03/11/2016 – Ephemeris – The lunar Sea of Crises
Ephemeris for Friday, March 11th. The Sun will rise at 7:01. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 6:44. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 10:14 this evening.
Tonight the Moon shows one remarkable sea: Mare Crisium or the Sea of Crises. It is a large gray basin. The largest feature visible in binoculars. Because it’s near the Moon’s limb or edge it is foreshortened into an ellipse, with the long axis running north and south. In actuality it is elliptical with the long axis east and west. It looks funny on a geologic map of the whole moon or a Moon globe. Its dimensions are 345 by 375 miles (570 by 620km). It’s really a crater as are all seas whose impact asteroid reached down to the Moon’s magma and caused lava to well up to produce the flat floor. When the sunlight is low as it is now wrinkle ridges will appear showing where successive lava flows have stopped and solidified.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Moon on its orientation in the southwest at 8 p.m.March 11, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon at 8 p.m. March 11, 2016 via Virtual Moon Atlas. Note that despite the difference in rotation, that the phase is s bit different. We’ll have to see which one is correct.
Mare Crisium from overhead with Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The vertical lines are due to the north-south scans by the polar orbiting satellite. Credit: NASA/LRO/Virtual Moon Atlas.
03/10/2016 – Ephemeris – The many faces of the Big Dipper and Ursa Major
Ephemeris for Thursday, March 10th. The Sun will rise at 7:03. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 39 minutes, setting at 6:43. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 8:59 this evening.
The Big Dipper has many names to many peoples and countries around the world, from the plough, Charles’ Wain, and many others. Officially to the International Astronomical Union, it’s part of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, also recognized by Native Americans, Europeans, it’s even in the Bible. In the Book of Job the star Arcturus is a miss-translation. Arcturus means Guardian of the Bear. It should be Bear itself, and most modern translations catch that mistake. Anyway, the Anishinaabe people around the Great Lakes say the stars of the bear are that of another creature, that of Fisher Star one small weasel-like mammal that brought summer to the Earth, and now heralds the seasons of spring and autumn by his position in the sky.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Ursa Major in the northeastern sky at 9 p.m., March 10, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Fisher Star. Star field created by Stellarium.
03/09/2016 – Ephemeris – With Venus and Mercury lost in twilight, Mars and Saturn are the only official morning planets easily seen now
Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 9th. The Sun will rise at 7:05. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 36 minutes, setting at 6:41. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 7:43 this evening.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. Jupiter is up at sunset, and will pass due south, astronomers call it a transit, at 12:47 a.m., and will set at 7:14 a.m. It’s below the stars of Leo now. Binoculars can make out some of Jupiter’s moons, but a telescope is required to see Jupiter’s cloud formations. Mars will rise next at 12:45 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s seen in eastern Libra almost entering the territory of Scorpius. Saturn will rise at 1:56 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s above the stars of Scorpius, actually in Ophiuchus. Its rings are a telescopic treat. Venus will rise at 6:20 a.m. again in the east-southeast. Mercury is lost in the bright morning twilight and will pass behind the Sun in superior conjunction on the 23rd.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Sorry for the late post, but preparation for my visit to Mill Creek Elementary school in Williamsburg, MI took some extra preparation. Of course too I was watching the solar eclipse from Micronesia, both channels.
Jupiter appears with the coming spring stars and constellations at 9 p.m., March 9, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons in a telescope at 9 p.m. March 9, 2016. It’s apparent diameter is 44.4″. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
The morning planets Mars and Saturn are near each other in the south morning sky at 6 a.m. March 10, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Mars as seen in a large telescope at high power. It’s only 9.5″ in diameter, about a quarter of Jupiter’s diameter. The large dark area in the center is Syrtis Major which sounds cooler than its English translation “Great Swamp”. South of it is the bright elliptical Hellas Basin. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Saturn and its moon Titan as they might be seen through a telescope at 6 a.m. March 10, 2016. The planet diameter is 16.8″ while the rings span 38.1″. Created using Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for March 9, 2016 showing the location of the planets and the Moon at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
03/08/2016 – Ephemeris – View tonight’s total solar eclipse on the Internet
Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 8th. The Sun will rise at 7:07. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 33 minutes, setting at 6:40. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
Today’s new moon has a bonus, it will produce a total solar eclipse. Not for us, but for Indonesia, some islands of Micronesia, and across the Pacific Ocean. We do have a shot at seeing it, however. NASA and the The Exploratorium has sent an expedition to the Woleai Atoll near the point of the greatest eclipse, allowing over 4 minutes of totality. So if it’s clear there NASA and the Exploratorium will have Web and TV feeds. There will be two feeds, An educational feed running from 8 to 9 p.m. covering the heart of the eclipse and a telescope only feed covering the entire eclipse running from 7 to 10:15 p.m. For NASA TV go to NASA.gov and click on NASA TV. The other place to go is exploratorium.edu and you can’t miss it.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Eclipse chart for the March 9, 2016 total solar eclipse. Credit NASA/GSFC/Fred Espenak.
These are my photographs from prior eclipses that will give one feel as to what an eclipse looks like. The corona will be visible the whole time of totality. The diamond ring and Baily’s Beads will be visible for only a few seconds at the end of totality. They are generally not seen as totality starts because filters will stay on the equipment until totality actually starts.
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 at the end of totality of the March 7, 1970 total solar eclipse from Bladenboro, NC. Credit: Bob Moler.
03/07/2016 – Ephemeris – Jupiter officially becomes an evening planet tomorrow, celebrating with a double transit of its moons.
Ephemeris for Monday, March 7th. The Sun will rise at 7:08. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 6:39. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 6:49 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow is a busy day astronomically speaking, Tomorrow night our time there will be a solar eclipse on the other side of the Earth that will be covered by NASA-TV. I’ll talk more about it tomorrow. However in the early morning hours Jupiter will reach opposition from the Sun tomorrow at 4:58 a.m. At opposition the Earth is placed almost directly between the Sun and Jupiter. It is the time the planet is closest to the Earth in its orbit. For Jupiter that distance will be 412 million miles (664 million km) away. It’s apparent diameter will be 44.5 seconds of arc. One second of arc is one 3,600th of a degree. The Moon and Sun are about a half a degree or 1800 seconds in diameter. Even so Jupiter appears as a tiny disk in binoculars, but a very tiny disc. A few of its 4 large Galilean moons can also be spotted in binoculars. Jupiter is over 11 times the Earth’s diameter and is twice as massive as all the other planets, asteroids and satellites combined.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter at 10 p.m. March 8, 2016 with some of the spring constellations and Canis Major. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons at 10 p.m. March 7, 2016. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Io and Europa and their shadows transit the face of Jupiter
This evening there will be two satellites transiting across the face of Jupiter at the same time: Europa and Io. The start of Europa’s transit won’t be seen locally, since Jupiter will rise at 6:30 p.m. Locally, because of Jupiter being low in the sky I wouldn’t expect to spot the transiting satellites or their shadows. However observers in Europe, whose Jupiter rising has a 5 hour head start on us, will be in perfect position. In any case this takes a very good telescope to see. The appearance of Europa and Io in and out of transit can easily be seen in any telescope. In the table below I give the timing of these events for both the Eastern time zone (us) and Universal Time for others. Note the transits start on the 7th of March and end on the 8th for Universal Time.
The shadows of the moons themselves will appear very close to the moons, and may be obscured by them because we are just hours from opposition, and looking at Jupiter from nearly in line with the Sun. That should be a challenge. Watch for pictures from astrophotographer’s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook sites.
Times for this table are from Project Pluto: http://www.projectpluto.com/jevent.htm.
| Event | Eastern Time Zone | Universal Time | ||
| Date | Time | Date | Time | |
| Europa Shadow Start* | 7 | 6:08 p.m. | 7 | 23:08 |
| Europa Transit Start* | 7 | 6:11 p.m. | 7 | 23:11 |
| Io Shadow Start | 7 | 7:27 p.m. | 8 | 00:27 |
| Io Transit Start | 7 | 7:28 p.m. | 8 | 00:28 |
| Europa Transit End | 7 | 8:56 p.m. | 8 | 01:56 |
| Europa Shadow End | 7 | 8:56 p.m. | 8 | 01:56 |
| Io Transit End | 7 | 9:42 p.m. | 8 | 02:42 |
| Io Transit End | 7 | 9:42 p.m. | 8 | 02:42 |
| * The Europa Shadow and Transit Start Events cannot be seen in Michigan because they will occur before Jupiter will rise. |
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02/04/2016 – Ephemeris – The Great Underwater Panther & Fun star contest tonight
Ephemeris for Friday, March 4th. The Sun will rise at 7:14. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 6:35. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:47 tomorrow morning.
The Anishnabek people of the Great Lakes Region, which includes the Odawa and Chippewa 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 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 down there.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Alternately showing Leo and Hydra of our “Western” constellation and the Anishinabek constellation of the Great Underwater Panther. Created using Stellarium. The constellation drawing of the panther is mine after Michael Wassegijig Price.
Starpardy Tonight!
An astronomical quiz between the astronomy students and members of the Northwestern Michigan College Astronomy Club vs. the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will be held tonight at 8 p.m. at the NMC Observatory. Folks attending can watch and learn or join one of the teams. The format is that of the popular Jeopardy show. These quizzes used to be called Star Bowls, after the old College Bowl TV shows. It’s been morphed into the Jeopardy format over the years, so this year I’m calling it Starpardy. And I can… I play Alex Trebek for this one, my second outing. Professor Jerry Dobek will be scorekeeper and arbiter of the Final Starpardy response, which will be open-ended this time. So come, enjoy the fun.
After the quiz there will be, weather permitting, a star party, and clear or not Becky Shaw will be by to continue her series on female astronomers of history and present day.
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.
03/02/2016 – Ephemeris – The morning planet gang is breaking up
Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 2nd. The Sun will rise at 7:17. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 14 minutes, setting at 6:32. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 3:08 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. All the classical planets visible from antiquity are officially now in the morning sky. I won’t be able to say that next week. Mercury is too close to the Sun and too dim to be spotted. Jupiter will rise at 6:53 p.m., in the east. Jupiter is going to be the morning sky defector as of next Tuesday. It’s below the stars of Leo. Mars will rise next at 12:59 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s seen against the stars of Libra now. Saturn will rise at 2:23 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s above the stars of Scorpius, actually in Ophiuchus. Venus will rise at 6:24 a.m. again in the east-southeast. Mercury will pass behind the Sun in superior conjunction on the 23rd.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter and the rising spring constellations at 10 p.m. March 2, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons as they would be seen in a telescope, at 10 p.m. March 2, 2016. Jupiter has an apparent diameter of 44.4″ Created using Stellarium.
The morning planets and the Moon with the bright stars at 6:45 a.m. March 3, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Mars as might look through a large amateur telescope at 6:45 a.m. March 3, 2016. North is at top. Apparent diameter is 8.9″.
In the Mars map below the center of the map pretty well matches the center of the Mars image above. The dark area to the upper left is Acidalia. The There’s a long dark feature to the right that has a blob at the end. The blob is Meridiani, where Mars’ prime meridian runs through. It is Meridiani where Opportunity landed, marked be MER-B.
Annotated Mars Map. Credit NASA.
Saturn and its large satellite Titan and other moons as they should appear in a telescope in the morning of March 3, 2016. The planet is 16.6″ in diameter while the rings span 38.7″. Created using Stellarium.
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for March 2, 2016 showing the location of the planets and the Moon at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
Some of these images above are shown smaller than actual size. Image expansion lately hasn’t worked. If you are using Firefox, right-click on the image, and then click on View Image.
03/01/2016 – Ephemeris – Previewing March skies
Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 1st. The Sun will rise at 7:19. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 6:31. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 2:15 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the skies for the month of March. The sun will pass the celestial equator as the promising season of spring will begin. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 11 hours and 11 minutes today to 12 hours 45 minutes on the 31st. The altitude, or angle, of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 38 degrees today and will ascend to nearly 50 degrees on the 31st. Jupiter will reach opposition from the Sun on the 8th and enter the evening sky. That evening our time a total solar eclipse will be visible from Indonesia to the Pacific Ocean. Spring will begin on the 20th at 12:31 a.m. Easter, announced by the full moon on the 23rd will be celebrated on the 27th for western churches.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
March Star Chart
Star Chart for March 2016. Created using my LookingUp program. To enlarge in Firefox Right-click on image then click View image.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EST. That is chart time. Note, Traverse City is located 45 minutes behind our time meridian. To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 7:34 p.m. EST on the 1st, increasing to 9:14 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 6:16 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and decreasing to 6:20 a.m. EST on the 31st.
Add a half hour to the chart time every week before the 15th and subtract a half hour for every week after the 15th. Before the 13th also subtract an hour for Standard Time.
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
- A leaky Big Dipper drips on Leo
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus
Calendar of Planetary Events
Credit: Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC)
To generate your own calendar go to http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html
Times are Eastern Time. Some additions made to aid clarity.
Date Time(EST) Event
Mar 01 Tu Venus: 24.9° W
01 Tu 6:11 pm Last Quarter
02 We 1:53 am Moon-Saturn: 3.9° S
03 Th 9:19 am Moon South Dec.: 18.2° S
07 Mo 5:54 am Moon-Venus: 3.5° S
08 Tu 4:58 am Jupiter Opposition from the Sun
08 Tu 8:54 pm New Moon
08 Tu 8:58 pm Total Solar Eclipse* (Indonesia & Pacific)
09 We 1:31 am Moon Descending Node
10 Th 2:02 am Moon Perigee: 359500 km
13 Su 2:00 am Daylight Saving Time starts (EDT) Boo Hiss!
14 Mo 9:44 am Moon-Aldebaran: 0.3° S
15 Tu 1:03 pm First Quarter
16 We 1:01 am Moon North Dec.: 18.2° N
20 Su 12:31 am Vernal Equinox – Yea Spring!
20 Su 3:05 pm Moon-Regulus: 2.8° N
21 Mo 11:57 pm Moon-Jupiter: 2.3° N
22 Tu 8:58 pm Moon Ascending Node
23 We 7:48 am Penumbral Lunar Eclipse (not visible from here)
23 We 8:01 am Full Moon
23 We 4:05 pm Mercury Superior Conjunction with the Sun
25 Fr 10:16 am Moon Apogee: 406100 km
28 Mo 2:45 pm Moon-Mars: 4.6° S
29 Tu 10:58 am Moon-Saturn: 3.8° S
30 We 6:12 pm Moon South Dec.: 18.2° S
31 Th 11:17 am Last Quarter
Apr 01 Venus: 17.4° W
* Coverage on NASA-TV-2 & www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Comet Catalina
Comet Catalina has become too faint to be seen in binoculars as it heads out of the solar system. To follow the comet further go to Seiichi Yashida’s Weekly Bright Comets page. Comet Catalina is no longer the brightest comet on the list, and is currently listed second. Click on it [C/2013 US10 ( Catalina )] for finder charts and other information.
When last we saw the comet was headed toward the constellation. But it’s headed almost straight away from the Earth now, and the Earth’s motion around the Sun is making the comet appear to start a loop north of Perseus. Another proof that Copernicus was right.
02/29/2016 – Ephemeris – Yea! It’s the Leap Day.
Ephemeris for Monday, February 29th. The Sun will rise at 7:21. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 6:29. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 1:19 tomorrow morning.
Today is one of those special days that only occur once every 4 years. It’s the intercalary or leap day that compensates for that fact that the earth takes 365 and nearly a quarter day to orbit the sun. That orbit is a year, and those quarter days are accumulated and added as the last day of February on years divisible by 4. The Gregorian reform makes a slight adjustment on most century years, making century years not divisible by 400 ordinary years to keep the calendar in sync with the seasons. The Romans, from who we’ve gotten our calendar considered the month of February as unlucky, and so shortened it. Enjoy your extra day today, too bad it’s a Monday. My bobmoler.wordpress.com blog post from yesterday explains it in more detail.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
