03/28/2017 – Ephemeris – Mercury is visible in the evening sky now
Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 28th. The Sun will rise at 7:30. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 35 minutes, setting at 8:05. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 8:56 this evening.
Mercury is in the evening sky now for it’s spring appearance. Mercury is best seen when it’s near its farthest from the Sun on spring evenings and autumn mornings. Mercury will reach its greatest elongation east of the Sun this coming Saturday with a 19 degree angle of separation from the Sun. This tiny planet is brighter before eastern elongating than after it. I find that the optimal time to look for Mercury is about 45 minutes after sunset. That makes it about 8:50 p.m. At that time Mercury will be low in the west only 9 degrees above the horizon. That’s a bit less than the width of a fist held at arm’s length above the lake or sea horizon, or the base of distant trees that are on your level. Mercury will be visible for about a week or so.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mercury near the western horizon at 8:50 p.m. or 45 minutes after sunset. Also shown is its orbit as it appears tonight. The Moon and Uranus are not actually visible in the twilight glare. Mars will be visible a bit later. The Moon will appear between Mercury and Mars tomorrow night. Created using Stellarium.
03/27/2017 – Ephemeris – 5 more new moons before the Great American Total Solar Eclipse!
Ephemeris for Monday, March 27th. The Sun will rise at 7:32. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 31 minutes, setting at 8:04. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
The Moon will be officially new at 10:57 this evening. Later this year there will occur at total solar eclipse visible from a narrow path the crosses the United States from Oregon to South Carolina. It will cross the cities of Casper Wyoming, Kansas City, just south of St Louis, Carbondale, Illinois; Nashville, Columbia and Charleston South Carolina. Carbondale is about the closest spot to us at about 600 miles. We will see about 75-80 percent of the Sun blocked by the Moon here in northern Michigan. The is generally a solar eclipse about every six new moons, the exception is an occasional solar eclipse on two consecutive new moons, except they will occur in opposite polar regions and are rarely total. The Moon’s orbit is tilted by 5° to the Sun’s path. This time the Moon is way south of the Sun.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
A screen cap of the map showing the path of totality of the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse from NASA’s eclipse page. Credit: NASA and Google Maps.
The points are GE greatest eclipse, path width 71.27 miles (114.7 km); and GD greatest duration of totality, 2 minutes and 40.2 seconds.
An animation of the Moon’s shadow as it will cross the Earth’s surface August 21, 2017. Credit A.T. Sinclair/NASA
NASA’s Eclipse page: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/
The solar corona displayed during the July 10, 1072 total solar eclipse from Prince Edward Island. Credit Bob Moler.
Diamond ring at the end of totality of the total solar eclipse July 10, 1972. Credit Bob Moler.
Baily’s Beads – sunlight streaming through the valleys at the edge of the Moon at the end of totality, March 7, 1970, outside Bladenboro NC. Credit Bob Moler.
On May 5th, I’ll be giving a talk about the upcoming total solar eclipse. How to enjoy its partial phases here and along the path of totality.
03/24/2017 – Ephemeris – Finding Leo
Ephemeris for Friday, March 24th. The Sun will rise at 7:37. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 8:00. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 6:24 tomorrow morning.
At 10 p.m. the spring constellation of Leo the lion will be high in the east-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 sparser than those in the winter sky.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Add info on Mercury in the evening sky.
Addendum
Leaky Big Dipper drips on Leo. Created using mu LookingUp program.
Ursa Major with the Big Dipper in her hind end and Leo. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
03/23/2017 – Ephemeris – a single headed Hydra
Ephemeris for Thursday, March 23rd. The Sun will rise at 7:39. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 19 minutes, setting at 7:59. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 5:48 tomorrow morning.
In the southern evening sky can be found the constellation of Hydra the water snake. Unlike the mythical monster Hercules fought of the same name this Hydra has but one head, which is its most distinctive part. At 9 p.m. look to the south. The head of Hydra is located directly to the left of Procyon the bright star in Orion’s little dog Canis Minor, and to the right of the star Regulus in Leo. Hydra’s head is a small distinctive group of 6 stars that make a loop and the snake’s slightly drooping head. At that time the sinuous body of Hydra sinks below the horizon in the southeast. As it gets later in the evening the rest of Hydra’s body will slither to just above the southeastern horizon below the planet Jupiter this year and the bright star Spica in the constellation of Virgo.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Finding Hydra animation for 9 p.m. March 23rd 2017. Created using Stellarium. Click on image to enlarge.
03/22/2017 – Ephemeris – Wednesday is bright planet day but we seem to be missing one of them
Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 22nd. The Sun will rise at 7:41. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 7:57. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 5:09 tomorrow morning.
It’s still dark enough to see the morning planets again during these Ephemeris play times. But it won’t last. Jupiter will be seen in the morning in the southwest above the star Spica. It will rise tonight at 9:19 p.m. in the East. Saturn can be glimpsed this morning above the Teapot figure of Sagittarius in the south. It will rise tomorrow at 3 a.m. in the east-southeast. The crescent Moon will be in the east-southeast. In the evening sky tonight Venus is essentially gone, just 3 days from passing inferior conjunction, it might be seen to the upper right of the Sun’s setting point. I once spotted it this close to conjunction in the bright twilight. It will set at 8:35 p.m. Mars is still hanging on, in the west, and will set at 11:11 p.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter, Saturn and the crescent Moon at 7 a.m. this morning March 22, 2017. Created using Stellarium.
Venus at 15 minutes after sunset on a flat horizon 3 days before inferior conjunction from 45 degrees north latitude. Venus is seen at 3 degrees, 24 minutes above the horizon and practically invisible. Mercury is getting ready for its appearance in the west next week. We will visit it in more detail on Friday. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter rising and the constellations of winter and spring at 10 p.m. this evening March 22, 2017. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons at 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. today, March 22, 2017. orientation of Jupiter is as it appears on the sky at those times. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Saturn and its moons at 7 a.m. March 22, 2017. It is shown at the same scale as Jupiter above. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
The waning crescent Moon at 7 a.m. as it might be seen in binoculars. Created using Stellarium.
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on March 22, 2017. The night ends on the left with sunrise on March 23. Note that Venus is visible at both sunrise and sunset at least on these charts. Click on image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
03/21/2017 – Ephemeris – Let’s find Cancer the crab
Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 21st. The Sun will rise at 7:43. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 7:56. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 4:26 tomorrow morning.
At 10 this evening, the faint constellation, and member of the Zodiac, Cancer the crab is located in the south half way between the bright stars Castor and Pollux of the constellation Gemini, high in the south and the bright star Regulus in Leo the lion in the southeast. Cancer is very dim, looking like an upside-down Y if it’s stars can be made out. In the center of Cancer is a fuzzy spot to the unaided eye. In binoculars or a low power telescope this fuzzy spot becomes a cluster of stars. It is the Beehive cluster. At 577 light years away, according to the latest measurements, it is one of the closest star clusters, but more distant than the Pleiades and Hyades the face of Taurus the bull off in the west.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Cancer the crab finder chart. Note the beehive cluster, also known to amateur astronomers as M44, along with other catalog names. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
The Beehive star cluster, M44. Its ancient name was the Praesepe or manger when glimpsed by the naked eye. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Skycharts)
03/20/2017 – Ephemeris – Spring starts today!
Ephemeris for Monday, March 20th. The Sun will rise at 7:45. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 7:55. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 3:39 tomorrow morning.
This morning, at 6:29 (10:29 UT) the sun crosses overhead at the earth’s equator as it appears to head north, starting for us the season of spring. It’s the vernal equinox. As you can tell from my intro, we’re already above 12 hours of daylight, and we’ll add another 3 plus hours of daylight before summer begins in three months. We are already adding about 3 minutes a day of daylight to that goal now, the maximum rate. With the Sun out longer and its ascension higher in the sky each day, it is rapidly adding energy to the northern hemisphere. We don’t feel that immediately. While the land rapidly absorbs heat, the oceans and lakes, especially the Great Lakes are a big heat sink, taking a very long time to warm up.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
This March equinox also is the beginning of autumn for folks south of the equator.
Image from the DISCOVR satellite in halo orbit at the Earth-Sun L1 point, nearly a million miles (1.6 million km) sunward of the Earth. as of March 17, 2017. As usual Michigan is covered by a cloud. Credit NOAA/NASA.
03/19/2017 – Ephemeris Extra – Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak is within reach of binoculars and small telescopes
UT
Comet 41P finder chart for the next month, March 20 to April 19. It is expected to be brightest at magnitude 6.6 in early April. Comet positions and orientation in the northeast are for 11:30 p.m. on the date specified or 3:30 UT on the next date. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts). Click on the chart to enlarge.
Note above: The tail symbol points to the direction of a tail. However none of the photographs I’ve seen show a tail, so none will be visible visually.
This comet is known to have frequent outbursts where its brightness increases by many times. If an outburst occurs in early April, the comet could become visible to the naked eye. Original source material for this post comes from Seiichi Yoshida’s Weekly Information about Bright Comets web page. The comet will pass less than 14 million miles (22 million km) from Earth on April 5th, only 8 days before it’s closest approach to the Sun, called perihelion. From the finder chart one can see the comet will pass to the north of the Earth.
According to Gary Kronk’s Cometography.com web site the comet was discovered and lost three times. It was first discovered in 1858 by Horace Tuttle, whose name was attached to at two well known comets that produce meteor showers. It was unobserved for the next eight returns, which were expected every 5.42 years. Michel Giacobini rediscovered it again in 1907. Giacobini was the discoverer of Comet Giacobini-Zinner, another famous meteor shower producing comet. It was lost again until Lubos Kresák rediscovered it in 1951 after seven more missed returns.
03/17/2017 – Ephemeris – When Ireland had the largest telescope in the world
Ephemeris for St. Patrick’s Day, Friday, March 17th. The Sun will rise at 7:50. It’ll be up for 12 hours even, setting at 7:51. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 1:01 tomorrow morning.
In the 19th century Ireland laid claim to having the largest telescope in the world. It was a reflecting telescope with a mirror diameter of 72 inches. It was built by William Parsons the Third Earl of Rosse. The base of the telescope tube rested in a pit between two massive walls and could only look in a north-south direction. It saw first usage in 1847. The telescope was called the Leviathan of Parsonstown, and was in use until 1890. Mirrors in those days was made of a silvery alloy called speculum. Two mirrors were used alternately because speculum tarnished. The mirror not in use would have to be re-polished and swapped in from time to time. It was the largest telescope until the 100 inch at Mt. Wilson was put in service in 1917.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The 72 inch Leviathan of Parsonstown. source: http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/ngcic/persons/rosse3.htm
A drawing of the Whirlpool Galaxy, M51 (NGC 5194 & 5195) by Lord Rosse with the 72 inch telescope. Public Domain.
The Whirlpool Galaxy, M51. Credit Scott Anttila.
The Whirlpool Galaxy is the only galaxy that I’ve actually visually seen spiral arms on. It was seen using a Celestron 14″ telescope at Northwestern Michigan’s Joseph H. Rogers Observatory. That was a looong time ago.
03/16/2017 – Ephemeris – Curly Tail, The Great Underwater Panther
Ephemeris for Thursday, March 16th. The Sun will rise at 7:52. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 7:50. The Moon, half way from full to last quarter, will rise at 12:03 tomorrow morning.
The Anishinabek people of the Great Lakes Region, which includes the Ottawa, Chippewa and Ojibwe Indians have two constellations of winter that I know of. The first is The Winter Maker which uses many of Orion’s stars plus Procyon the Little Dog Star. It rises in the eastern skies in the evening as winter is beginning. The second is the Curly Tail, the Great Underwater Panther. Which uses the stars of Leo the lion’s backward question mark as its tail and the small knot of stars that are the head of Hydra the water snake below Cancer as its head. I imagine this constellation was a warning to youngsters to keep off the thinning ice of spring, lest they fall in and be snatched by the great underwater panther that lives beneath the ice.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
An animated GIF rotating between an unannotated star field facing south at 10 p.m. March 16th.; Western constellation names and lines for Orion, Hydra, and Leo; Western constellation art, Ojibwe constellation names and lines; and Ojibwe constellation art. Created using Stellarium. The Ojibwe constellation art is supplied as part of the latest version of Stellarium. Click on the image to enlarge.
The source for the Ojibwe constellation art is from Ojibwe Sky Star Map Constellation Guide (An introduction to Ojibwe Star Knowledge) by Annette S. Lee, William Wilson, Jeffrey Tibbetts, and Carl Gawboy, ISBN 978-0-615-98678-4. The illustrations are by Annette S. Lee and William Wilson. There is also a poster sized star map available. It should be available in book stores locally, or at Amazon. I found my copy at Enerdyne in Suttons Bay.
Also shown is the Pleiades, which to the Ojibwe is Hole in the Sky, which has to do with the Shaking Tent Ceremony. The Pleiades is also known as the Sweating Stones, the heated stones used in the Sweat Lodge Ceremony. In the later spring sky the Sweat Lodge itself is seen in the stars of the Western Corona Borealis.
Note: As far as tribe names go: Ottawa = Odawa, and Chippewa = Ojibwe.
