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
Ephemeris: 02/29/2024 – Previewing March Skies
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, February 29th, the Leap Day or intercalary day. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 6:30, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:19. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 11:59 this evening.
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 Tomorrow 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 tomorrow and will ascend to nearly 50 degrees on the 31st. Spring will start on the 19th at 11:07 p.m. Part of the fault for that early date is the switch to daylight saving time this early in the year a while back. The Gregorian calendar reform of 1582 will keep the vernal equinox from falling much further back. So spring will come a bit early this year, calendar-wise.
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
March Evening Star Chart
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EDT in the evening and 6 a.m. 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 p.m. and 6 a.m. are for the 15th. For each week before the 15th, add ½ hour (28 minutes if you’re picky). For each week after the 15th, subtract ½ hour. For planet positions on dates other than the 15th, check the Wednesday planet posts on this blog.
March Morning Star Chart
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.
- The leaky bowl of the Big Dipper drips on Leo.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, and
- Extend it as a spike to Spica.
- The Summer Triangle appears in red.
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| EST | |||||||
| Morning | Twilight | Evening | Twilight | Dark | Night | Moon | |
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2024-03-01 | 5h43m | 6h17m | 19h37m | 20h11m | 20h11m | – | 0.65 |
| 2024-03-02 | 5h41m | 6h15m | 19h38m | 20h12m | 20h12m | 1h09m | 0.55 |
| 2024-03-03 | 5h40m | 6h13m | 19h39m | 20h13m | 20h13m | 2h20m | 0.44 |
| 2024-03-04 | 5h38m | 6h12m | 19h41m | 20h15m | 20h15m | 3h28m | 0.34 |
| 2024-03-05 | 5h36m | 6h10m | 19h42m | 20h16m | 20h16m | 4h30m | 0.23 |
| 2024-03-06 | 5h34m | 6h08m | 19h43m | 20h17m | 20h17m | 5h22m | 0.14 |
| 2024-03-07 | 5h32m | 6h06m | 19h45m | 20h19m | 20h19m | 5h32m | 0.07 |
| 2024-03-08 | 5h30m | 6h05m | 19h46m | 20h20m | 20h20m | 5h30m | 0.02 |
| 2024-03-09 | 5h29m | 6h03m | 19h47m | 20h21m | 20h21m | 5h29m | 0.00 |
| EDT | |||||||
| 2024-03-10 | 6h27m | 7h01m | 20h48m | 21h23m | 21h23m | 6h27m | 0.01 |
| 2024-03-11 | 6h25m | 6h59m | 20h50m | 21h24m | 21h45m | 6h25m | 0.05 |
| 2024-03-12 | 6h23m | 6h57m | 20h51m | 21h25m | 23h07m | 6h23m | 0.12 |
| 2024-03-13 | 6h21m | 6h55m | 20h52m | 21h27m | – | 6h21m | 0.20 |
| 2024-03-14 | 6h19m | 6h54m | 20h54m | 21h28m | 0h29m | 6h19m | 0.30 |
| 2024-03-15 | 6h17m | 6h52m | 20h55m | 21h30m | 1h48m | 6h17m | 0.40 |
| 2024-03-16 | 6h15m | 6h50m | 20h56m | 21h31m | 3h02m | 6h15m | 0.51 |
| 2024-03-17 | 6h13m | 6h48m | 20h58m | 21h32m | 4h07m | 6h13m | 0.61 |
| 2024-03-18 | 6h11m | 6h46m | 20h59m | 21h34m | 5h00m | 6h11m | 0.70 |
| 2024-03-19 | 6h09m | 6h44m | 21h00m | 21h35m | 5h41m | 6h09m | 0.78 |
| 2024-03-20 | 6h07m | 6h42m | 21h02m | 21h37m | – | – | 0.86 |
| 2024-03-21 | 6h05m | 6h40m | 21h03m | 21h38m | – | – | 0.92 |
| 2024-03-22 | 6h03m | 6h38m | 21h04m | 21h40m | – | – | 0.96 |
| 2024-03-23 | 6h01m | 6h36m | 21h06m | 21h41m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2024-03-24 | 5h59m | 6h34m | 21h07m | 21h43m | – | – | 1.00 |
| 2024-03-25 | 5h57m | 6h32m | 21h08m | 21h44m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2024-03-26 | 5h55m | 6h30m | 21h10m | 21h46m | – | – | 0.97 |
| 2024-03-27 | 5h53m | 6h28m | 21h11m | 21h47m | 21h47m | 22h51m | 0.92 |
| 2024-03-28 | 5h50m | 6h26m | 21h13m | 21h49m | 21h49m | 0h00m | 0.86 |
| 2024-03-29 | 5h48m | 6h24m | 21h14m | 21h50m | 21h50m | – | 0.79 |
| 2024-03-30 | 5h46m | 6h22m | 21h15m | 21h52m | 21h52m | 1h10m | 0.70 |
| 2024-03-31 | 5h44m | 6h20m | 21h17m | 21h53m | 21h53m | 2h18m | 0.60 |
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
Date Time EST Event
Mar 1 Fr Venus: 24.3° W
3 Su 3:16 am Moon-Antares: .4° S
3 Su 10:24 am Last Quarter
4 Mo 9:03 pm Moon South Dec.: 28.5° S
7 Th 11:59 pm Moon-Mars: 3.5° N
8 Fr 12:01 pm Moon-Venus: 3.2° N
Time EDT
10 Su 2:06 am Moon Perigee: 356900 km
10 Su 4:00 am New Moon
11 Mo 9:18 pm Moon Ascending Node
13 We 9:01 pm Moon-Jupiter: 3.6° S
14 Th 10:54 pm Moon-Pleiades: .4° N
17 Su 12:11 am First Quarter
17 Su 6:31 am Neptune Conjunction
17 Su 10:45 am Moon North Dec.: 28.5° N
19 Tu 2:44 am Moon-Pollux: 1.6° N
19 Tu 11:07 pm Vernal Equinox
20 We 4:03 am Moon-Beehive: 3.8° S
21 Th 6:06 pm Venus-Saturn: .3° N
23 Sa 11:44 am Moon Apogee: 406300 km
24 Su 5:59 pm Mercury Elongation: 18.7° E
25 Mo 3:00 am Full Moon
25 Mo 3:13 am Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
26 Tu 12:07 am Moon Descending Node
26 Tu 3:40 pm Moon-Spica: 1.6° S
30 Sa 10:24 am Moon-Antares: .3° S
Apr 1 Mo Venus: 16.8° W
All event times are given for UTC-5:00: Eastern Standard Time before the 10th or UTC-4:00 Daylight Saving Time thereafter.
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.
Note that the site is now kept up for archival purposes. Fred Espenak retired from NASA several years ago and has his own site, AstroPixels, which contain the same information: http://astropixels.com/almanac/almanac.html.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
March, 2024 Local time zone: EST
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM |
| | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Fri 1| 07:19a 06:31p 11:11 | 07:34p 06:16a | Rise 01:09a 66%|
|Sat 2| 07:17a 06:32p 11:15 | 07:35p 06:14a | Rise 02:19a 57%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 3| 07:15a 06:34p 11:18 | 07:37p 06:12a |L Qtr Rise 03:28a 46%|
|Mon 4| 07:14a 06:35p 11:21 | 07:38p 06:11a | Rise 04:30a 36%|
|Tue 5| 07:12a 06:36p 11:24 | 07:39p 06:09a | Rise 05:22a 26%|
|Wed 6| 07:10a 06:37p 11:27 | 07:41p 06:07a | Rise 06:03a 16%|
|Thu 7| 07:08a 06:39p 11:30 | 07:42p 06:05a | Rise 06:35a 8%|
|Fri 8| 07:06a 06:40p 11:33 | 07:43p 06:04a | Rise 07:01a 3%|
|Sat 9| 07:05a 06:41p 11:36 | 07:44p 06:02a | Rise 07:24a 0%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
| EDT | Time Change | | |
|Sun 10| 08:03a 07:43p 11:39 | 08:46p 07:00a |New Set 08:22p 1%|
|Mon 11| 08:01a 07:44p 11:43 | 08:47p 06:58a | Set 09:44p 4%|
|Tue 12| 07:59a 07:45p 11:46 | 08:48p 06:56a | Set 11:07p 10%|
|Wed 13| 07:57a 07:47p 11:49 | 08:50p 06:54a | Set 12:28a 18%|
|Thu 14| 07:55a 07:48p 11:52 | 08:51p 06:53a | Set 01:47a 28%|
|Fri 15| 07:54a 07:49p 11:55 | 08:52p 06:51a | Set 03:01a 38%|
|Sat 16| 07:52a 07:50p 11:58 | 08:54p 06:49a | Set 04:06a 48%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 17| 07:50a 07:52p 12:01 | 08:55p 06:47a |F Qtr Set 04:59a 58%|
|Mon 18| 07:48a 07:53p 12:04 | 08:56p 06:45a | Set 05:41a 68%|
|Tue 19| 07:46a 07:54p 12:08 | 08:58p 06:43a | Set 06:13a 77%|
|Wed 20| 07:44a 07:56p 12:11 | 08:59p 06:41a | Set 06:38a 84%|
|Thu 21| 07:43a 07:57p 12:14 | 09:00p 06:39a | Set 06:59a 91%|
|Fri 22| 07:41a 07:58p 12:17 | 09:02p 06:37a | Set 07:16a 95%|
|Sat 23| 07:39a 07:59p 12:20 | 09:03p 06:35a | Set 07:32a 98%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 24| 07:37a 08:01p 12:23 | 09:04p 06:33a | Set 07:48a 100%|
|Mon 25| 07:35a 08:02p 12:26 | 09:06p 06:31a |Full Rise 08:39p 100%|
|Tue 26| 07:33a 08:03p 12:29 | 09:07p 06:29a | Rise 09:44p 97%|
|Wed 27| 07:31a 08:04p 12:33 | 09:09p 06:27a | Rise 10:50p 93%|
|Thu 28| 07:30a 08:06p 12:36 | 09:10p 06:25a | Rise 11:59p 88%|
|Fri 29| 07:28a 08:07p 12:39 | 09:11p 06:23a | Rise 01:09a 80%|
|Sat 30| 07:26a 08:08p 12:42 | 09:13p 06:21a | Rise 02:18a 72%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 31| 07:24a 08:09p 12:45 | 09:14p 06:19a | Rise 03:21a 62%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset
Created using my LookingUp for DOS output as text.
Ephemeris: 02/28/2024 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 6:28, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:21. The Moon, halfway from full to last quarter, will rise at 10:52 this evening.
Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week, and see what planets are left to see. Saturn, and Mercury are gone, both actually in conjunction with the Sun today. Jupiter will be in the west-southwest at 8 this evening. It will set at 11:47 pm in the west. Jupiter will be visible in the evening for only about two more months. Venus, the morning star, will rise in the east-southeast at 6:27 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 7 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 in the morning twilight.
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
Jupiter’s moon Io will pass behind (be occulted by) the planet at 8:17 pm EST. It will reappear at 11:39 pm away from the planet because until then it’ll still be in Jupiter’s shadow.
The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree). Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts) and GIMP.
Ephemeris: 02/27/2024 – Thursday is the Intercalary Day
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, February 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 2 minutes, setting at 6:27, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:22. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 9:47 this evening.
Thursday we’re going to have one of those special days that only occur once every 4 years making this a leap year. It’s the intercalary day that compensates for that fact that the Earth takes 365 and a bit short of 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 in years divisible by 4. The Gregorian reform makes a slight adjustment to 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 they shortened it most years to 28 days. Enjoy your extra day Thursday.
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
No calendar is perfect. The average year of the Julian Calendar is 11 minutes and 14 seconds longer than the actual seasonal year which it is trying to model. By the time of the papacy of Pope Gregory XIII from 1572 to 1585 CE the error in the Julian calendar versus the actual seasons had grown to 10 days since the Julian Calendar was established 16 centuries before. The reason the Church was concerned was that Easter was slowly advancing toward summer, and Easter is a more important feast than Christmas, but is related to the Jewish Feast of Passover. I’ll discuss the formula for determining Easter as we get closer to it. However, the Gregorian calendar reform came in two parts: Ten days were dropped from the calendar between October 4th and 15th in the year 1582 and after that the every four year leap day rule, that is years evenly divided by 4, was modified so that on century years, that is years ending in 00, but not divisible by 400, became ordinary years, that is no leap days, this will keep the calendar in sync with the seasons for several millennia. This calendar reform occurring after the Reformation meant that only the Catholic countries adopted it. It took almost until the present day for everyone to adopt it. For ecclesiastical purposes the Orthodox Churches still used the Julian Calendar.
Ephemeris: 02/26/2024 – The angle of the rising and setting planets from the Sun vary with the seasons
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Monday, February 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 6:25, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:24. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 8:44 this evening.
In late winter and early spring dark skies return within a few days after the full Moon. Indeed, this is the first day after the full moon, which was on Saturday morning, that we have dark skies. Well for 40 minutes before the Moon rises. This is because the ecliptic which is the Sun’s path in the sky is as close to vertical as it can get for us. It shows planets near the Sun and the area of the full moon as steeply inclined to the horizon as possible. Twelve years ago this month when my wife and I were on a Hawaiian cruise, I was aboard ship looking at the sky after sunset and was amazed to see Jupiter and Venus* vertically aligned in the west. It was because we were located around the Tropic of Cancer and near the equinox, so the ecliptic was actually vertical after sunset. It was quite a jolt to see that. So this time of year we can see planets close to the sun at sunset and the moon to go away after full rapidly.
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.
* On the broadcast I said Jupiter and Saturn, relying on my memory. As can be seen below, it was Jupiter and Venus.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 02/23/2024 – The rabbit in the Moon
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, February 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 6:21, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:29. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 7:52 tomorrow morning.
Even though it is a day before full the moon, will be full at 7:30 tomorrow morning. So tonight will be the closest that we’ll see the full moon this lunation. If one looks at the Moon most of us can see the face of the Man in the Moon. A rabbit, can also be seen. To the Chinese the rabbit here was named Yutu also known as the Jade Rabbit, the pet of the moon goddess Chang’e. To them, it was a rabbit pounding medicine with a mortar and pestle. At 8 o’clock tonight it resides along the left side of the Moon. Its head and body are seen in the dark areas of the Moon we call seas. Its ears are near the top of the moon at 8:00 with his head and body bent down on the left. Near the bottom of The moon is the mortar and pestle with which he’s pounding medicine.
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: 02/22/2024 – IM-1, the Odysseus spacecraft lunar landing is today
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, February 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 47 minutes, setting at 6:20, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:31. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 7:32 tomorrow morning.
Today is the day the Intuitive Machines’ moon lander called Odysseus is slated to land on the Moon. It was launched a week ago on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. And if successful it will be the first soft landing on the Moon by the United States since Apollo 17 back in 1972. I’m recording this last Sunday, so I don’t know the condition of the spacecraft and a lot can happen between launch and landing on the moon. The last spacecraft sent from the United States, last month, by the inaugural flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket crashed back on Earth. The spacecraft is supposed to land about 190 miles from the Moon’s South Pole, which is considerably closer to the South Pole than the Indian spacecraft landed last year.
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
