Ephemeris: 03/13/2024 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 7:47, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:55. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 12:28 tomorrow morning.
Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week, and see what planets are left. Mercury is beginning to become visible in the evening sky shortly after sunset appearing very low in the west. It will be visible for the next week or so, moving away from the Sun, but getting dimmer. Higher up in the sky Jupiter and the moon are close together this evening With Jupiter to the left and below the crescent Moon in the west southwest. It will set at 12:08 am. Jupiter will be visible in the evening for only about another month or so. In the morning Mars and Venus may be impossible to spot, in the east-southeast in the bright twilight. Mars will rise at 6:57 am, followed by Venus at 7:21.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 03/12/24 – The story of the twins of Gemini
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 12th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 7:45, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:57. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 11:07 this evening.
A week ago I talked about how to find the constellation of Gemini the twins above and to the left of the constellation Orion. Today I’ll talk about their story. Gemini the twins are fraternal twins, Castor and Pollux. Their namesake stars are the brightest in Gemini, with Castor above and the brighter Pollux below and left. Pollux was fathered by the god Zeus who raped his mother in the Leda and the Swan incident, while Castor was fathered by a mortal. They both went on the quest for the Golden Fleece with Jason and the Argonauts. Unfortunately Castor was killed. Pollux loved his brother so much he petitioned Zeus for him to die also and join Castor in the underworld. Instead, Zeus placed them both in the sky where we see them as Gemini.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 03/11/2024 – The Moon and the month
This is Ephemeris for Monday, March 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 43 minutes, setting at 7:44, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:59. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 9:44 this evening.
Tonight’s one-day old moon can be seen in the West shortly after sunset. Astrophysicist Dr. Rebecca Smethurst has a channel on YouTube under the name Dr. Becky. She calls it a toenail moon, because it looks like a toenail clipping. If you look real close, the rest of the Moon may be there. It’s not your eyes playing tricks on you, it’s the Earth shining on the Moon, illuminating the night side of it. For those using lunar calendars this would be day one or two of the lunar month. Since astronomically the Moon was new at 4 am yesterday morning our time. Folks in Europe and Asia may have seen the Moon in the sky last night. The Islamic lunar calendar requires the actual sighting of the new moon to start the month.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
A note: being a leap year I will have more than my normal amount of posts about the calendar and problems with the calendar.
Ephemeris: 03/08/2024 – We’re one month away from the last Great American Eclipse for the next 21 years
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for International Women’s Day, Friday, March 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 33 minutes, setting at 6:40, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:05. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 7:01 tomorrow morning.
We are exactly one month from our total solar eclipse this year, so I hope you’ve gotten your eclipse glasses or whatever else you need to safely view the Sun, or make plans to drive to the path of totality. This weekend we have a time change, spring forward to daylight savings time. It’s something I don’t look forward to, because it pushes the darkness in the evening out one more hour later. Not only does the sunset later each night, but we mess with the clocks to make it even later. By the end of June and early July twilight doesn’t officially end until after midnight. Then we only get 4 1/2 hours of darkness anyway if the Moon wasn’t out.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 03/07/2024 – There’s a unicorn in there somewhere
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, March 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 6:39, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:06. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 6:35 tomorrow morning.
The constellation of Monoceros the unicorn is located in an area of sky to the left of Orion so it’s in the south at 8 pm, inside the Winter Triangle of stars, Betelgeuse in Orion; Sirius in the Great Dog, Canis Major; and Procyon in Canis Minor. If you don’t see anything there, it’s OK. Nobody sees real unicorns any more anyway. Are there any real unicorns? Anyway, there’s a great number of nebulae here in the Milky Way that runs through it, which unfortunately are too faint to be seen with amateur telescopes. However, it is a gold mine for amateur astronomers who are also astrophotographers using time exposures to record the faint nebulae here, including the famous Rosette Nebula!
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 03/06/2024 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 27 minutes, setting at 6:37, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:08. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 6:03 tomorrow morning.
Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week, and see what planets are left. Saturn, and Mercury are gone, too close to the Sun to be seen. Jupiter will be in the west-southwest at 8 this evening. It will set at 11:25 pm in the west. Jupiter will be visible in the evening for only about another month or so. Venus, the morning star, will rise in the east-southeast at 6:23 am, but its brilliance is diminished by the bright twilight and its low position in the sky. It will be very low in the east-southeast at 6:45 am. Mars might be impossible to spot, being a bit to the right and above Venus. A pair of binoculars, at least, will be needed to spot it. It is about the width of the field of binoculars from Venus.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 03/05/2024 – Finding Gemini the twins
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 24 minutes, setting at 6:36, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:10. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 5:22 tomorrow morning.
The constellation of Gemini the twins can be seen high in the south at 8 pm tonight. It’s located above and left of the constellation of Orion. The two brightest stars at the upper left of the constellation have the twin’s names. They are Castor, the one to the upper right and Pollux the brighter one to the lower left. I tend to see the constellation as the two lines of stars from Castor and Pollux running down toward Orion as a silhouette of these two boys standing together. Others see them as two stick figures. At the bottom of the line of stars emanating from Castor, what I consider Castor’s foot, is a lovely star cluster which is visible in binoculars as a little fuzzy spot, but a telescope will show a great number of stars here called Messier 35 or simply M35.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 03/04/2024 – The evening skies are a-changing
This is Ephemeris for Monday, March 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 6:35, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:12. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 4:30 tomorrow morning.
Tonight at 8 pm Orion is in the south. This will be the last month that we will be able to enjoy Orion in the evening sky, because by month’s end he will begin to dip low in the west in the evening twilight. Even though it’s not quite spring, the central constellation of that season, Leo the lion, is already rising in the east. It has cleared the horizon at 8 this evening. The backwards question mark of Leo’s head, mane and front part of his body is easily spotted in the east now with the bright star Regulus at the bottom. The Big Dipper is in the northeast, also rising higher, and signaling via the Anishinaabek constellation there of the Fisher Star, announcing the maple sugaring season.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Looking to the east-southeast at 8 pm we look at three star groups or constellations. From left to right we have the Big Dipper and the Fisher Star in the northeast. Centered in the east we have Leo the lion. And on the right, just west of south, we have Orion the central winter constellation. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Credit: Stellarium, and using LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.
Ephemeris Extra: 03/03/2024 – Tips for viewing the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse
What is a solar eclipse?
Solar eclipses or eclipses of the Sun occur in about one in six new moons. However, one must be in the right part of the Earth to see them, which is why they may seem rare.
In a solar eclipse the moon’s shadow is cast upon the Earth. Because the Sun is a disk, the Moon’s shadow is fuzzy with sometimes a dark core. The fuzzy outer part of the shadow is called the penumbra. Observers there will see the Sun partially covered by the Moon, a partial eclipse. Observers in the dark core of the shadow are in the umbra, and see the face of the Sun completely covered by the Moon, a total eclipse. The maximum length of totality is never more than about seven minutes. Maximum for this eclipse will be 4 minutes 28 seconds in Mexico. The maximum length of the partial eclipse would be about 2 ½ hours.
What can be seen?
The outer three layers of the Sun are potentially visible to us: photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. The photosphere is the bright ball of the Sun we normally see. Looking at it for any length of time will cause blindness. Never look at the Sun’s photosphere without an approved solar filter. The other two layers can be seen during the totality of a solar eclipse. A thin red layer of gas with flame-like protrusions called prominences just above the photosphere and can normally be seen in a Hydrogen Alpha solar telescope, but easily seen in binoculars just after totality starts and before it ends. The corona is a silvery white extended solar atmosphere that can be seen out to several solar radii out from the edge of the Moon. Its shape changes hour to hour, and sometimes minute by minute.
All around you strange things happen as the Sun is covered by the Moon.
- The temperature will drop as the Sun is covered. It will be interesting to record the drop and recovery before, during and after the eclipse. Even a deep partial eclipse like what we’ll see locally will show a drop.
- Nearing totality the Sun’s light will appear somewhat yellow in hue. The revealed part of the Sun when it is mostly covered by the Moon is cooler and yellower than the central part. This is called limb darkening.
- As totality approaches and the sky darkens, streetlights will turn on.
- Also Chickens and other birds will go to roost. In the country cocks will crow before and after totality. Mosquitoes will think it’s twilight and will come out in mosquito prone areas for a snack.
- Shadow bands will be projected on flat smooth surfaces in near maximum phases of the partially eclipsed Sun. These are very subtle and are caused by atmospheric turbulence and the nearly pinpoint illumination by the Sun. It took me four total eclipses in order to be able to spot the effect on the tarmac of an airport. The nearest analog of this is seeing the shadow pattern on the bottom of a swimming pool on a sunny day, but very much fainter.
- Look for Venus (15° lower right) and Jupiter (30° upper left) of the Sun during totality. Just before, during and after totality look around at the sky and the incoming and outgoing umbral shadow.
- Check out the colorful horizon effects.
Viewing the partial solar eclipse
They are especially difficult to use, especially for people who wear glasses and can’t remove them because they are near-sighted.
Personally I do not recommend them, instead relying on one of the projection methods.
Be especially careful about children using them.
Remember the ISO 12312-2 compliance that should be printed on them.
Never look directly at the partially eclipsed Sun without an approved solar filter. Solar filters must comply with ISO 12312-2 and transmit no more than 0.0032% of sunlight, and preferably less. Items sold as Eclipse viewing glasses must state that they comply with ISO 12312-2. People like me who wear glasses will find gaps above and below the frames of these filters where the Sun can get in, so must be used with extreme caution. No eclipse is worth your eyesight. The damage caused by looking directly at the Sun may not be known for several days after exposure, then it’s too late. I never use these filters, and prefer to project the Sun’s image on a white screen.
Pinhole projection is an easy way to project the Sun’s image. Depending on how far you want to project the image the larger the pinhole the farther and larger (and dimmer) the image can be. “Pinholes” up to 1/4 inch and maybe even half an inch can be used if you’re projecting it 10 feet or more. One can even use a mirror in an envelope with a small hole punched in it with the paper punch to project the sun’s image on the shady side of a building. That way many people can view the eclipse safely. Also try different size holes to get the best combination of size and brightness of the image. Unlike the illustration above it is best to mount the mirror on a tripod, or other support somehow, rather than holding it to keep the image steady. Using this method, the Sun’s motion due to the Earth’s rotation can be seen. Also, large sunspots may also be visible.
Local Circumstances
Local eclipse times for Traverse City: Starts (first contact) 1:58 p.m. Maximum 3:12 p.m. 89% covered Ends (last contact) 4:25 p.m. Times for other localities in northern Michigan will be within a minute or two of these values. It may be a minute or two after first contact for the first bite of the Moon to become discernible.
Eclipse2024.org provides an interactive map of the April 8, 2024 eclipse on the Internet to allow the display of eclipse times for any location: https://eclipse2024.org/eclipse_cities/statemap.html
Eclipse2024.org provides an interactive map of the April 8, 2024 eclipse on the Internet to allow the display of eclipse times for any location: https://eclipse2024.org/eclipse_cities/statemap.html.
Ephemeris: 03/01/2024 – Mr. Eclipse to give a presentation about April’s Total Solar Eclipse
This is Ephemeris for Friday, March 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 6:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:17. The Moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 1:09 tomorrow morning.
Tonight’s meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will start at a special time, 7 pm, at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory, because we will join the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society via Zoom for a talk by Fred Espenak formerly of NASA. He is known as Mr. Eclipse and of course he will be talking about the April 8th total solar eclipse. Fred Espenak has been responsible for NASA’s eclipse website through the 2017 total solar eclipse. He’s chased the shadow of the Moon around the world. Now retired, he hosts two websites. One of which is mreclipse.com. The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Road between Garfield and Keystone roads.
You may also join the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society meeting directly: Follow this link to register for Zoom. They have room for 500 people on Zoom, and they’d like to max that out!
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 