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03/03/2016 – Ephemeris – How to spot Zodiacal Light
Ephemeris for Thursday, March 3rd. The Sun will rise at 7:15. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 17 minutes, setting at 6:33. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:00 tomorrow morning.
There is a faint glow in the west that lingers after the end of twilight. It is visible to the careful observer. It’s Zodiacal Light, the reflected glow from countless bits of dust in the plane of the solar system. Its glow can be seen after twilight officially ends at 8:11 p.m. You’ll need to go to a spot with no towns or cities immediately to the west of you. The glow will appear as a thin pyramidal glow tilted to the left. It’s very difficult to find the first time, but once seen you’ll easily find it again. Zodiacal Light is easiest seen on spring evenings and autumn mornings when the ecliptic, the path of the planets and zodiac are nearest to vertical. The farther south one goes the easier it is to see. I first saw it when I was stationed in the Air Force in Louisiana.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Zodiacal Light and Comet Hale-Bopp April 1997. My image.
Zodiacal Light and Comet Hale-Bopp April 1997. Enhanced contrast.
I find I have better luck photographing Zodiacal Light if I take picture in its general direction of something else.
09/14/2015 – Ephemeris – Another odd creature of the Zodiac, a sea-goat
Ephemeris for Monday, September 14th. The Sun will rise at 7:20. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 35 minutes, setting at 7:55. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 8:35 this evening.
As the Teapot of the constellation Sagittarius tilts and pours celestial tea on the southwestern horizon, it is followed in the south-southeast by the faint constellation of Capricornus the sea-goat. I’m not sure you’ll see a half goat with a fish’s tail here unless you’ve started Oktoberfest a bit early. To me, it looks like a big sagging triangle with the point down. Capricornus is a constellation of the zodiac, and its claim to fame is a latitude line on the globe at 23 and a half degrees south, called the Tropic of Capricorn. Back a couple of thousand years ago the sun entered Capricornus on the first day of winter, the winter solstice. Thus the latitude where the sun was overhead at that instant was called the Tropic of Capricorn. Due to the wobble of the earth’s axis, the line should now be called the Tropic of Sagittarius.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Capricornus represented in Cartes du Ciel
An artist’s rendering of Capricornus. A part of Stellarium’s functionality. The constellation lines are drawn differently than Cartes du Ciel
11/11/14 – Ephemeris – Something fishy in the stars
Ephemeris for Veteran’s Day, Tuesday, November 11th. The sun will rise at 7:33. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 45 minutes, setting at 5:18. The moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 9:41 this evening.
High in the south at 9 p.m. are the four bright stars of the Great Square of Pegasus, the upside down flying horse. Lying along the left and bottom sides of the great square is the constellation of Pisces the fish, one of the 12 constellations of the Zodiac that lie along the path of the sun, moon and planets. Even though Pisces is called the fish, the fish themselves are not seen in the stars. What can be traced in the stars is the rope, that’s tied to their tails, anchored at the extreme southeastern part of the constellation far below and left of the lower left corner of the Great Square. The right end of Pisces is the asterism, or informal constellation, of the Circlet. It’s the loop of 5 stars, the rope around the tail of one of the two fish.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Pisces below the Great Square of Pegasus in the south at 9 p.m.
11/10/2014 – Ephemeris – Where is the constellation of Aquarius the water bearer
Ephemeris for Monday, November 10th. The sun will rise at 7:32. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 47 minutes, setting at 5:19. The moon, half way from full to last quarter, will rise at 8:45 this evening.
One of the constellations of the zodiac is in the southern sky at 8 in the evening. It’s the constellation of Aquarius the water bearer. The image that is supposed to be depicted in the stars is that of a hapless fellow spilling a stone jar of water across the sky. Aquarius is fairly hard to spot because it is made of faint stars. One part of Aquarius is easy to spot, the Water Jar, an asterism or informal constellation. It’s a distinctive small nearly equilateral triangle of stars with another star in the center. Stars extending to the right from the water jar are that stream of water in some depictions. The body of Aquarius is below, a misshapen balloon of stars that is seen above the bright star Fomalhaut, low in the south.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Aquarius highlighting the Water Jar. Created using Stellarium.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 