04/10/2013 – Ephemeris – Where are Comet PanSTARRS and the two bright planets thia week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 10th. The sun will rise at 7:06. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 14 minutes, setting at 8:21. The moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
It’s time to check out a comet and the two remaining bright planets for this week. Comet PanSTARRS is in the northwest in the evening, moving away from the sun and us, and getting a little higher in the sky as it moves northward. The comet will no longer set though it is best seen in the evening and mornings just after the end of evening twilight and before morning twilight. The comet is now down to near 6th magnitude, strictly a binocular object. Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus and is in the west during the evening. It will set at 12:51 a.m. The other bright planet Saturn will rise at 9:43 p.m. in the east southeast. It’s located in eastern Virgo. It will pass due south at 2:56 a.m. Both planets are wonderful sights in telescopes. Saturn has those wonderful rings.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter and the setting winter stars at 10 p.m. on April 10, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn rising with bright stars of spring at 11 p.m. April 10, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Comet PanSTARRS at the end of twilight at 10 p.m. for the seven days starting April 10, 2013. Created using Cartes du Ciel.
Comet PanSTARRS at the beginning of twilight 5:20 a.m. for the dates listed. Created using Cartes du Ciel.
04/09/2013 – Ephemeris – Hydra the water snake
Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 9th. The sun will rise at 7:08. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 8:20. The moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 7:01 tomorrow morning.
In the southwest to southeastern sky at 11 p.m. can be found the constellation of Hydra the water snake. Unlike the monster of the same name this Hydra has but one head, which is its most distinctive part. After 10 p.m. look to the south to southwest. The head of Hydra is located below a line from the constellation Leo the Lion in the south and Gemini high in the west southwest. Hydra’s head is a small but distinctive group of 6 stars that make a drooping loop to the right. The rest of Hydra wends its way just above the southern horizon ending under Virgo below the star Spica and ends near Saturn. To astronomers constellations have distinct boundaries like congressional districts, and Hydra is one long Gerrymander*.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
* Gerrymander – A method of drawing Congressional Districts of supposed equal population so that it benefits the party in power at the time. Names after Governor Gerry of Massachusetts in 1812 when one of the districts he drew looked like a salamander. I checked Wikipedia and we ain’t the only ones. Actually Hydra is quite linear, being a snake. It is the longest constellation. Actually Eridanus and Draco are more crooked.
Hydra the water snake seen at 11 p.m. on April 9, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Below are the official boundaries of Hydra and the nearby constellations.
Hydra boundaries according to the International Astronomical Union. Created using Cartes du Ciel.
04/08/2013 – Ephemeris – The constellation Leo the lion
Ephemeris for Monday, April 8th. The sun will rise at 7:10. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 8:18. The moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 6:32 tomorrow morning.
Besides the advancing sunset times and warming temperatures, there’s another sign that spring is here. That’s the appearance of the constellation Leo the lion high in the southeast in the evening. The front of this beast is a backward question mark of stars with the bright star Regulus as the dot at the bottom. That’s his head, mane and chest. His haunches are a triangle of stars to the left, This year the planet Saturn is to the left of the Regulus. A way to find Leo is to remember that cat’s aren’t supposed to like water. Find the Big Dipper high in the northeast and imagine drilling a hole in the bottom of the bowl. The water will fall on Leo’s back. Also you’ll notice the stars of spring to the east are more sparse than those of winter to the west.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Leo and Ursa Major (Big Dipper) for 10 pm on April 8, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
04/05/2013 – Ephemeris – Astronomy meeting and a star party tonight.
Ephemeris for Friday, April 5th. The sun will rise at 7:15. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 8:15. The moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 5:06 tomorrow morning.
Trixie and Kevin Pickard will preset a program this evening entitled Heavenly Signs at this evening’s meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory starting at 8 p.m. Trixie has been one of our members since she was in high school. Her main interest has been the manned space program. But I am assured that this topic is not about that. Starting at 9 p.m. Is our March star party at the observatory. Highlights, if its clear will be the planet Jupiter and the wonders of the winter sky including the Great Orion Nebula. Towards the end of the evening Saturn will rise. It will be rather low in the sky and fuzzy. But it is Saturn after all. All are welcome.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
04/04/2013 – Ephemeris – Can you spot Zodiacal Light?
Ephemeris for Thursday, April 4th. The sun will rise at 7:17. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 56 minutes, setting at 8:14. The moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 4:34 tomorrow morning.
After you try to spot Jupiter tonight, or hang around outside at the end of astronomical twilight, about 10 p.m. look to the west at Taurus the bull and Gemini. Then broaden your gaze. There will be a very faint triangular glow with broad base at the horizon leaning a bit to the left, with its apex near Jupiter and the V of the face of Taurus the bull and the bright star Aldebaran to the right of Orion. This glow is called Zodiacal Light, caused by the reflected sunlight off a cloud of dust located in the plane of the solar system. Most of the large bodies of the solar system orbit the sun in a single plane. The one exception to this are comets, which orbit at all angles to the sun. Zodiacal Light is best seen on spring evenings and autumn mornings.
Addendum
It seems the only good photographs of zodiacal light I get is when there’s a comet in that direction. It happened a year before with Comet Hyakutake. The images here were taken later in the month when the Hyades and the Pleiades were lower in the sky.
Zodiacal Light and Comet Hale-Bopp April 1997. My image.
Here’s a black and white image with enhanced contrast.
Zodiacal Light and Comet Hale-Bopp April 1997. Enhanced contrast.
04/03/2013 – Ephemeris – Where are Comet PanSTARRS and the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 3rd. The sun will rise at 7:19. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 53 minutes, setting at 8:12. The moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 3:57 tomorrow morning.
It’s time to check out a comet and the two remaining bright planets for this week. Comet PanSTARRS is in the northwest, moving away from the sun, and getting a little higher in the sky as it moves northward rather than eastward. The comet will set at 11:22 p.m. The comet is now down to near 5th magnitude, strictly a binocular object. It’s also visible in the morning, rising at 3:04 a.m. Jupiter is located in the constellation of Taurus and is in the west during the evening. It will set at 1:16 a.m. The other bright planet Saturn will rise at 10:13 p.m. in the east southeast. It’s located in eastern Virgo. It will pass due south at 3:26 a.m. Both planets are wonderful sights in telescopes. Saturn is the most beautiful of planets with its rings.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Comet PanSTARRS at 9:30 p.m. for the period April 3 through 9, 2013. Created using Cartes du Ciel.
Jupiter with the setting constellations of winter at 10 p.m. on April 3, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn rising at 11:30 p.m. on April 3, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Comet PanSTARRS in the morning at 5:45 for the period April 4 through 10, 2013. Created using Cartes du Ciel.
04/02/2013 – Ephemeris – April Preview
Tuesday, April 2nd. The sun will rise at 7:21. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 8:11. The moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 3:15 tomorrow morning.
The 4th month of the year began yesterday. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 12 hours and 50 minutes today to 14 hours 12 minutes on April 30th. The altitude, or angle, of the sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 50 degrees tomorrow and will ascend to 60 degrees on April 30th. The altitude of the sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower. The actual time of local apparent noon this month for the Interlochen/Traverse City area, when the sun passes due south, will be about 1:43 p.m. For the straits area local noon occurs about 4 minutes earlier. The reason for the is that the straits, are about one degree of longitude east of Traverse City.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Calendar of Astronomical Events for April 2013 for Eastern Daylight Time
Apr 03 00:37 LAST QUARTER MOON
10 05:35 NEW MOON
12 08:12 Moon at Descending Node
14 06:51 Aldebaran 3.4°S of Moon
14 14:23 Jupiter 2.1°N of Moon
15 18:21 Moon at Apogee: 404865 km
17 20 Mars in Conjunction with Sun
18 08:31 FIRST QUARTER MOON
21 00:44 Regulus 5.9°N of Moon
22 07 Lyrid Meteor Shower
24 20:10 Spica 0.0°N of Moon
(Occultation visible across the southern Atlantic Ocean
and South Africa. Link)
25 15:57 FULL MOON
25 16:09 Partial Lunar Eclipse; mag=0.014
25 22:28 Saturn 3.5°N of Moon
26 10:07 Moon at Ascending Node
27 15:48 Moon at Perigee: 362268 km
28 04 Saturn at Opposition
Calendar of Astronomical Events Courtesy of Fred Espenak,
www.AstroPixels.com
Fred’s site has calendars for all the time zones in the United States. Foe daylight time use the time zone one zone east. This Eastern Daylight Time time zone above uses the Atlantic Standard Time zone.
Star Chart for mid April at 10 p.m. Created using my LookingUp program.
The chart includes the following finder aids:
- Big Dipper pointers point to Polaris.
- The arc of the Big Dipper’s handle points to Arcturus.
- Extend the arc as a spike to Spica.
- Leaky Big Dipper bowl leaks on Leo the lion’s back
04/01/2013 – Ephemeris – Orion the Fool
Ephemeris for April Fools Day, Monday, April 1st. The sun will rise at 7:22. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 47 minutes, setting at 8:10. The moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 2:25 tomorrow morning.
Orion is one of the two constellations mentioned in the Bible, that have been deciphered. These are mentioned in the Book of Job. In the King James translation of the Bible the star Arcturus is mentioned. Modern scholars have changed that to the Bear, that is the Great Bear, Ursa Major, of which the Big Dipper is a part. The star cluster Pleiades, our Seven Sisters are also mentioned. There is no agreement of what Mazzeroth and the Mansions of the South are. The translation of Orion from the original Hebrew fits the day today. It’s Kesil, which means fool. Considering the mythology of Orion, a very minor character of Greek mythology, he was indeed, if not a fool, very unlucky in love.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Orion the fool at 10 p.m. on April 3, 2013. Created using Stellarium. Note the Pleiades at the extreme right edge of the picture
03/29/2013 – Ephemeris – How we know this Sunday is Easter
Ephemeris for Good Friday, Friday, March 29th. The sun will rise at 7:28. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 38 minutes, setting at 8:06. The moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 11:14 this evening.
Wednesday was the day of the Paschal full moon, the full moon after the first day of spring, which is defined by Christian churches as March 21st. For the date of Easter the actual full moon isn’t used, but a rather complicated formula is used to find the new moon. There’s a complicated correction to then find the date of the full moon, which 2 days ago. This year that formula works out correctly. It can be a day off either way. The next Sunday then is Easter. Orthodox churches use the Julian calendar and a different formula but they’ll celebrate Easter on May 5th. The formula was set up to approximate the Jewish lunar calendar. It works out close this year because Passover started at sunset last Sunday night.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
03/29/2013 – Ephemeris –
Ephemeris for Thursday, March 28th. The sun will rise at 7:30. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 34 minutes, setting at 8:05. The moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 10:01 this evening.
Venus is passing superior conjunction with the sun today. Superior means Venus is passing behind, thought not directly behind the Sun. You can see it only in the images of the SOHO spacecraft. On the Internet google soho nasa to find the site. Our last inferior conjunction of Venus was the transit of Venus last June, when Venus crossed the face of the sun. Mars is about to pass in conjunction with the sun. All its conjunctions are superior. For about a month, starting April 4th. the satellites and rovers cannot receive transmissions from the earth due to the sun’s radio noise, so they are put into a passive state. The Deep Space Network on the earth can pick up their transmissions, though not well during this period due to its greater sensitivity.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Annotated SOHO LASCO C3 image of the sun, behind the occulting disk with Venus and Mars. Image: ESA, NASA
