08/23/2018 – Ephemeris – Mercury’s morning appearance
Ephemeris for Thursday, August 23rd. The Sun rises at 6:54. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 40 minutes, setting at 8:35. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 4:56 tomorrow morning. | The tiny and elusive planet Mercury is making an appearance in the morning sky now. On Sunday afternoon our time Mercury will at its greatest elongation or separation west of the Sun. So Sunday or Monday mornings are the very best time to spot it. Look to the east-northeast at a low horizon to spot it. It should be visible from about 6 a.m. to about 6:40 a.m. before twilight swamps it. There are no stars of comparable brightness near it. It’s seen against the dim stars of Cancer the crab. The bright stars Pollux and Castor of Gemini will appear a ways above it. It should be visible from now through next week. Today is the day of the mini-Moon, its smallest of the month at 252 thousand miles (406 thousand km) away.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The motion of Mercury from August 23 to September 1, 2018. For each day the magnitude of Mercury is given. Note that gets brighter over the period. That is the magnitudes get more negative. The is due to Mercury’s increasing phase, getting fuller as it moves around the Sun. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
08/22/2018 – Ephemeris – All five bright planets visible now
Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 22nd. The Sun rises at 6:53. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 43 minutes, setting at 8:37. The Moon, half way from first quarter to full, will set at 4:00 tomorrow morning.
It’s Wednesday and time to look for and at the bright planets. Four of them are visible in the evening sky. The brilliant Venus will be visible in the western twilight from about 9 p.m. until it sets at 10:02 p.m. Jupiter will be in the southwest as it gets dark. It is only outshone by Venus, the Moon, and currently Mars. Jupiter will set at 11:30 p.m. Saturn will start the evening low in the southern sky and will stay relatively low, above the Teapot of Sagittarius. It will be due south at 9:49 p.m. and will set at 2:15 a.m.. Mars will be low in the southeast as the skies darken tonight. and is now 38.9 million miles (62.7 million km) away. It will set at 3:51 a.m. The fifth planet Mercury will rise at 5:27 a.m. tomorrow morning.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The evening planets visible at 9:30 p.m., almost an hour after sunset. August 22nd, 2018. Also shown is the Moon. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars with the same magnification at 9:30 p.m. August 22, 2018. Mars is also shown enlarged. The global dust storm is abating, so the albedo features are beginning to be seen. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
The gibbous Moon as it should appear tonight. Created using Stellarium. Stellarium.
Demonstration of the Moon’s gibbous phase with the Styrofoam moon ball we use for Project Astro held up to a light off frame to the right. The night side of the ball is illuminated a bit by the translucency of the ball, and the reflection off my hand. Note the roughness of the ball is visible only at the terminator.
My program about the Moon’s crescent phase aired last Thursday and a demonstration of it using a moonball is here.
Mercury seen at 6 a.m., about an hour before sunrise. A bonus, the constellation Orion appears without the possibility of frostbite. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on August 22, 2018. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 23rd. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
08/21/2018 – Ephemeris – How will the Parker Solar Probe get near to the Sun?
Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 21st. The Sun rises at 6:52. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 8:38. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 3:09 tomorrow morning.
I introduced the Parker Solar Probe yesterday. It’s on its way to Venus to have some of its velocity stolen by that planet as to drop to nearly 15 million miles (24 million km) of the Sun at its first perihelion, before heading almost all the way out to the Earth’s orbit. Its next encounter with Venus will steal even more velocity from the probe to drop even closer to the Sun. It will take nearly 7 years to reach as close as 3.9 million miles (6.2 million km) from he center of the Sun of 3.8 million miles (6.1 million km) from what looks like its surface, the photosphere, the bright ball we see of the Sun. The probe has a huge heat shield that will handle the over two thousand degree heat from the Sun. Even though the corona is several million degrees in temperature, it’s not dense enough to heat the probe.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The planned orbits of the Parker Solar Probe. First flyby of Venus will occur on October 3rd 2018. The first perihelion passage a bit more than a month later on November 6th. Credit: NASA
A close look at the Sun
Click on image to enlarge. Credit NASA.
08/20/2018 – Ephemeris – The Parker Solar probe is on its way to skim through the Sun’s corona
Ephemeris for Monday, August 20th. The Sun rises at 6:51. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 8:40. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 2:22 tomorrow morning.
Eight days ago the Parker Solar Probe was launched toward the Sun. It is the first NASA spacecraft named after a living person, Eugene Parker, a Michigander, born in Houghton in 1927, graduated from Michigan State, before moving on to Caltech. He eventually landed at the University of Chicago. In the 1950’s he put forth the theory of the supersonic solar wind of charged particles pervading the solar system. The theory was not initially accepted, but has been verified by satellites. The Parker Solar Probe will make multiple passes of Venus, giving up its velocity to fall closer to the Sun on each pass, taking almost 7 years to inch closer to the Sun at its perihelion until it gets down to about 3.8 million miles of our star.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Artist’s visualization of the Parker Solar Probe near the Sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben.
Dr. Eugene Parker (seated in the foreground), a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, watches the launch of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. This is the first agency mission named for a living person. Standing behind Parker is Nicky Fox, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The liftoff took place at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun’s atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection. Credit: NASA/Glenn Benson.
08/17/2018 – Ephemeris – Another busy weekend for the GTAS
Ephemeris for Friday, August 17th. The Sun rises at 6:47. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 8:45. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 12:29 tomorrow morning.
The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society (GTAS) has another busy weekend. Tonight the society members will bring their telescopes to downtown Traverse City and Friday Night Live. During the event we’ll be looking at the Sun and the planet Venus and staying after to view Saturn and the Moon if it’s clear. Saturn’s rings are, of course, spectacular. Tomorrow night society members will be at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory beginning at 9 p.m. for a star party viewing Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Later as it gets really dark, some of the brighter stellar wonders will come into view if it’s clear. There’s stars in groups called clusters great and small, and stars that orbit each other and can have different colors.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Ron Uthe (with the beard) explains that his telescope is pointed to Saturn after the 2013 Friday Night Live. Credit mine.
Telescopes set up by members of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at the back of Northwestern Michigan College’s Joseph H. Rogers Observatory on August 3, 2018. Credit mine.
08/16/2018 -Ephemeris – The Moon’s phase, a closer look
Ephemeris for Thursday, August 16th. The Sun rises at 6:46. It’ll be up for 14 hours exactly, setting at 8:46. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 11:59 this evening.
With the Moon at a fat crescent tonight, it’s a good time to turn binoculars or a small telescope toward it. The demarcation between the bright part and the dark part is called the terminator. In the case before full moon, it is the sunrise line. After that the sunset line. The Moon’s entire day lasts about 29 ½ earthly days. I am sometimes asked “What’s blocking the light from the unlit side of the Moon?” It’s the Moon itself. It’s the night side of the Moon, just as when we are in night. The Earth itself is blocking the Sun’s light from us. The Moon, like the Earth and all the other planets are spheres lit on one side by the Sun. It’s near the terminator of the Moon where the most detail is revealed by the long shadows cast by the Moon’s features.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The crescent moon as it should appear tonight. Created using Stellarium. Stellarium always shows details on the night side of the Moon. The crescent phase of the Moon is now too fat to really see earthshine on it’s night side.
Demonstration of the Moon’s crescent phase with the Styrofoam moon ball we use for Project Astro held up to a light off frame to the right. The night side of the ball is illuminated a bit by the translucency of the ball, and the reflection off my hand. Note the roughness of the ball is visible only at the terminator.
08/15/2018 – Ephemeris – Spotting the bright planets this week
Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 15th. The Sun rises at 6:45. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 8:48. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 11:29 this evening.
It’s Wednesday and time to look for and at the bright planets. Four of them are visible in the evening sky. The brilliant Venus will be visible in the western twilight from about 9:10 p.m. until it sets at 10:20 p.m. Jupiter will be in the southwest as it gets dark. It is only outshone by Venus, the Moon, and currently Mars. Jupiter will set at 11:52 p.m. Saturn will start the evening low in the southern sky and will stay relatively low, above the Teapot of Sagittarius. It will be due south at 10:18 p.m. and will set at 2:43 a.m.. Mars will be low in the southeast as the skies darken tonight. and is now 37.3 million miles (60.1 million km) away. It will set at 4:21 a.m. It is being slowly left behind by the faster moving Earth.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The evening planets and the Moon visible at 10 p.m., one hour after sunset. August 15th, 2018. Also shown are the constellations. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
What the Moon might look like at 10 p.m., August 15th, 2018. Created using Stellarium.
Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars with the same magnification at 10 p.m. August 15, 2018. Jupiter’s satellite label Io is shown. However at 10 p.m. it’s occulted by Jupiter. The occultation began at 9:35 p.m. EDT (01:35 UT the 16th) and will emerge from Jupiter’s shadow at 1:02 a.m. EDT (05:02 UT) after Jupiter sets locally. Mars is also shown enlarged. It seems that the global dust storm is abating, so the albedo features are beginning to be seen. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts)
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on August 15, 2018. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 16th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
08/14/2018 – Ephemeris – the constellation of Aquila the eagle
Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 14th. The Sun rises at 6:44. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 8:50. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 11:00 this evening.
Aquila the eagle is a constellation that lies in the Milky Way. It’s in the southeastern sky as it gets dark. Its brightest star, Altair is one of the stars of the Summer Triangle, a group of three bright stars dominating the eastern sky in the evening now. Altair, in the head of the eagle, is flanked by two slightly dimmer stars, the shoulders of the eagle. The eagle is flying northeastward through the Milky Way. Its wings are seen in its wing tip stars. A curved group of stars to the lower right of Altair is its tail. Within Aquila the Milky Way shows many dark clouds as part of the Great Rift that splits it here. The other summer bird is Cygnus the swan above and left of Aquila, flying in the opposite direction. ……
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Animated Aquila finder chart. Created using Stellarium.
Annotated and animated photograph taken of Aquila August 13, 2018 during the Perseid meteor shower. Alas, no Perseids in this photograph. Taken by me and processed using Registax and GIMP.
Further notes on the Perseid meteor shower
I spent a good chunk of the Perseid peak night (August 12/13) at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore at the Dune Climb observing the Perseids. Though clear there was a great amount of haze in the air, part of which was smoke from the fires out west, and the barometric high we’ve been under for the past few days getting stagnant, The blue sky the day before was decidedly milky. Though the Milky Way overhead was visible, the teapot of Sagittarius below Saturn wasn’t.
A casual inspection of my photographs show only 2 Perseid meteors.
08/13/2018 – Ephemeris – The Milky Way
Ephemeris for Monday, August 13th. The Sun rises at 6:42. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 8:51. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 10:30 this evening.
Now is the time the summer Milky Way is displayed to its fullest to the southern horizon. We have a couple of nights before the Moon begins to interfere before 11 p.m. City folk come to our area and are sometimes fooled by the brightness and expanse of the Milky Way and think it’s clouding up. Yes those are clouds indeed, but they are star clouds of our galaxy. Binoculars will begin to show them to be millions of stars, each too faint to be seen individually to the eye, but whose combined glow give the impression of a luminous cloud. Binoculars are the ideal tool to explore the Milky Way. Objects still too fuzzy can be checked out with a telescope to reveal their true nature. The dark nights of August and September are my favorites.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Milky Way from the Sleeping Bear Dunes in August, 2015 by Mark Stewart.
08/10/2018 – Ephemeris – A busy weekend here and in the skies
Ephemeris for Friday, August 10th. The Sun rises at 6:39. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 8:56. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 6:45 tomorrow morning.
It’s a busy weekend for the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society. Members will be on Front Street in Traverse City tonight for Friday Night Live with views of the Sun and later a look at the planet Saturn and its rings, weather permitting. On Saturday, again weather permitting members will be part of Sleeping Bear Dunes Port Oneida Fair with a Sun ‘n Star Party from 4 to 6 p.m. and from 9 to 11 p.m., though members will still be there in between. The location for that event is the Thoreson Farm on South Thoreson Road off M22, near Port Oneida Road. On tap will be Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and some of the Perseid meteors on the night before its peak night, plus some of the deep sky wonders of the summer Milky Way.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Viewing the Sun with a while light filter at Friday Night Live using Ron Uthe’s telescope at Friday Night Live. Credit Bob Moler
After Friday Night Live was over Saturn was visible until about 11 p.m. Credit: Bob Moler.
Star Party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Thoreson Farm August 2013. Credit Eileen Carlisle.
