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: 03/06/2026 – The Fisher announces the coming of the maple sugaring season

March 6, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Friday, March 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 25 minutes, setting at 6:37, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:09. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 10:30 this evening.

March is a month of transitions. The stars of the winter skies, that is Orion and his merry band of bright stars, move to the west as those of spring rise in the east. The Big Dipper is ascending in the northeastern sky, after lying low in the north during the long dark evenings in the heart of winter. The dipper is the hind end of the Great Bear, officially Ursa Major. The Anishinaabe peoples of the Great Lakes region saw the Big Dipper as the hind end and tail of a magical creature called Fisher, or in their language Ojiig, who brought summer to the Earth. Its position in the sky around the pole announces the seasons. The Fisher’s ascension high into the northeastern sky signals the start of the maple sugaring season later this month.

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

The Fisher announcing maple sugaring season – animation. Star positions for 2 hours after sunset, near 45 degrees north latitude, for a week into March. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

For the story of the Fisher, and how he got that arrow stuck in his tail, check out The story of the Fisher Star.

Categories: Anishinaabek Constellation, Ephemeris Program, Observing, Seasons Tags: , , ,

Ephemeris: 02/05/2026 – Artemis 3 isn’t going to the Moon

March 5, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, March 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 6:36, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:11. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 9:22 this evening.

Late last week NASA announced that the Artemis 3 mission was not going to land on the Moon. It wasn’t even going to the Moon. It would be a low earth orbit test of docking and operations of the Human Landing System or lunar landers, either the SpaceX Starship Lander or Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Lander. This reminds me of the Apollo 9 mission which came after the spectacular Apollo 8 mission which orbited the Moon. Apollo 9 was a checkout of the Lunar Lander in low earth orbit. Several Months later, Apollo 10 flew to the Moon to a checkout of the Lunar Lander in lunar orbit. They couldn’t land, but it was a test of the operations in preparation for Apollo 11 which successfully landed on the Moon.

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

The Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1 rocket for the Artemis 2 mission out on the launch pad.
The Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1 rocket for the Artemis 2 mission out on the launch pad. As of now, it has been trundled back to the Vertical Assembly Building (VAB) to work on a helium leak in the second stage. The two successive upgrdes to Block 1B and 2 have been canceled. It looks like commercial rockets from SpaceX and Blue Origin, which are approaching or already have exceeded its capacity will make the SLS obsolete, and be cheaper too.

Categories: Artemis Program, Ephemeris Program, NASA, Space exploration

Ephemeris: 03/04/2026 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

March 4, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 19 minutes, setting at 6:34, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:13. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 8:14 this evening.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 7 PM or about a half hour after sunset, Venus may be seen very low in the West. Above it and a bit to the left might be Saturn which may not show up until a quarter of an hour later. We are in the last third of winter and the sunset times are increasing rapidly and taking with it Saturn. The evening sky will shift dramatically this Sunday when Daylight Saving Time returns, giving us darker mornings and brighter evenings. Jupiter is the brilliant star-like object more than halfway up in the southern sky. It’s the brightest star-like object in the sky. The planet and its moons are a treat for binoculars or a telescope.

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

Saturn and Venus in the west-southwestern sky at 7:15 PM tonight.
Saturn and Venus in the west-southwestern sky at 7:15 PM tonight March 3, 2026, or 41 minutes after sunset. Spotting Mercury and Venus will be problematic: being too low in Venus’ case, and too faint in Saturn’s. The brightnesses of the planets are exagerated. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter as it appears tonight, March 4, 2026, in its orientation at 9:00 PM moving against the stars of Gemini. Also shown is its track from last July to next July, and the retrograde loop that it is currently making,
Jupiter as it appears tonight, March 4, 2026, in its orientation at 9:00 PM moving against the stars of Gemini. Also shown is its track from last July to next July, and the retrograde loop that it is currently making, slowly moving to the West which it will do for the next 6 days until it stops (becomes stationary) on March 10th. Then it will resume its eastward motion. The inset shows a magnified view of the west end of the retrograde loop. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
The Moon 1½ days past full, as seen tonight, March 3, 2026 at 9 PM. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Jupiter is the one good planet available in a small telescope.
Jupiter is the one good planet available in a small telescope. Saturn is becoming too low in the sky to deliver a good image. This is how Jupiter will appear at 9 PM, its apparent diameter is 42.2″. 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, starting with sunset on the right on March 3rd, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 4th.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on March 3rd, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 4th. 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, March 4th and 5th, 2026. 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 Tags: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 03/03/2026 – Eclipse prospects for the rest of the year

March 3, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 6:33, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:14. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 7:04 this evening.

If you’re listening to me right now the total lunar eclipse this morning has ended or will shortly end. In any case it’s invisible because, even if it’s ongoing, twilight has wiped it out. Then there is the possibility of clouds, which I can’t predict from when I’m recording this Sunday night. We do have another chance to view a lunar eclipse, this year, on the night of August 27-28th. It’ll be a little bit earlier. It will start late in the evening and be almost total after midnight. There’s also going to be a solar eclipse on August 12th, but it will be just a little nibble of the moon on the sun for us. It’s going to be total for the east coast of Greenland, the northern Atlantic, and northern Spain, before ending at sunset in the Mediterranean Sea.

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

Maximums of the two eclipses visible from the Grand Traverse area in August 2026,
The maximums of the two eclipses visible from the Grand Traverse area in August of 2026. The solar eclipse of August 12th only lasts a little more than an hour, and at maximum the Moon encroaches only 11% into the Sun’s diameter. The August 28th partial lunar eclipse is more substantial. It will last three in the third hours and the Moon will immerse 93% of its diameter into the Earth’s inner shadow called the umbra, where the only sunlight to reach it filters through the Earth’s atmosphere from all the sunrises and sunsets around the world at the time. Sun and Moon images created using Stellarium.
Categories: Eclipses, Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags: , ,

Ephemeris: 03/02/2026 – There’s a total lunar eclipse tomorrow morning

March 2, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, March 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 6:32, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:16. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 7:19 tomorrow morning.

Early tomorrow morning* there will be total lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse, also known as an eclipse of the Moon occurs when the full moon moves into the earth’s shadow cutting off most of its sunlight. A little sunlight does get in by being bent around the Earth by its atmosphere through all the sunrises and sunsets going on at that time. The moon’s color generally becomes dark red, this also depends on the Earth’s atmosphere and the amount of clouds, smoke and volcanic ash that are in it at the time. The partial phase will begin at 4:50 AM and will last until totality starts at 6:04 AM. Totality will last until 7:02 AM. The growing twilight may cause the totally eclipsed Moon to disappear before then.

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.

* The Moon sets for us in Michigan before the end of the eclipse. Locations west of us in North America and the Pacific get to see the entire eclipse.

Addendum

Three views of the total lunar eclipse of March 3, 2026.
Three views of the total lunar eclipse of March 3, 2026. From left to right: Just after the beginning of the partial phase, when the Moon begina to enter the Earth’s umbra. Center is a few minutes before totality, when the Moon is almost completely imersed into the Earth’s umbra. On the right, the Moon at mid eclipse, with the brightening twilit sky. This is Stellarium’s rendition. I’m willing to bet that the Moon will actually be invisible at this point.
Total Lunar Eclipse March 3, 2026
Events for the Grand Traverse area (Eastern Standard Time)
Time Event
03:44 AM Begin Penumbral phase. This is the theoretical start of the eclipse. Nothing will appear to happen until about half an hour before the partial phase starts. Then the upper left part of the Moon will appear to darken.
04:50 AM Begin Partial phase. The umbra will encroach onto the Moon from upper left to lower right. The dull red of the umbral shadow may be discerned near the beginning of totality.
05:40 AM Astronomical Twilight begins. The Sun is 18° below the horizon.
06:04 AM Begin Totality. The expected dull red of the Moon will be brighter on the edge nearest the edge of the umbral shadow. How long will the totally eclipsed Moon be visible?
06:14 AM Nautical Twilight begins. The Sun is 12° below the horizon.
06:34 AM Mid-Eclipse
07:03 AM End Totality. Will a tiny slice of the Moon become visible in the brightening sky before it sets?
07:18 AM Sunrise
07:19 AM Moonset

For more about lunar eclipses in general, see my post for last year’s lunar eclipse: Almost everything you wanted to know about lunar eclipses.

Categories: Astronomical Event, Ephemeris Program, Lunar Eclipse, Observing Tags:

Ephemeris: 02/27/2026 – Previewing March skies

February 27, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Friday, February 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 4 minutes, setting at 6:28, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:21. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 6:06 tomorrow morning.

Let’s look at the skies for the month of March, which will begin Sunday. The Sun will cross the celestial equator in March as the promising season of spring will begin. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 11 hours and 10 minutes Sunday to 12 hours 43 minutes on the 31st. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be just under 38 degrees Sunday and will ascend to nearly 50 degrees on the 31st. Local apparent noon at mid-month, when the Sun passes due south, will be about 1:51 PM after Daylight Saving Time starts on the 8th. Spring will begin on the 20th at 10:46 AM. The big event of the month will be the total lunar eclipse early next Tuesday morning the 3rd.

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

March Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for March evenings.
Star Chart for March evenings, 2026 (10 pm EDT, March 15, 2026). Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp program.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EDT in the evening and 6 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. (An hour and 45 minutes behind our Daylight Saving Time meridian during EDT). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere (rotating star finder) you may have to set it to 45 minutes or 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than your current time.

Note the chart times of 10 PM on the 15th, and 6 AM on the 16th. To find planet positions on dates other than the dates here, check the Wednesday planet posts on this blog.

March Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for March mornings.
Star Chart for March mornings, 2026 (6 a.m. EDT March 16, 2026). Click on image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

      EST        
  Morning Twilight Evening Twilight Dark Night Moon
Date Astro. Nautical Nautical Astro. Start End Illum.
2026-03-01 5h44m 6h18m 19h36m 20h10m – – 98%
2026-03-02 5h42m 6h16m 19h37m 20h11m – – 100%
2026-03-03 5h40m 6h14m 19h39m 20h13m – – 99%
2026-03-04 5h39m 6h13m 19h40m 20h14m 20h14m 20h14m 97%
2026-03-05 5h37m 6h11m 19h41m 20h15m 20h15m 21h23m 92%
2026-03-06 5h35m 6h09m 19h43m 20h17m 20h17m 22h31m 86%
2026-03-07 5h33m 6h07m 19h44m 20h18m 20h18m 23h39m 79%
      EDT        
2026-03-08 6h31m 7h05m 20h45m 21h19m 21h19m 0h39m 70%
2026-03-09 6h30m 7h04m 20h46m 21h21m 21h21m 1h46m 61%
2026-03-10 6h28m 7h02m 20h48m 21h22m 21h22m 2h50m 52%
2026-03-11 6h26m 7h00m 20h49m 21h23m 21h23m 3h50m 43%
2026-03-12 6h24m 6h58m 20h50m 21h25m 21h25m 4h42m 33%
2026-03-13 6h22m 6h56m 20h52m 21h26m 21h26m 5h26m 24%
2026-03-14 6h20m 6h54m 20h53m 21h27m 21h27m 6h01m 16%
2026-03-15 6h18m 6h53m 20h54m 21h29m 21h29m 6h18m 9%
2026-03-16 6h16m 6h51m 20h56m 21h30m 21h30m 6h16m 4%
2026-03-17 6h14m 6h49m 20h57m 21h32m 21h32m 6h14m 1%
2026-03-18 6h12m 6h47m 20h58m 21h33m 21h33m 6h12m 0%
2026-03-19 6h10m 6h45m 21h00m 21h35m 21h35m 6h10m 2%
2026-03-20 6h08m 6h43m 21h01m 21h36m 22h22m 6h08m 6%
2026-03-21 6h06m 6h41m 21h02m 21h37m 23h44m 6h06m 13%
2026-03-22 6h04m 6h39m 21h04m 21h39m – 6h04m 22%
2026-03-23 6h02m 6h37m 21h05m 21h40m 1h06m 6h02m 32%
2026-03-24 6h00m 6h35m 21h06m 21h42m 2h24m 6h00m 43%
2026-03-25 5h58m 6h33m 21h08m 21h43m 3h32m 5h58m 55%
2026-03-26 5h56m 6h31m 21h09m 21h45m 4h26m 5h56m 66%
2026-03-27 5h54m 6h29m 21h10m 21h46m 5h08m 5h54m 76%
2026-03-28 5h51m 6h27m 21h12m 21h48m 5h39m 5h51m 84%
2026-03-29 5h49m 6h25m 21h13m 21h49m – – 91%
2026-03-30 5h47m 6h23m 21h15m 21h51m – – 96%
2026-03-31 5h45m 6h21m 21h16m 21h52m – – 99%

Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2019/09/27/

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

Mar  1  Su            Venus: 13° E
     2  Mo   7:00 AM  Moon-Regulus: 0.4° S
     2  Mo  11:35 PM  Moon Descending Node
     3  Tu   6:35 AM  Total Lunar Eclipse
     3  Tu   6:38 AM  Full Moon
     6  Fr  12:24 PM  Moon-Spica: 2° N
     7  Sa   6:01 AM  Mercury Inferior Conj.
    10  Tu   7:32 AM  Moon-Antares: 0.8° N
    10  Tu   9:43 AM  Moon Apogee: 404400 km
    11  We   5:39 AM  Last Quarter
    11  We   5:12 PM  Moon South Dec.: 28.4° S
    15  Su   3:13 PM  Mercury-Mars: 3.4° N
    17  Tu  11:22 AM  Moon Ascending Node
    18  We   9:23 PM  New Moon
    20  Fr   8:39 AM  Moon-Venus: 4.7° S
    20  Fr  10:46 AM  Vernal Equinox
    22  Su   6:16 AM  Neptune Conjunction
    22  Su   7:40 AM  Moon Perigee: 366900 km
    23  Mo   4:32 AM  Moon-Pleiades: 1.1° S
    25  We  12:46 AM  Moon North Dec.: 28.4° N
    25  We   4:27 AM  Saturn Conjunction
    25  We   3:18 PM  First Quarter
    26  Th   8:13 AM  Moon-Jupiter: 4° S
    27  Fr  10:15 PM  Moon-Beehive: 1.3° S
    29  Su   3:00 PM  Moon-Regulus: 0.4° S
    30  Mo   7:34 AM  Moon Descending Node
Apr  1  We            Venus: 20.5° E

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

If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year or calendar pages for your time zone.

Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events

LU                  Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
March, 2026    Local time zone: EST
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Sun  1| 07:20a  06:30p  11:10 | 07:33p  06:17a |      Set  06:59a   97%|
|Mon  2| 07:18a  06:32p  11:13 | 07:35p  06:15a |      Set  07:19a  100%|
|Tue  3| 07:16a  06:33p  11:16 | 07:36p  06:13a |Full  Rise 07:04p  100%|
|Wed  4| 07:14a  06:34p  11:19 | 07:37p  06:12a |      Rise 08:14p   97%|
|Thu  5| 07:13a  06:36p  11:22 | 07:39p  06:10a |      Rise 09:22p   93%|
|Fri  6| 07:11a  06:37p  11:25 | 07:40p  06:08a |      Rise 10:30p   87%|
|Sat  7| 07:09a  06:38p  11:29 | 07:41p  06:06a |      Rise 11:38p   80%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
| EDT  |      Time Change      |                |                       |
|Sun  8| 08:07a  07:39p  11:32 | 08:42p  07:04a |      Rise 01:45a   72%|
|Mon  9| 08:06a  07:41p  11:35 | 08:44p  07:03a |      Rise 02:50a   63%|
|Tue 10| 08:04a  07:42p  11:38 | 08:45p  07:01a |      Rise 03:50a   54%|
|Wed 11| 08:02a  07:43p  11:41 | 08:46p  06:59a |L Qtr Rise 04:42a   44%|
|Thu 12| 08:00a  07:45p  11:44 | 08:48p  06:57a |      Rise 05:25a   35%|
|Fri 13| 07:58a  07:46p  11:47 | 08:49p  06:55a |      Rise 06:01a   26%|
|Sat 14| 07:56a  07:47p  11:50 | 08:50p  06:53a |      Rise 06:29a   18%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 15| 07:55a  07:49p  11:54 | 08:52p  06:52a |      Rise 06:53a   11%|
|Mon 16| 07:53a  07:50p  11:57 | 08:53p  06:50a |      Rise 07:14a    5%|
|Tue 17| 07:51a  07:51p  12:00 | 08:54p  06:48a |      Rise 07:33a    1%|
|Wed 18| 07:49a  07:52p  12:03 | 08:56p  06:46a |New   Set  07:46p    0%|
|Thu 19| 07:47a  07:54p  12:06 | 08:57p  06:44a |      Set  09:02p    1%|
|Fri 20| 07:45a  07:55p  12:09 | 08:58p  06:42a |      Set  10:21p    5%|
|Sat 21| 07:43a  07:56p  12:12 | 09:00p  06:40a |      Set  11:43p   11%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 22| 07:42a  07:57p  12:15 | 09:01p  06:38a |      Set  01:05a   20%|
|Mon 23| 07:40a  07:59p  12:19 | 09:02p  06:36a |      Set  02:23a   30%|
|Tue 24| 07:38a  08:00p  12:22 | 09:04p  06:34a |      Set  03:31a   41%|
|Wed 25| 07:36a  08:01p  12:25 | 09:05p  06:32a |F Qtr Set  04:26a   52%|
|Thu 26| 07:34a  08:03p  12:28 | 09:07p  06:30a |      Set  05:07a   63%|
|Fri 27| 07:32a  08:04p  12:31 | 09:08p  06:28a |      Set  05:39a   74%|
|Sat 28| 07:30a  08:05p  12:34 | 09:09p  06:26a |      Set  06:03a   83%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 29| 07:29a  08:06p  12:37 | 09:11p  06:24a |      Set  06:24a   90%|
|Mon 30| 07:27a  08:08p  12:40 | 09:12p  06:22a |      Set  06:42a   95%|
|Tue 31| 07:25a  08:09p  12:43 | 09:13p  06:20a |      Set  07:00a   99%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Created using my LookingUp for MS-DOS app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Month preview, Observing Tags:

Ephemeris: 02/26/2026 – Get ready for next Tuesday morning’s Lunar Eclipse!

February 26, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, February 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 1 minute, setting at 6:26, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:23. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 5:27 tomorrow morning.

Early next Tuesday morning there will be total lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse, also known as an eclipse of the Moon occurs when the full moon moves into the earth’s shadow, causing it to become much darker. Usually a fair amount of sunlight does get in by being bent around the Earth by its atmosphere through all the sunrises and sunsets going on at that time. The moon’s color generally becomes very dark red, this also depends on the Earth’s atmosphere and the amount of clouds, smoke and volcanic ash that’s in the Earth’s atmosphere at that time. The partial phase will begin at 4:50 AM and will last until totality starts At 6:04 AM totality will last until 7:02 AM. The growing twilight may cause the moon to actually disappear.

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

Three stages of the total lunar eclipse of March 3rd 2026, ass it might be seen from the Grand Traverse region of Michigan. On the left is about first contact of the umbra, the inner part of the Earth’s shadow and the beginning of the partial phase. The Moon at that time will have a dusky upper left part, as it is deep in the outer shadow of the Earth, called penumbra. The umbra will begin to creep in from that point. In the center, is just before totality. At this point the eclipsed part of the Moon should be a dark red color. The last image is the moon at mid eclipse. However the Moon may not be visible at this point, because the sky is brightening with twilight. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Total Lunar Eclipse March 3, 2026 Events for the Grand Traverse area (Eastern Standard Time)
TimeEvent
03:44 AMBegin Penumbral phase. This is the theoretical start of the eclipse. Nothing will appear to happen until about half an hour before the partial phase starts. Then the upper left part of the Moon will appear to darken.
04:50 AMBegin Partial phase. The umbra will encroach onto the Moon from upper left to lower right. The dull red of the umbral shadow may be discerned near the beginning of totality.
05:40 AMAstronomical Twilight begins. The Sun is 18° below the horizon.
06:04 AMBegin Totality. The expected dull red of the Moon will be brighter on the edge nearest the edge of the umbral shadow. How long will the totally eclipsed Moon be visible?
06:14 AMNautical Twilight begins. The Sun is 12° below the horizon.
06:34 AMMid-Eclipse
07:03 AMEnd Totality. Will a tiny slice of the Moon become visible in the brightening sky before it sets?
07:18 AMSunrise
07:19 AMMoonset

Eclipse event times are strictly convertible by time zone. Twilight, sunrise and moonset events depend on one’s location. For locations west of Michigan, the eclipse may occur completely in darkness.

Categories: Astronomical Event, Ephemeris Program, Lunar Eclipse, Observing

Ephemeris: 02/25/2026 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets

February 25, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 58 minutes, setting at 6:25, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:25. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 4:37 tomorrow morning.

Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. At 7:00 PM or about and 1/2 hour after sunset Venus may be seen very low in the West above it and a bit to the right is Mercury which will be really difficult to spot since it is dimming now and above left of that is Saturn which is getting very low in the sky. We are in the last third of winter and the sunset times are increasing rapidly and taking with it the planets near the Sun including Saturn. By 8 PM Saturn will be very low in the West and not a very good object for telescope viewing. Jupiter is the brilliant star-like object more than halfway up in the southeastern sky, and tonight is below and left of the Moon. It’s the brightest star-like object in the sky. It is still moving to the west, but is slowing down and will stop and reverse its course 13 days from now.

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

Saturn with Mercury and Venus in the west-southwestern sky at 7 PM tonight February 25, 2026, or 35 minutes after sunset. Spotting Mercury and Venus will be problematic: being too low in Venus' case, and too faint in Mercury's.
Saturn with Mercury and Venus in the west-southwestern sky at 7 PM tonight February 25, 2026, or 35 minutes after sunset. Spotting Mercury and Venus will be problematic: being too low in Venus’ case, and too faint in Mercury’s. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter as it appears tonight, February 25, 2026, in its orientation at 9:00 PM moving against the stars of Gemini.
Jupiter as it appears tonight, February 25, 2026, in its orientation at 9:00 PM moving against the stars of Gemini. Also shown is its track from last July to next July, and the retrograde loop that it is currently making, slowly moving to the West which it will do for the next 13 days until it stops (becomes stationary) on March 10th. Then it will resume its eastward motion. The inset shows a magnified view of the west end of the retrograde loop. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.
The Moon 1½ days past first quarter, as seen tonight, February 25, 2026. A view visible in small telescopes showing an image with and without selected features labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Jupiter is the one good planet available in a small telescope. Saturn is becoming too low in the sky to deliver a good image. This is how Jupiter will appear at 9 PM.
Jupiter is the one good planet available in a small telescope. Saturn is becoming too low in the sky to deliver a good image. This is how Jupiter will appear at 9 PM, with the exception of Ganymede with will begin its transit of the face of Jupiter at 8:56 PM EST. The satellites are shown much brighter compared to Jupiter than they actually are, so a satellite will seem to disappear against the brighter planet. Ganymede will not reappear before Jupiter sets for our location. 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, starting with sunset on the right on February 25th, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 26th.
The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on February 25th, 2026. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 26th. 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, February 25th and 26th, 2026. 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 Tags: , , , , ,

Ephemeris: 02/24/2026 – Three cool craters at the Moon’s first quarter

February 24, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, February 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 55 minutes, setting at 6:23, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:27. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 3:33 tomorrow morning.

By the time we see the moon this evening it will be approximately half a day after became first quarter so it will be slightly gibbous tonight. Near the center of the moon near the terminator is a group of three craters . They are not a chain of craters in that they are of all of different ages. The largest in the north, called Ptolemaeus is named after Claudius Ptolemy the last great ancient Greek astronomer. The second is Alphonsus named after a Castilian king who was an astronomer. And the southern crater is Arzachel named after an 11th century Arabian astronomer and mathematician. In 1958 Soviet Astronomer Nikolai A. Kozyrev recorded the formation of a cloud near the center of the crater Alphonsus, suggesting perhaps some volcanic venting or activity.

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

The telescopic first quarter Moon, featuring the three famous craters: Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, and Arzachel. Moon image created using Stellarium.
Ranger spacecraft and closeup image of the Alphonsus crater.
Left: The Ranger spacecraft. Right: The floor of the crater Alphonsus from Ranger 9. Only the last 3 Ranger spacecraft were successful. They transmitted images all the way down as they crashed into the Moon. Credit NASA.
Categories: Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags: ,