10/13/10 – Ephemeris – Planets for this week
Wednesday, October 13th. The sun will rise at 7:55. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 7:01. The moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 11:28 this evening.
Lets take a look at the bright planets for this week. Venus and Mars are very low and pretty much lost in the evening twilight. Venus is the brightest. It’s 29.3 million miles away and slowly approaching, and appears as a thin crescent, if you can find it. It will set at 7:15 p.m. Mars, though appearing farther from the sun, is too dim to be spotted in the bright twilight. The planet Jupiter is up at sunset and will move due south at 11:58 p.m.. It is very bright in the southeastern sky, and the brightest starlight object in the sky. It’s located in Pisces this year and will set at 5:47 a.m. Comet Hartley 2 may be just visible in binoculars as a fuzzy spot near the northern tip of the constellation Perseus closest to the W shape of Cassiopeia in the northeast.
10/12/10 – Ephemeris – The Pleiades or Seven Sisters
Tuesday, October 12th. The sun will rise at 7:53. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 7:03. The moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 10:26 this evening.
A marvelous member of the autumn skies can be found low in the east northeast after 9 in the evening. It is the famous star cluster called the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. I might also add the ‘Tiny Dipper’. Many people can spot a tiny dipper shape in its six or seven stars, and mistake it for the Little Dipper. As nearsighted as I am, though corrected, I’ve never been able to see more than a few stars and a bit of fuzz. However with binoculars, even I can see over a hundred stars appear along with the dipper shape of the brightest. The fuzz I saw was unresolved stars, but in photographs the Pleiades actually contains wisps of the gas they are passing through currently. They were born from a hundred million years ago. In Greek mythology the sisters were daughters of the god Atlas.
10/11/10 – Ephemeris – The constellation Pegasus
Monday, October 11th. The sun will rise at 7:52. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 12 minutes, setting at 7:04. The moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 9:29 this evening.
Rising ever higher in the east at as it gets dark around 9 p.m. can be found one of the great autumn constellations: Pegasus the flying horse of Greek myth. Its most visible feature is a large square of four stars, now standing on one corner. This feature, called the Great Square of Pegasus, represents the front part of the horse’s body. The horse is quite aerobatic, because it is seen flying upside down. Remembering that fact, the neck and head is a bent line of stars emanating from the right corner star of the square. Its front legs can be seen in a gallop extending to the upper right from the top star of the square. From the left star extend, not hind legs but the constellation of Andromeda, a fascinating constellation in its own right.
10/08/10 – Ephemeris – Local World Space Week event
Friday, October 8th. The sun will rise at 7:48. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 7:10. The moon, 1 day past new, will set at 7:16 this evening.
This is World Space Week which was celebrated last year by a star party at the White House. This year the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will join societies, planetariums, and observatories around the world. The local society’s contribution is a star party tonight near the Open Space on the bay front in Traverse City. The grassy expanse where the old light and power generators stood appears dark enough for our purposes. Society members will be out tonight from about 8 p,.m. If it’s clear. If not we’ll postpone it to Saturday night. The giant planet Jupiter will be the featured attraction. This is a new venue for the society so we’ll test just how dark it is. For more information go to worldspaceweek.org. Dress warmly, Clear nights are cold this time of year.
Times are for the Grand Traverse Area of Northern Michigan, USA.
Astronomy Cruise – Day 0
Late last year I was privileged enough to be asked by Captain Dave owner of the tall ship Manitou and the Traverse Tall Ship Company, based in Traverse City, to be the astronomer on their annual astronomy cruise. After the three times a day two hour cruises of the summer months they have three or four day “Windjammer” cruises after Labor Day. The astronomy cruise was scheduled for October 1-4 this year, and happened to be the last cruise of the season.
The Manitou is a 114 foot replica of a 19th century cargo schooner like those that sailed the lakes back then. It can accommodate 24 passengers on multi-day cruises, 62 on short day cruises.
The schooner Manitou at its dock in Traverse City
Boarding was on the afternoon before to get things stowed, and I had a lot to stow: 8″ Celestron SCT telescope, tripod, other telescope parts, christened “bag of bricks” by the crew, 2 battery packs, a Questar telescope on loan from the Leelanau School, and my traveling bag. I had a cabin to myself, so the tripod slept in the upper bunk.
After heading ashore with another passenger to get some takeout burgers and having a quick supper I set up my telescope, because the sky was clear.
My telescope aimed at the rising Jupiter, just visible.
Only tonight and Sunday night were forecast to be clear, so I wasn’t going to waste even this first night in port to observe the sky. Among other things I did spot comet Hartley 2. The south was affected by an unshielded sodium light on a dock south of us. Overhead and to the north were good and dark.
The bunk in my quarters (Not the first night)
After tearing down the telescope, I settled in to my cabin and a very comfortable, but narrow bed for a fitful sleep. I always have trouble sleeping the first night in a new place. The rest of the nights I went to sleep right away and slept soundly. My MP3 player and ear buds silenced the fellow snoring on the other side of the wall. The bed being unmade in the photo is my fault. I didn’t keep my cabin exactly ship shape.
Tomorrow is going to be a big day as we head out into the Grand Traverse Bay.
10/07/10 – Ephemeris – The star Fomalhaut
Thursday, October 7th. The sun will rise at 7:47. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 24 minutes, setting at 7:12. The moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
There’s a bright star that appears for only seven and a half hours a night on autumn evenings. It’s appearance, low in the south, is a clear indication of the autumn season. At 9 p.m. tonight it’s low in the southeast. The star’s name is Fomalhaut, which means fish’s mouth. That fits because it’s in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish. At our latitude it’s the fish that got away, because Fomalhaut appears to be quite alone. The dimness of the constellation’s other stars and location close to the horizon make the fainter stars hard to spot. They would be overhead in Australia. The earth’s thick atmosphere near the horizon reduces the stars brightness by a factor of two or more, so Fomalhaut appears to keep a lonely vigil in the south.
Times are for the Grand Traverse Area of Northern Michigan, USA.
10/06/10 – Ephemeris – The planets this week
Wednesday, October 6th. The sun will rise at 7:46. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 27 minutes, setting at 7:13. The moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 7:42 tomorrow morning.
Lets take a look at the bright planets for this week. Venus and Mars are very low in the twilight. Venus is the brightest. It’s 32.1 million miles away and slowly approaching, and appears as a thin crescent. If you can find it. It will set at 7:41 p.m. Mars, though appearing farther from the sun, is too dim to be spotted in the bright twilight. The planet Jupiter is up at sunset and will move due south at 12:29 a.m.. It is very bright in the southeastern sky, and the brightest starlight object in the sky. It’s located in Pisces this year and will set at 6:19 a.m. Comet Hartley 2 may be just visible in binoculars as a fuzzy spot just right of the bottom of the W shape of the constellation Cassiopeia in the evening now.
Times are for the Grand Traverse Area of Northern Michigan, USA.
10/05/10 – Ephemeris – The constellation Capricornus
Tuesday, October 5th. The sun will rise at 7:45. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 7:15. The moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 6:22 tomorrow morning.
2000 years ago the southernmost of the constellations of the zodiac was Capricornus the water goat. That’s why the latitude on the earth where the sun is overhead on the winter solstice is called the Tropic of Capricorn. Not any more, Sagittarius, one constellation west, has that honor today. Actually Capricornus does need the press. It’s large, but made up of dim stars. To me it looks like a 45 degree isosceles triangle, long side up, but which all the sides are sagging. The constellation is found low in the south at 10 p.m. and tilted a bit from the upper right to the lower left. The image that is supposed to be represented by the stars is that of a goat whose hind quarters are replaced by a fish’s tail, not a mermaid but a mer-goat.
*Times are for the Grand Traverse Area of Northern Michigan, USA.
10/04/10 – Ephemeris – Comet Hartley 2
Monday, October 4th. The sun will rise at 7:43. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 33 minutes, setting at 7:17. The moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 5:02 tomorrow morning.
Comet 103P/Hartley 2 is visible all night, but it’s visible only in binoculars or a small telescope It’s cruising past the W shaped constellation of Cassiopeia in the northeast in the evening. Looking at the W in the evening it’s standing on one end, and looks like the number 3. The comet is moving down just to the right of it. Since it is seen against the Milky Way there are some other fuzzy spots to confuse you. The comet will stay fuzzy in a telescope. Discovered in 1986 by Malcolm Hartley in Australia, the comet has a 6 and a half year orbit of the sun. It will be closest to the earth on October 20th. The Deep Impact spacecraft renamed EPOXI will pass close to the half mile diameter nucleus on November 4th.
Times are for the Grand Traverse Area of Northern Michigan, USA.
10/01/10 – Ephemeris GTAS activities this weekend
Friday, October 1st. The sun will rise at 7:40. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 7:23. The moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 1:10 tomorrow morning.
This evening the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will meet at 8 p.m. at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory. Special guest Walter Hoegy, retired physicist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center will provide the program: “Climate Studies in the Arctic and a look at the Sun”. Tomorrow night starting at 8 p.m. there will be a Public Viewing Night at the observatory. This is that last shot at viewing the wonders of the southern part of the Milky Way with its bright nebulae where stars are being formed and star clusters. Bright Jupiter and maybe even Uranus will also be featured.. The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Road between Garfield and Keystone roads.
Times are for the Grand Traverse Area of Northern Michigan, USA.
