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Ephemeris: 03/12/2026 – Cancer the crab used to welcome summer

March 12, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, March 12th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 7:45, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:58. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 5:25 tomorrow morning.

There’s a line on some globes and maps at approximately 23 1/2° north latitude called the Tropic of Cancer. It’s related to the constellation Cancer the crab. However, Cancer no longer fits that role that it was named to a couple of thousand years ago, when the sun entered the constellation of Cancer on the first day of summer. That’s the latitude on the Earth where the Sun was directly overhead on the first day of summer. Now that an honor goes to Gemini. The way we draw the figure of that constellation, the Sun is right near Castor’s big toe on the first day of summer. But I don’t think they’re going to change the name anytime soon. The reason for the change is that the Earth’s axis slowly wobbles like a top or gyroscope as they slow down. The effect is called precession.

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; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Comparison of the position of the Sun against the constellations on the summer solstice from 150 CE to now due to the precession of the equinoxes.
Comparison of the position of the Sun against the constellations on the summer solstice from 150 CE to now due to the precession of the equinoxes. The reason I chose 150 CE, is that it was the approximate date of Ptolemy’s Almagast, the standard work on astronomy until Copernicus in the 16th century or later. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
How the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn line up with the Sun on the solstices.
How the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn line up with the Sun on the solstices. From an animation in Wikipedia, in the Public Domain.

The Greek letter epsilon in the image above represents the tilt of the Earth’s axis of around 23.5°. Astronomers call it the obliquity of the ecliptic, the angle between the ecliptic and the celestial equator as seen in the illustration below.

An animation of the precession of the equinoxes.
An animation of the precession of the equinoxes. The blue horizontal line is the celestial equator. The orange line is the ecliptic, the apparent annual path of the Sun against the stars. Where the two lines cross is the vernal equinox where the Sun is on the first day of spring, which on our calendar is trending to be March 20th. The slippage of the stars eastward (to the left) along the ecliptic is about the apparent width of the Sun or Moon, or half a degree, in 36 years. We’re looking at two different years 150 CE, the time of Ptolemy, and our time. To tell which is which, the one from our time has Saturn at the lower right. Jupiter happens to be in both of them, but it’s obviously been around lots of times between then and now. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Precesion animation
The 25,700-year cycle of precession as seen from near the Earth. The current North Pole star is Polaris (top). In about 8,000 years it will be the bright star Deneb (left), and in about 12,000 years, Vega (left center). The Earth’s rotation is not depicted to scale – in this span of time, it would actually rotate over 9 million times. Credit image Tfrooo, caption Wikipedia.
Categories: Concepts, Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Seasons, Uncategorized Tags:

Ephemeris Extra: 03/06/2026 – GTAS meeting tonight, Dr. Jerry Dobek returns to the dark side.

March 6, 2026 Comments off

Tonight at 8 p.m. at the meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory, and on Zoom. Observatory Director Dr. Jerry Dobek will be giving a talk on what he calls dark material. This is from a new book he collaborated on: Barnard Album: A Colorful Look at Dark Nebulae. A new look at the nebulae from E. E. Barnard’s black and white photographic plates with modern color digital photography, including objects that were captured but not cataloged. Dark nebulae are clouds of gas and dust seen in the summer Milky Way. After the meeting, at 9 PM, if it’s clear there will be viewing of the skies. The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Road between Garfield and Keystone roads. Zoom instructions will be at gtastro.org.

The Barnard Album book cover.
The book cover
Categories: Uncategorized

Ephemeris: 10/17/2025 – Fomalhaut, lonely again

October 17, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Friday, October 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 52 minutes, setting at 6:54, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:02. The Moon, halfway from last quarter to new, will rise at 5:04 tomorrow morning.

There’s a bright star that appears for only seven and a half hours on autumn evenings. Its appearance, low in the south in the evening, is a clear indication of autumn. It is currently below and right of the much brighter Saturn. The star’s name is Fomalhaut, which means fish’s mouth. That’s fitting because it’s in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish. At our latitude it’s kind of the fish that got away, because Fomalhaut is low in our skies where stars lose more than half their brightness. For the last few years Jupiter, then Saturn have kept it company. However, Saturn is moving on, having shifted into Pisces, leaving Fomalhaut to its lonely vigil in the south.

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

A Finder animation for Fomalhaut in three frames.
A Finder animation for Fomalhaut in three frames. First, the stars as they might appear in the sky at 10 PM tonight October 17, 2025. Second, the constellation lines. Third the constellation art provided by Stellarium. Credit Stellarium, labels added via LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Stars, Uncategorized Tags: , ,

Ephemeris: 08/22/2025 – Star Party tomorrow night the 23rd

August 22, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Friday, August 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 8:36, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:55. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 7:10 tomorrow morning.

Weather permitting, the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society and the Park Rangers will host a star party at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, at the Dune Climb tomorrow night, starting around 9 PM. The parking lane closest to the dune will be blocked off for telescopes. The start time is after sunset, and the brighter stars will be visible by 9:15. As it gets darker some of the brighter interstellar wonders of our Milky Way galaxy, will appear, with many star clusters and nebulae, including a peek at the Great Andromeda Galaxy next door. The Rangers will leave around 11 PM however if it stays clear and there’s enough interest, society members with their telescopes will stay longer. This is the last Sleeping Bear Dunes star party 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

Setting up for the star party
Setting up for the star party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes’ Dune Climb parking lot on July 26, 2025.
Looking for the first star to appear.
Looking for the first star to appear, Vega, a half hour after sunset.
Park rangers set up a lighted trail as an added night activity
Park rangers set up a lighted trail as an added night activity that would also take place if the star party is clouded out.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, GTAS Outreach Event, Star Party, Uncategorized Tags: ,

Ephemeris: 07/16/2025 – Our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

July 16, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, July 16th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 9:24, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:13. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 12:20 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. The Red Planet Mars, will be seen to the upper left of the bright star Regulus in the constellation Leo the lion. Both are seen low in the western sky by 10:30 PM at least. Mars is moving away from Regulus, close to the horizon in the west-northwest toward Spica, higher in the southwest. Mars moves much faster against the background stars than the more distant Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter is in the morning sky now very low in the east-northeast by 5:15 AM. Venus will rise at 3:23 AM in the east-northeast, and by 5 AM will be seen in the east, as the Morning Star. By then Saturn will be in the south-southeast, and below the last quarter Moon tomorrow morning.

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, Regulus and Spica this evening in the western sky near 10:30 PM tonight.
Mars, Regulus and Spica this evening in the western sky near 10:30 PM tonight, July 16, 2025. Created using Stellarium.
Venus, Saturn and Jupiter with some bright stars at 5:15 AM tomorrow morning.
Venus, Saturn and Jupiter with some bright stars at 5:15 AM tomorrow morning, July 17th, 2025, looking from northeast to south-southeast. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tomorrow morning, July 17, 2025. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Telescopic Saturn, Venus and Jupiter.
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 16, 2025, Mars will be 4.6″ in diameter, too small to be shown here. My lower size limit is 10″. On the morning of the 17th, Saturn will be 18.2″ in diameter, but its rings, even being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here., and extend to 42.4″. They are tilted 3.6° from being edge on. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 15.8″, and be 70.1% illuminated. Jupiter will be 32.2″ 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 16, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 17th. 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 16th and 17th, 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, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 07/02/2025 – Taking our weekly look at the naked-eye planets

July 2, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, July 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 9:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:02. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 1:18 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. The Red Planet Mars, will be seen to the upper left of the bright star Regulus in the constellation Leo the lion. Both are seen in the western sky by 10:30 PM at least. At that time Mercury might be spotted low on the west-northwestern Lake Michigan horizon. This is not a favorable appearance of Mercury. Jupiter passed conjunction with the Sun last week, but it will be nearly a month before it will appear in our morning sky. Venus will rise at 3:28 AM in the east northeast, and by 5 AM will be seen low in the east, as the Morning Star. By then Saturn will be in the southeast, having risen nearly 2½ hours earlier.

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 Regulus this evening with Mercury and the Moon in the western sky near 10:30 PM tonight, July 2, 2025.
Mars and Regulus this evening with Mercury and the Moon in the western sky near 10:30 PM tonight, July 2, 2025. Mercury is seen here, but will probably be invisible from my latitude as being too low in the sky. The farther south one goes, at least to the equator, the higher Mercury will appear. Mercury’s evening appearances in summer and fall are poor ones for us mortherners. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon tonight, July 2, 2025. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Venus and Saturn at 5 AM tomorrow morning, July 3rd, 2025.
Venus and Saturn at 5 AM tomorrow morning, July 3rd, 2025, in the east-southeastern sky. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic Saturn and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification.
Telescopic Saturn and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope with the same magnification. On the evening of July 2, 2025, Mercury will have an apparent diameter of 7.9″ and be 42.9% illuminated. Mars will be 4.8″ in diameter. Both are too small to be shown here. My lower size limit is 10″. On the morning of the 3rd, Saturn will be 17.8″ in diameter, but its rings, being nearly edge on, should show up brighter than seen here., and extend to 41.4″. They are tilted 3.6° from being edge on. Venus’ apparent diameter will be 17.5″, and be 64.7% 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 July 2, 2025. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 3rd. 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 2nd and 3rd, 2025.
This is a low precision ephemeris of the Sun Moon and naked eye planet positions for today and tomorrow, July 2nd and 3rd, 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, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 05/01/2025 – Previewing May Skies

May 1, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, May 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 8:48, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:30. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 2:05 tomorrow morning.

May is here, when the promise made on Groundhog Day is finally fulfilled. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area will increase from 14 hours and 15 minutes today to 15 hours 20 minutes on the 31st. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will ascend from 61 degrees now to 67 degrees at month’s end. The altitude of the Sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower than that, but your daylight hours will be a few minutes longer. Local apparent noon this month, when the Sun passes due south, will be about 1:38 p.m. This is the month of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower which will reach its peak next week Tuesday morning. There will be less than an hour of prime viewing after the Moon sets at 4:03 AM.

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

May Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for May 2025 (11 p.m. EDT, May 15, 2025). Click or tap on image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp program.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 11 p.m. EDT in the evening and 4 a.m. on the 16th for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian, West 75° longitude. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Note, the chart times of 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. are for the night of the15/16th. For each week before then add ½ hour (28 minutes if you’re picky). For each week after then, subtract ½ hour or 28 minutes. The planet positions are updated each Wednesday on this blog. For planet positions on dates other than the 15th, check the Wednesday planet posts on this blog for their weekly locations.

May Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for May mornings, 2025 (4 a.m. EDT, May 16, 2025). Click or tap on image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp program.

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.
  • Leaky dipper drips on Leo
  • Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, and
  • Extend like a spike to Spica,
  • EaqR is the radiant of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower that peaks on the 5th.

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

      EDT        
  Morning Twilight Evening Twilight Dark Night Moon
Date Astro. Nautical Nautical Astro. Start End Illum.
2025-05-01 4h36m 5h21m 22h02m 22h47m 1h09m 4h36m 0.26
2025-05-02 4h34m 5h19m 22h04m 22h49m 2h06m 4h34m 0.36
2025-05-03 4h32m 5h17m 22h06m 22h51m 2h48m 4h32m 0.46
2025-05-04 4h30m 5h16m 22h07m 22h53m 3h19m 4h30m 0.57
2025-05-05 4h28m 5h14m 22h09m 22h55m 3h44m 4h28m 0.66
2025-05-06 4h26m 5h12m 22h10m 22h57m 4h03m 4h26m 0.75
2025-05-07 4h24m 5h11m 22h12m 22h59m 4h20m 4h24m 0.83
2025-05-08 4h22m 5h09m 22h13m 23h01m – – 0.89
2025-05-09 4h19m 5h07m 22h15m 23h03m – – 0.94
2025-05-10 4h17m 5h06m 22h16m 23h05m – – 0.98
2025-05-11 4h15m 5h04m 22h18m 23h07m – – 1.00
2025-05-12 4h13m 5h02m 22h20m 23h09m – – 1.00
2025-05-13 4h11m 5h01m 22h21m 23h11m – – 0.98
2025-05-14 4h09m 4h59m 22h23m 23h13m 23h13m 23h42m 0.94
2025-05-15 4h07m 4h58m 22h24m 23h15m 23h15m – 0.89
2025-05-16 4h05m 4h56m 22h26m 23h17m 23h17m 0h36m 0.82
2025-05-17 4h04m 4h55m 22h27m 23h19m 23h19m 1h21m 0.74
2025-05-18 4h02m 4h54m 22h29m 23h21m 23h21m 1h58m 0.64
2025-05-19 4h00m 4h52m 22h30m 23h22m 23h22m 2h27m 0.53
2025-05-20 3h58m 4h51m 22h31m 23h24m 23h24m 2h51m 0.42
2025-05-21 3h56m 4h50m 22h33m 23h26m 23h26m 3h12m 0.31
2025-05-22 3h54m 4h48m 22h34m 23h28m 23h28m 3h32m 0.21
2025-05-23 3h53m 4h47m 22h36m 23h30m 23h30m 3h52m 0.12
2025-05-24 3h51m 4h46m 22h37m 23h32m 23h32m 3h51m 0.05
2025-05-25 3h49m 4h45m 22h38m 23h34m 23h34m 3h49m 0.01
2025-05-26 3h48m 4h44m 22h40m 23h36m 23h36m 3h48m 0.00
2025-05-27 3h46m 4h43m 22h41m 23h37m 23h37m 3h46m 0.02
2025-05-28 3h45m 4h42m 22h42m 23h39m 23h51m 3h45m 0.06
2025-05-29 3h43m 4h41m 22h43m 23h41m – 3h43m 0.13
2025-05-30 3h42m 4h40m 22h45m 23h43m 0h41m 3h42m 0.21
2025-05-31 3h41m 4h39m 22h46m 23h44m 1h18m 3h41m 0.31

The twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), with some corrections.

See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2018/09/27/.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

   Date       Time    Event
May  1  Th            Venus: 40.9° W
     1  Th   2:35 AM  Moon North Dec.: 28.6° N
     2  Fr   8:02 PM  Moon-Pollux: 2.2° N
     3  Sa   7:12 PM  Moon-Mars: 2.2° S
     3  Sa   7:27 PM  Moon-Beehive: 2.6° S
     4  Su   7:59 AM  Mars-Beehive: 0.4° N
     4  Su   9:52 AM  First Quarter
     4  Su  10:07 PM  Eta Aquariid Shower: ZHR = 60
     5  Mo   1:58 PM  Moon-Regulus: 2.2° S
     7  We   7:44 PM  Moon Descending Node
    10  Sa   3:43 AM  Moon-Spica: 0.4° N
    10  Sa   8:49 PM  Moon Apogee: 406200 km
    12  Mo  12:56 PM  Full Moon
    14  We  12:10 AM  Moon-Antares: 0.3° N
    15  Th   2:44 PM  Moon South Dec.: 28.5° S
    17  Sa   8:55 PM  Uranus Conjunction
    20  Tu   7:59 AM  Last Quarter
    22  Th   4:05 AM  Moon Ascending Node
    22  Th   1:51 PM  Moon-Saturn: 2.8° S
    23  Fr   7:52 PM  Moon-Venus: 4° S
    25  Su   9:37 PM  Moon Perigee: 359000 km
    26  Mo  11:02 PM  New Moon
    28  We  12:16 PM  Moon North Dec.: 28.4° N
    30  Fr  12:07 AM  Mercury Superior Conjunction
    30  Fr   5:13 AM  Moon-Pollux: 2.4° N
    31  Sa   4:00 AM  Moon-Beehive: 2.3° S
    31  Sa   9:59 PM  Venus Elongation: 45.9° W
Jun  1  Su            Venus: 45.9° W

Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html.

Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events

LU              Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
May, 2025    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Thu  1| 06:32a  08:48p  14:15 | 10:00p  05:20a |      Set  02:05a   24%|
|Fri  2| 06:30a  08:49p  14:18 | 10:02p  05:18a |      Set  02:47a   34%|
|Sat  3| 06:29a  08:50p  14:21 | 10:03p  05:16a |      Set  03:19a   44%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  4| 06:28a  08:51p  14:23 | 10:05p  05:14a |F Qtr Set  03:43a   54%|
|Mon  5| 06:26a  08:53p  14:26 | 10:06p  05:13a |      Set  04:03a   64%|
|Tue  6| 06:25a  08:54p  14:28 | 10:08p  05:11a |      Set  04:20a   73%|
|Wed  7| 06:23a  08:55p  14:31 | 10:10p  05:09a |      Set  04:36a   81%|
|Thu  8| 06:22a  08:56p  14:33 | 10:11p  05:08a |      Set  04:51a   88%|
|Fri  9| 06:21a  08:57p  14:36 | 10:13p  05:06a |      Set  05:08a   94%|
|Sat 10| 06:20a  08:59p  14:38 | 10:14p  05:04a |      Set  05:27a   97%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 11| 06:18a  09:00p  14:41 | 10:16p  05:03a |      Set  05:50a   99%|
|Mon 12| 06:17a  09:01p  14:43 | 10:17p  05:01a |Full  Rise 09:34p  100%|
|Tue 13| 06:16a  09:02p  14:45 | 10:19p  05:00a |      Rise 10:39p   98%|
|Wed 14| 06:15a  09:03p  14:48 | 10:20p  04:58a |      Rise 11:41p   95%|
|Thu 15| 06:14a  09:04p  14:50 | 10:22p  04:57a |      Rise 12:36a   90%|
|Fri 16| 06:13a  09:05p  14:52 | 10:23p  04:55a |      Rise 01:21a   83%|
|Sat 17| 06:12a  09:06p  14:54 | 10:25p  04:54a |      Rise 01:57a   75%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 18| 06:11a  09:08p  14:57 | 10:26p  04:52a |      Rise 02:27a   66%|
|Mon 19| 06:10a  09:09p  14:59 | 10:28p  04:51a |      Rise 02:51a   55%|
|Tue 20| 06:09a  09:10p  15:01 | 10:29p  04:50a |L Qtr Rise 03:12a   45%|
|Wed 21| 06:08a  09:11p  15:03 | 10:31p  04:48a |      Rise 03:32a   34%|
|Thu 22| 06:07a  09:12p  15:05 | 10:32p  04:47a |      Rise 03:51a   23%|
|Fri 23| 06:06a  09:13p  15:06 | 10:33p  04:46a |      Rise 04:13a   14%|
|Sat 24| 06:05a  09:14p  15:08 | 10:35p  04:45a |      Rise 04:39a    7%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 25| 06:04a  09:15p  15:10 | 10:36p  04:44a |      Rise 05:12a    2%|
|Mon 26| 06:04a  09:16p  15:12 | 10:37p  04:42a |New   Set  09:25p    0%|
|Tue 27| 06:03a  09:17p  15:13 | 10:39p  04:41a |      Set  10:44p    1%|
|Wed 28| 06:02a  09:18p  15:15 | 10:40p  04:40a |      Set  11:50p    5%|
|Thu 29| 06:01a  09:19p  15:17 | 10:41p  04:39a |      Set  12:40a   11%|
|Fri 30| 06:01a  09:19p  15:18 | 10:42p  04:38a |      Set  01:17a   19%|
|Sat 31| 06:00a  09:20p  15:20 | 10:43p  04:37a |      Set  01:45a   29%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Created using my LookingUp for DOS app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Month preview, Uncategorized Tags:

Ephemeris: 04/22/2025 – Earth Day

April 22, 2025 1 comment

This is Ephemeris for Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 8:37, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:44. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:48 tomorrow morning.

Earth Day was established in 1970, 2 years after William Anders in Apollo 8 took a picture of the Earth rising over the desolate moon, the Earth, a blue white oasis, in a hostile universe. I say support your local planet, there is no Planet B in case you messed this one up. Elon Musk wants to make the human race multi-planetary, which is a fine idea over time. It may take over a century to make any kind of Mars Base self-sustaining, if ever. I can’t see how we can terraform Mars, that is make Mars earth-like, because of lack of material. Mars was more earth-like in its first billion years, but it has no magnetic field. Any large atmosphere it had when it had oceans has long been stripped away by the solar wind.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Earthrise from Apollo 8
An Oasis in space. The famous Earthrise photograph: ”We went to the Moon and discovered the Earth.” Credit NASA/Apollo 8/Bill Anders.
The Pale Blue Dot.. The Earth photographed by Voyager 1 in 1990 on its way out of the solar system past Neptune. Credit: NASA.

Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.

― Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Categories: Uncategorized

Ephemeris: 03/31/2025 – Finding Leo, the celestial lion

March 31, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, March 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 8:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:23. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 11:39 this evening.

At 10 p.m. the spring constellation of Leo the lion will be high in the south-southeast. It can be found by locating the Big Dipper high in the northeast and imagining that a hole were drilled in the bowl to let the water leak out. It would drip on the back of this giant cat. The Lion is standing or lying facing westward. His head and mane are seen in the stars as a backwards question mark. This group of stars is also called the sickle. The bright star Regulus is at the bottom, the dot at the bottom of the question mark. A triangle of stars, to the left of Regulus, is the lion’s haunches. Leo contains some nice galaxies visible in moderate sized telescopes. The stars in Leo’s part of the sky are fewer than those in the winter sky.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Finding the constellation of Leo the lion by using the Big Dipper. Starting nearly overhead we find the Big Dipper in the constellation Ursa Major. Using the bowl of the dipper, and make believe that somebody drilled a hole through the bottom to let the water fall out. It will fall on the back of Leo, which is high in the south-southeastern sky. The little cross in the second image is the zenith. This is for 10:00 PM on March 30th. Created using my LookingUp app, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
The galaxies in the constellation of Leo
The galaxies in the constellation of Leo . The three galaxies near the hind end of Leo: M 65, M 66 and NGC 3628, are collectively known as the Leo Triplet. There are three other Messier galaxies below center of Leo and another Galaxy, NGC 2309 in front of the face of Leo. All these galaxies are about 31 to 35 million light years away.
Categories: Constellations, Ephemeris Program, Observing, Uncategorized Tags: , ,

Ephemeris: 08/16/2024 – WIMPs and MACHOs

August 16, 2024 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Friday, August 16th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 58 minutes, setting at 8:46, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:48. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 3:34 tomorrow morning.

The dark matter that holds the clusters of galaxies together in the universe may be made of weakly interacting massive particles which astronomers have dubbed WIMPs. These particles would be more massive than the particles that ordinary matter is made of, but do not interact with ordinary matter or give off or absorb light. They are detected by the influence of their gravitational force alone. An alternative idea is Massive Compact Halo Objects or MACHOs. These may be made-up of ordinary matter. Since there are many more low mass stars, like red dwarfs, than there are high mass stars, perhaps there’s the creation of planet sized bodies like brown dwarfs. These are planets more massive than Jupiter, but not massive enough to become stars. As such, they should be practicably invisible.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

A computer simulation of the distribution of dark matter in the universe. It appears to form a scaffolding of where matter will gather to form galaxies and clusters of galaxies separated by large voids.

For more information on Dark Matter search for it on the internet. One Article I found is here: https://sciencenotes.org/what-is-dark-matter/. They dismiss MACHOs by not mentioning them at all, concentrating on the much more likely WIMPs.

Categories: Concepts, Dark Matter, Ephemeris Program, Uncategorized Tags: ,