’s clear, and you’re willing to go outdoors and see what you can see of the Leonid meteor shower. The Leonids get really spectacular about every 33 years, and we’re about 8 or 9 years from now.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Leo rising at around 2 a.m. on the morning of November 20. Note the radiant .
Leo seen at around 2 a.m. on the morning of November 18-21. Note the radiant in the sickle asterism of Leo. Created using Looking Up, my own program.
Leonid meteor shower as seen from space
The Leonid meteor shower as seen from space. The time is set for today so the Earth’s blue dot is lost in the stream of meteors crossing the Earth’s orbit (3rd one out from the Sun) just above 9 o’clock. The long ellipse is the orbit of Comet Tempel-Tuttle and the purple dot near the aphelion neat Uranus’ orbit is the calculated current position of the comet. The flurry of dots is the calculated positions of meteors that whose orbits have been calculated. Click on the image to enlarge. Credit: NASA’s CAMS video camera surveillance network, and were calculated by meteor astronomer Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center. This visualization is developed and hosted by Ian Webster.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Meteor Shower, Observing Tags:

Ephemeris: 11/15/2023 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week

November 15, 2023 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 15th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 35 minutes, setting at 5:14, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:40. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 6:35 this evening.

Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week. Three of those five planets are now visible but both Mars and Mercury set too close to sunset to be seen. Mars will actually be in conjunction with the Sun Friday and become a morning planet thereafter. So, Saturn and Jupiter are the only evening planets visible. Saturn, seen against the stars of Aquarius, can be seen moving from the south to the southwest in the evening. Saturn will be visible till almost 12:45 am. Jupiter is seen moving from low in the east to the high south in the evening, the brightest object in the sky. In Aries this year, Jupiter will be up most of the night. Venus, the brilliant morning star, will rise in the east-northeast at 3:41 am.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The only naked-eye planets visible in the evening are Jupiter and Saturn
The only naked-eye planets visible in the evening are Jupiter and Saturn and facing southeast one can see Jupiter to the left and Saturn to the right at 8 pm tonight, November 15, 2023. Also showing are the constellations of the Zodiac that they are in or near. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.
Venus at 7 am tomorrow
Venus at 7 am tomorrow, November 16, 2023. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification. At 8 pm November 15, 2023, for Saturn and Jupiter, and 7 am on the 16th, for Venus. Apparent diameters: Saturn 17.36″, its rings 40.43″; Jupiter 49.13″; and Venus 19.18″ and is 61.8% illuminated. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts) 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 November 15, 2023. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 16th. Note that the labels for the Sun and Mars overlap each other. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Naked-eye planets, Observing, Planets Tags: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 11/13/2023 – Betelgeuse is acting weird again

November 13, 2023 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, November 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 40 minutes, setting at 5:16, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:38. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.

The constellation Orion is rising early in the evening now 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. Now in the last year 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 about ready to go supernova. We’ve known that for a while, but soon is measured within 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). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Orion rising around 9:30 this evening, November 13, 2023. 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 part of it is dimmed by the presence of a dust cloud. Credit: ESO/M. Montargès et al.

Betelgeuse as recently seen from the Hubble Space Telescope
Betelgeuse as recently seen from the Hubble Space Telescope (Yes it is still in operation). It is not on the same scale as from ESO’s Very Large Telescope above. Credit: Andrea Dupree (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), Ronald Gilliland (STScI), NASA and ESA.

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

Ephemeris: 11/10/2023 – The Northern Taurid Meteor Shower reaches its peak Sunday night

November 10, 2023 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, November 10th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 47 minutes, setting at 5:20, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:34. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 5:38 tomorrow morning.

On Sunday night the North Taurid Meteor shower will reach its peak of about 15 meteors an hour. That’s not very many. However, there are reports that they are rather slow meteors and quite bright. They’re related to Encke’s comet. That comet has the shortest period of any comet of 3.3 years. So the meteoroid debris are not falling in from very far away from the Sun to reach us, so they’re moving rather slowly. The South Taurid meteor shower reached its peak last weekend with about the same number of meteors, and from the same comet. They’re also tangled up with something called the Antihelion meteor source, which is an ill-defined source of meteors which is directly opposite the Sun. Their radiant is near the Pleiades.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

The Taurid and Antihelion meteor radiants for 11 pm November 12th, give or take a few days. The Pleiades are located to the upper left of the capital N in Northern. The meteors are seen all over the sky, but can be traced back as coming from their particular radiant. Created using Stellarium.
Screen capture of a simulated Encke meteor stream through the inner solar system. Jupiter’s orbit is orange, Mars is red, Earth’s is blue. Meteor data from Peter Jenniskens, visualization developed by Ian Webster. Access via the International Meteor Organization (https://www.imo.net/)

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Meteor Shower, Observing Tags:

Ephemeris: 11/08/2023 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?

November 8, 2023 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 52 minutes, setting at 5:22, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:31. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:26 tomorrow morning.

Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week. Three of those five planets are now visible but both Mars and Mercury set too close to sunset to be seen. So, Saturn and Jupiter are the only evening planets visible. Saturn, seen against the stars of Aquarius, can be seen in the south in the evening. Saturn will be visible till almost 1 am. Jupiter is seen rising in the eastern sky in the evening, the brightest object in the sky. In Aries this year, Jupiter will be up all night. Venus, the brilliant morning star, will rise in the east-northeast at 3:29 am. It will be seen above the waning crescent Moon. In the southeast at 7 am in the bright morning twilight.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The only planets visible in the evening are Jupiter and Saturn and facing southeast one can see Jupiter to the left and Saturn way off to the right just west of south. Also showing are the constellations of the Zodiac that they are in or near. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.
Here are Venus and the Moon at 6:45 am, when most people are up early enough to see them. It got me to thinking that maybe there may be an occultation (hiding) of Venus behind the Moon earlier in the morning, so I cranked it back three hours to just after Venus and the Moon rose. No occultation here (see below). Doing further checking I found out there is an area on the world that the occultation will be visible. Created using Stellarium.
Here are the moon and Venus at 3:45 AM about 15 minutes after they will rise tomorrow morning showing that we in Michigan are still too far south to see the occultation. Created using Stellarium.
This is a map of where the occultation will be visible on the Earth. It will be seen on the northern part of this map. The left loop is where the occultation will occur around moonrise and the right loop is where the occultation will occur near moonset. The southern boundary of the occultation is the line between the loops. On the left it is a solid white line. North of that the occultation will be seen at night. There’s a little portion of blue in which the occultation will be seen during twilight and the red dots, which above that is where the occultation will be visible during the daytime. Europe will be able to see the occultation during the daytime, Greenland mostly at night and the occultation will be visible also from the very northern islands of Canada. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. The map was created using Occult version 4.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification. At 8 pm November 8, 2023, for Saturn and Jupiter, and 6:45 am on the 9th, for Venus. Apparent diameters: Saturn 17.56″, its rings 40.92″; Jupiter 49.33″; and Venus 20.42″ and is 58.7% illuminated. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts) and GIMP.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on November 8, 2023. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 9th. Note that the labels for Venus and the Moon overlap each other. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.

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

Ephemeris: 11/07/2023 – How to find the Great Andromeda Galaxy

November 7, 2023 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Election Day for some, Tuesday, November 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 55 minutes, setting at 5:23, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:30. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 2:22 tomorrow morning.

The closest large galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy is the Great Andromeda Galaxy, seen high in the eastern sky when it gets dark. It is barely visible to the naked eye. To locate it, first find a large square of stars high in the east-southeast standing on one corner, the Great Square of Pegasus. The left star of the square is the head of the constellation Andromeda. Follow two stars to the left and a bit downward, then two stars straight up. The galaxy is near that last star as a small smudge of light. Binoculars are the best way to see it as a thin spindle of light. Using a telescope, one can see, besides its nucleus, its two satellite galaxies.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

How to find the Great Andromeda Galaxy (M31) from the Great Square of Pegasus by star-hopping. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Impress, and an animated slide from my presentation “Stars, Stories and Galaxies of Autumn”, and GIMP.
Great Andromeda Galaxy
The Great Andromeda Galaxy (M31) as it might be seen in binoculars. Visually even in a telescope the hub of this galaxy is all that is seen. However, it can also be seen with the naked eye. My photograph.
This is a long exposure photograph of The Great Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and two of its satellite galaxies, M32 and M110. To the eye in binoculars or telescope only the glow inside the first dust band is visible. It takes long exposure photography to reveal the galaxy’s extent. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Image credit: One of our local amateur astronomers and astrophotographers, Dan Dall’Olmo, another slide from my autumn presentation.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Galaxies, Observing Tags: , , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 11/06/2023 – The Pleiades or Seven Sisters

November 6, 2023 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, November 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 5:25, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:28. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 1:18 tomorrow morning.

A marvelous member of the autumn skies can be found low in the east after 8 in the evening. It is the famous star cluster called the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. I might also add the ‘Tiny Dipper’. Many people can spot a tiny dipper shape in its six or seven stars, and mistake it for the Little Dipper. With binoculars, one can see over a hundred stars appear, along with the dipper shape of the brightest. In photographs, the Pleiades actually contain wisps of the dust they are currently passing through. In Greek mythology, the sisters were daughters of the god Atlas and Pleione.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Pleiades Rising
The Pleiades rising at 8 p.m. in early November. Created using Stellarium.
The Pleiades and Hyades
According to Greek mythology, this is a family portrait of the daughters of the god Atlas. The Hyades, which are also seen as the face of the constellation Taurus the bull, are the half sisters of the Pleiades. Astronomically, they are the older sisters. The Pleiades is the splashier of the two star clusters, being much younger, and having their hottest and brightest stars not yet having burned out. The Pleiades is three times farther away than the Hyades. The first magnitude star Aldebaran is not a member of the Hyades and is about half their distance away. The underlying photograph is mine.
The dusty reflection nebula surrounding and illuminated by the stars of the Pleiades
The dusty reflection nebula surrounding and illuminated by the stars of the Pleiades. Credit Dan Dall’Olmo.

I’ll be coming back to the Pleiades from time to time over the autumn and winter months to cover, especially, the mythology of the Pleiades from different cultures.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Mythology, Observing, Star Clusters Tags: , , , ,

Ephemeris: 11/02/2023 – Jupiter is at opposition from the Sun tonight

November 2, 2023 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, November 2nd. The Sun will rise at 8:21. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 6:30. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 9:57 this evening.

Tonight the planet Jupiter is at opposition from the Sun. It is the time when the Earth is directly between the Sun and Jupiter, so that Jupiter rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. So for the next 6 or so months Jupiter will be in the evening sky and officially an evening planet. To the naked eye Jupiter is the second brightest planet after Venus and without Venus in the sky it may be mistaken for Jupiter. In binoculars Jupiter appears very bright and not quite star-like. It also has several of its moons that are visible in binoculars. These are its Galilean moons discovered by Galileo back in 1609. In telescopes four can be seen although not all of them may be visible at one time because the moons move back and forth from one side to the other of the planet.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Jupiter and its four Galilean moons as seen for six consecutive nights starting tonight November 2nd (top) through November 7th, 2023 (bottom). Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts) and GIMP.

Follow Jupiter’s moons with this tool: Sky & Telescope’s Interactive Tool for Observing Jupiter’s Moons.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags: , ,

Ephemeris: 10/25/2023 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to?

October 25, 2023 Comments off

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 6:42, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:12. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 5:16 tomorrow morning.

Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week. Three of those five planets are now visible, but Mars sets too close to sunset to be seen, and Mercury rises too close to sunrise. Saturn is the sole official evening planet visible. It can be spotted in the southeast to south in the evening. And it will still be visible in the morning hours until it sets at 2:49 am. Saturn is seen against the stars of Aquarius this year and next. Jupiter and Venus are the visible morning planets. Jupiter, still a morning planet for one more week, will rise at 7:04 pm. It’s in Aries this year. Jupiter has to rise before sunset to be an evening planet. Venus, the brilliant morning star, will rise in the east-northeast at 4:09 am.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Jupiter and Saturn with the gibbous Moon tonight at 9 pm, October 25th 2023. Created using Stellarium.
The moon As it might be seen in a small telescope or binoculars, with selected features labeled, at 9 pm this evening, October 25th 2023. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Venus as seen in the sky at 7:00 tomorrow morning, October 26th 2023. It’s seen below constellation of Leo the lion a constellation of spring evenings. Jupiter, not shown, is low in the west at that hour. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification. At 9 pm October 25, 2023, for Saturn and Jupiter, and 7 am October 26, for Venus. Apparent diameters: Saturn 17.97″, its rings 41.87″; Jupiter 49.41″; and Venus 23.41″ and is 51.9% illuminated. Note that for Jupiter Europa will disappear in Jupiter’s shadow at 11:33 pm and end its occultation by Jupiter on the other side at 2:16 am; Io will enter Jupiter’s shadow at 6:25 am. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts). Jupiter satellite event timings were taken from https://www.projectpluto.com/jevent.htm
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on October 25, 2023. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 26th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.

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