Archive
03/24/2015 – Ephemeris – The Moon will be passing in front of the Hyades tonight
Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 24th. The Sun will rise at 7:38. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 8:00. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 1:16 tomorrow morning.
Tonight he Moon will be crossing in front of the Hyades star cluster, otherwise known as the face of the constellation Taurus the bull. The Moon will make it about half way across by the time it sets. The Moon is 2160 miles in diameter and moves about the same distance in an hour as it orbits the Earth. The International Space Station and other satellites in low Earth orbit have to travel 17,500 miles an hour to stay in orbit. But since the Earth’s gravity, or the gravitational force of any body diminishes with the square of the distance. Double the distance and the gravitational force diminishes by a factor of four. This inverse square law as it is known also works with the diminution of light with distance from its source.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Moon is travelling in front of the Hyades at 10 p.m. March 24, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
03/05/2015 – Ephemeris – Tonight’s moon is the smallest full moon of the year
Ephemeris for Thursday, March 5th. The Sun will rise at 7:13. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 6:35. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 6:48 this evening.
We’ve heard all about the supermoon, when the moon is at its closest. This is supposedly best seen when the full moon is rising. Of course the rising moon or sun, or the setting of these bodies look larger than normal due to an optical illusion. Well tonight’s full moon is the opposite. The Moon is at apogee, which is the farthest it gets in its orbit of the Earth. It’s 253 thousand miles (406 thousand km) from Earth. So the Moon should be, let me see, a mini-moon? So the Moon should appear small as it rises tonight. So if it’s clear tonight you might check out the moon. Does it appear as large as it usually does? Or does it appear smaller? The moon, being alone in the sky lacks anything else to compare its size to. It makes estimations difficult.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Here are the full mini and supermoons of the year. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts)
02/25/2015 – Ephemeris – It’s planet day on Ephemeris
Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 25th. The sun will rise at 7:27. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 6:24. The moon, at first quarter today, will set at 2:28 tomorrow morning.
Lets take a look at the bright planets and a fading binocular comet for this week. Brilliant Venus is in the west-southwest by 7 p.m. It will set at 8:55 p.m. It’s separating from Mars which appears below and right of it. The Red Planet will set tonight at 8:46 p.m. Jupiter will appear In the southeastern sky in the evening. It will be up just about all night, and will set at 6:44 a.m. It’s near the sickle-shaped head of Leo the lion, and it’s the brightest star-like object in the sky. Early risers will be able to spot Saturn which will rise in the east-southeast at 1:48 a.m. It’s in the south at 6 a.m. Comet Lovejoy, visible in binoculars, is about half way from the star at the end of Andromeda, called Almaak and the “W” of Cassiopeia.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus and Mars low in the west after sunset. This is 7 p.m., February 25, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter with the first quarter moon and the winter stars at 9 p.m., February 25, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
Closeup of the Moon and Aldebaran at 9 p.m. on February 25, 2015. They appeared their closest at 6 p.m. They might be glimpsed with binoculars or a small telescope at that time.
Jupiter and it’s moons at 9 p.m. February 25, 2015. Note that at this time the Great Red Spot is on the face if Jupiter. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Looking southward at Saturn and a preview of the summer constellations at 6 a.m. February 26, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
What Saturn and its moons might appear like in a telescope at 6 a.m., February 26, 2015. Small telescopes will show only the moon Titan. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).
The track of Comet 2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) from 2/25/15 to 03/03/15 which will appear high in the west at 9 p.m. The comet is approaching Cassiopeia. The comet is dropping below binocular visibility, so this is the last time I will cover it on this blog. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).
01/28/2015 – Ephemeris – Wednesday is bright planet and comet day on Ephemeris
Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 28th. The sun will rise at 8:06. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 39 minutes, setting at 5:45. The moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 3:37 tomorrow morning.
Lets take a look at the bright planets and a pretty bright comet for this week. Venus is in the west-southwest by 6:30 p.m. It will set at 7:41. Mercury is now too close to the direction of the sun to be seen. Mars appears above and left of Venus in the southwest, and is in the constellation of Aquarius. The Red Planet will set tonight at 8:42 p.m. Jupiter, 9 days from being in opposition from the sun, and opposite the sun in the sky, when it will be rising at sunset and setting at sunrise will rise tonight in the east at 6:27 p.m. It’s near the sickle-shaped head of Leo the lion. Early risers will be able to spot Saturn which will rise in the east-southeast at 3:32 a.m. Comet Lovejoy, visible in binoculars, is near the short end of the constellation of Triangulum.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus and Mars with the setting autumn constellations at 7 p.m. January 28, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter, the Moon and the constellations of winter at 9 p.m. January 28, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
What the moon might look like in binoculars at 9 p.m. January 28, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
What Jupiter and its moons might appear like in a telescope at 9 p.m., January 28, 2015. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).
Saturn and a preview of the summer constellations at 6:30 a.m. January 29, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
What Saturn and its moons might appear like in a telescope at 6:30 a.m., January 29, 2015. Small telescopes will show only the moon Titan. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).
Comet Lovejoy
The track of Comet Lovejoy for the next week (from 1/28/2015 to 2/03/2015 at 9 p.m.) Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).
There are some fuzzy objects in this part of the sky. However only M31, the Great Andromeda Galaxy, is bright enough to be mistaken for the comet. Next Tuesday and Wednesday the comet will appear close to Almaak (γ Andromedae), a 2nd magnitude star. Note: six of the seven Big Dipper stars are 2nd magnitude.
01/27/2015 – Ephemeris – Looking at a valley on the Moon
Ephemeris for Tuesday, January 27th. The sun will rise at 8:07. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 36 minutes, setting at 5:44. The moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 2:36 tomorrow morning.
If it’s clear tonight drag out that telescope to look at the Moon. Your telescope may flip the moon around, viewing the Moon in different orientations. What I’m describing will be north is up, south is down. Your telescope may flop the image, so check your telescopic view with how it appears to the naked eye. I will use the north-south terminology. And we’ll stick close to the terminator, the sunrise line on the Moon. One of the striking linear features of the moon is the Alpine Valley, about 2/3rds the way from the center of the moon to the north pole. It is a fault valley through the lunar Alps. About half way from the center of the Moon to the north pole. It’s the largest of three craters in a nearly right triangle. It’s named after Archimedes.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Moon at 9 p.m. EST (UT -5h) January 27, 2015. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas.
I notice that I have quite a few followers to this blog from the UK. Unfortunately for you folks the crater Archimedes will not yet be visible tonight. I’ve labeled some extra craters that I didn’t discuss in the program, plus I’m adding the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mosaic that’s mapped onto the Virtual Moon Atlas globe.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mosaic of the region at the eastern shore of Mare Imbrium. Credit NASA/GSFC/LRO, Virtual Moon Atlas
01/26/2015 – Ephemeris – First quarter Moon, a telescopic asteroid misses the Earth tonight and a Jupiter shadow recap
Note: Ephemeris program generally features objects in the sky that are visible to the naked eye or binoculars. However in the blog, with the ability to expand in both content and illustrations I can add information for telescopic observers and expand postings.
Ephemeris for Monday, January 26th. The sun will rise at 8:08. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 34 minutes, setting at 5:42. The moon, at first quarter today, will set at 1:30 tomorrow morning.
The Moon will be perfectly half illuminated by the sun at 11:48 p.m. The gray patches that appear on the Moon’s surface were called by early telescopic astronomers: seas; because they thought they were bodies of water. The Moon is pretty much bone dry, except for some eternally shadowed craters at the poles, which still aren’t wet because the water is frozen. Anyway the seas or maria on the moon are indeed low spots. The seas, from the top center of the moon down to the lower right are Serenity, Tranquility, Nectar and Fertility. To the upper right all by itself is the Sea of Crises. From Serenity to Fertility some can imagine an upside down rabbit, with ears of unequal sizes. In a few more days we’ll see the face of the man in the Moon.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
First Quarter Moon
Rabbit in the first quarter Moon. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas.
Tonight Asteroid 2004 BL86 will pass three times the Moon’s distance from the Earth
This evening a rather large asteroid for a Near Earth Object or NEO will pass three-quarters of a million miles from the Earth. The asteroid has the designation 2004 BL86. The cool thing is that this asteroid is half a kilometer or so meters across, that’s 5 soccer or football fields in diameter. Radar from this close passage should nail down the size and shape. Between Goldstone Tracking Station and Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico the asteroid should be mapped down to 2 to 4 meters. It would be definitely not cool if this asteroid ever hit the Earth. It will be 9th magnitude, and so will be visible in small telescopes, and it will cross the east or left side of the Beehive star cluster also designated M44 starting about midnight tonight.
If you want to observe the event and don’t have the equipment head on over to www.slooh.com. This is the site for Slooh (pronounced “slew”) Community Observatory which has observatories in the Canary Islands and Chile, and partners with others. Besides these events, members can schedule time and use the telescopes via the internet. Check the above link for more information.
The chart below is from NASA/JPL’s Near Earth Object Program: Updated Charts for Asteroid 2004 BL86 Earth Flyby on Jan 26, 2015
The track of asteroid 2004 BL86 as viewed from the Earth, plotted on a star chart with an equatorial coordinate grid. The asteroid location is shown at four-hour intervals from January 26 to 28. The indicated times are Universal Time; subtract 5 hours for Eastern Standard Time (EST), 6 hours for CST, and 8 hours for PST. On January 26, the asteroid will pass within 11 degrees of Jupiter, now shining brightly in the east in the evening sky. Image and caption credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. JPL orbit solution #43, with star chart graphics produced using C2A. Click to enlarge.
Below is a chart from Universe Today. Here’s a link to their web page.
A Black on white chart of asteroid 2004 BL86 crossing to the right of M44. Note that the actual path depends on your location since the chart is based on the center of the Earth. The closer to your horizon the greatest deviation from the path shown. Time Ticks are for CST. Add one hour to them for EST. The Midnight tick mark is 0 h UT or GMT the 27th. Credit Universe Today and created with Chris Marriott’s SkyMap software.
Sky and Telescope has charts that have BL86’s track plotted about 15 minutes ahead of the track above. It is a newer chart, so the asteroid’s position may have been updated. The Sky and Telescope narrative and charts are here.
Results from Jupiter’s early Saturday satellite shadow play
The video live feed from the Griffith Planetarium in Los Angeles was a bust. It suffered from what astronomers call bad seeing. I mean really horrible seeing. Astronomers ascribe at least two qualities to the sky, other than brightness due to the moon or light pollution. That is transparency and seeing. Seeing is the steadiness of the sky. What Jupiter looked like was looking at a small disk at the bottom of a swimming pool while the kids are still playing in it. At first I ascribed it to Jupiter being low in the LA sky, being 3 hours west of here. But it didn’t get better as the night progressed. I could occasionally make out Callisto’s shadow, just because I knew where it’s supposed to be. But that’s it.
However my friend from the Detroit area, Scott Anttila, blessed at least for a while with clearer and calmer skies got some wonderful pictures of the first part of the multiple shadow event.
Left to right the shadows of Io and Callisto crossing the face of Jupiter at 12:52 a.m. January 24, 2015. Credit Scott Anttila.
Note that Callisto has a larger shadow than Io. That’s mainly due to it’s greater distance from Jupiter that makes its shadow larger and fuzzier than the closer Io.
In this picture Io’s shadow has just caught up with Callisto’s shadow. Credit: Scott Anttila.
Rocking animation of the early stages of the shadow show on Jupiter. Callisto’s shadow already on the planet while Io’s shadow is just entering. Also Io’s transit is starting, following its shadow on the planet. Credit: Scott Anttila
01/23/2015 – Ephemeris – Checking on Comet Lovejoy and the Moon.
Ephemeris for Friday, January 23rd. The sun will rise at 8:11. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 27 minutes, setting at 5:38. The moon, half way from new to first quarter, will set at 9:59 this evening.
The crescent moon is growing brighter but shouldn’t bother binocular views of Comet Lovejoy, now between the Pleiades and the small constellation of Triangulum, a narrow pointy triangle. Tonight only it’s above the crescent Moon. The Moon in binoculars or a small telescope is revealing more of its surface nightly. The Sea of Crises or Mare Crisium is now fully in sunlight and The Sea of Fertility Or Mare Fecunditatis is now half in sunlight, with the odd pair of craters Messier and Messier A right at the terminator near the center of the sea. Check these craters after a few days and an odd ray pattern will appear. Apparently the body or bodies that created them came in at a very low angle and threw material forward in a couple of streaks.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Comet Lovejoy appearing tonight only above the Moon. This is for 8 p.m. January 23, 2015. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts)
The Moon through a telescope at low power. 8 p.m., January 23, 2015. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas and Gimp.
The Craters Messier A and B from Apollo 11. NASA
01/22/2015 – Ephemeris – Let’s spot the Moon and Mars with a bonus look at Neptune
Ephemeris for Thursday, January 22nd. The sun will rise at 8:11. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 25 minutes, setting at 5:37. The moon, 2 days past new, will set at 8:44 this evening.
Tonight the crescent moon is nearing Mars low in the southwest in the early evening. The motion of Mars has been interesting for the last few months. Even though the Sun is overtaking it in the sky, it has been setting later each night, not earlier. This is due to the fact Mars is moving northeasterly in the sky, and the sun also is setting later. The moon, is a thin crescent. In binoculars, the terminator is crossing the small, near circular Sea of Crises near the top of the crescent. Lower down, in binoculars and especially in small telescopes a beautiful crater of Langrenus is fully visible. I have a picture of it from Apollo 8, a photograph from orbit. It looks pretty much like it will be visible tonight only a lot clearer.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Magnified field with Mars, and the Moon. Neptune is also in the field for 7 p.m. January 22, 2015. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).
The Moon with Earth shine at 7 p.m. January 22, 2015. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas and GIMP.
The crater Langrenus as imaged by the Apollo 8 crew on their historic orbiting of the Moon Christmas Eve 1968. Credit: NASA.
12/24/2014 – Ephemeris – Twas the night before Christmas and only the planets and a comet were stirring
Ephemeris for Christmas Eve, Wednesday, December 24th. The sun will rise at 8:17. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:06. The moon, 3 days past new, will set at 8:37 this evening.
Twas the night before Christmas and only the planets were stirring. Venus is low in the southwest shortly after sunset. It now sets at 6:09 p.m., 63 minutes after the sun. It will be tough to spot at all. New Year’s Eve might be a good time to start to see it. Mars, low in the southwest at 7 p.m. has the Moon just to the right of it tonight. Mars will set tonight at 8:34 p.m. Jupiter, which will be our Christmas Star this year will rise in the east at 8:59 p.m. It’s near the sickle shaped head of Leo. Jupiter is now moving slowly westward. This is an effect that happens because the Earth is passing Jupiter, a motion shared by all the planets that baffled the ancients who thought the Earth to be motionless. Saturn will rise in the east-southeast at 5:34 a.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
The Planets tonight
Venus low on the horizon, and the Moon, at 5 30 p.m. on December 24, 2014. Created using Stellarium.
The crescent Moon through binoculars, at 5 30 p.m. on December 24, 2014. Created using Stellarium.
Mars and the Moon at 7:30 p.m. on December 24, 2014. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and the winter constellations at 11 p.m. on December 24, 2014. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter with three hidden satellites, with only Callisto showing at 11 p.m. on December 24, 2014. See blow by blow of the satellite disappearances below. Created using Stellarium.
Jovian satellite events of the night of December 24-25, 2014
Ganymede starts eclipse (enters Jupiter’s shadow) 6:20 p.m.
Europa starts eclipse 8:27p.m.
Io’s shadow starts crossing Jupiter 9:32 p.m.
Ganymede leaves Jupiter’s shadow 10:00 p.m.
Ganymede starts being occulted by Jupiter 10:11 p.m.
Io’s transit across the face of Jupiter starts 10:29 p.m.
Io’s shadow leaves the face of Jupiter 11:50 p.m.
Io’s transit of Jupiter ends 12:46 a.m.
Europa’s occultation by Jupiter ends 1:10 a.m.
Ganymede’s occultation by Jupiter ends 1:50 a.m.
Note that Europa’s occultation by Jupiter starts before its eclipse ends, so unlike the more distant Ganymede there isn’t an interval of visibility between the two.
Jovian satellite event timings provided by Project Pluto www.projectpluto.com
Saturn low in the east-southeast among the constellations of late spring and early summer at 6:30 a.m. on Christmas morning 2014 . Created using Stellarium.
Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)
Normally my Ephemeris program deals with celestial objects that are visible to the naked eye. While Comet Lovejoy will, for a few weeks become brighter than 6th magnitude the normal limit for the unaided human eye, a comet is a diffuse object and always looks dimmer than a star of the same magnitude. This comet was discovered August 17, 2014 by Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy. He has discovered 5 comets. His most famous find was C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) that buzzed the Sun and survived becoming a magnificent comet for southern hemisphere observers.
Recently Comet Lovejoy became brighter than expected. The data for the charts below are from Minor Planet Center and do not include new brightness estimates that include the outburst. They have the comet reaching magnitude 4.9. The aerith.net website gives the maximum brightness next month of 4. (Magnitudes are like golf scores the lower the magnitude the brighter the object). Each magnitude step is a brightness difference of about 2 and a half times. To check on the comet go to http://www.aerith.net/comet/weekly/current.html. Currently Comet Lovejoy is the brightest comet now visible and is the first comet on the list. Clicking on the comet ‘s name will give you the comet’s page. The last chart on the page is a chart tracking the comet’s brightness from reports vs. prediction. That chart predicts a magnitude of 4 just after the first of the year.
Photographs of the comet show a gaseous coma (head) and a very faint ion tail, which may not be visible visually in binoculars and telescopes. Right now the comet is highest around midnight.
The finder charts below designate the comet by month-day and the predicted magnitude
Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) at 11 p.m. at 2 day intervals from tonight 12/24/2014 to 1/17/2015. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).
Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) at 8 p.m. at 2 day intervals from tonight 1/17/2015 to 2/12/2015. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).
On December 28th Comet Lovejoy will appear to pass the globular cluster M79.
Comet Lovejoy and M79 a distant globular star cluster, in the constellation of Lepus the hare, will appear together at 11 p.m. December 28th, 2014. Note the that M79 is the unlabeled blue dot in the tail of the comet, next to the head. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).
10/10/14 – Ephemeris – Hunters Moon effect… Same as the Harvest Moon effect
Ephemeris for Friday, October 10th. The sun will rise at 7:51. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 7:06. The moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 8:41 this evening.
Let’s talk about the Moon one more time this week. Wednesday’s lunar eclipse came on the hunter’s moon. Like the harvest moon, the previous full moon, the bright Moon lingers in the twilit sky. We are two days past full moon and the Moon rises just before the end of twilight. 50 minutes is the average night to night advance in moon rise times. Depending on what part of the sky the moon is in, the nightly delay in rise times can be as little as 35 minutes or as long as an hour and 5 minutes. The smallest moon rise advance is when the moon is near the constellation Pisces and the longest advance time is when the moon is near Virgo. It doesn’t matter the season, it’s where the moon is in the sky. We only notice it when the moon is near full.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum (4 p.m.)
The Hunters/Harvest Moon effect for 2014. Note the shallowness of the Moon’s path. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
The Worm (March Full Moon) Moon effect for 2014. Note the the steepness of the Moon’s path. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Note that the brown shading on the bottom of the images is below the horizon. The yellow line is the ecliptic or plane of the Earth’s orbit. The motion of all the objects in the sky due to the Earth’s rotation is to the upper right parallel to the celestial equator line that crosses the horizon below the E or east compass point. The red smudge on the ecliptic is the display of the Earth’s shadow for the 5 days of the display. Note in the top image that early on October 8th the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow, which gave us the lunar eclipse that morning. On the Worm Moon image the Moon misses the Earth’s shadow. However you can see that the Moon is tracking toward the ecliptic. The next month on April 15th, the Moon did indeed pass through the earth’s shadow, giving us a lunar eclipse that morning.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 