Ephemeris: 10/23/2023 – Venus is at its greatest separation from the Sun in the morning
This is Ephemeris for Monday, October 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 36 minutes, setting at 6:45, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:09. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 2:36 tomorrow morning.
Our brilliant morning planet Venus will reach its greatest apparent angle from the Sun later today. It’s called the greatest western elongation because it’s west of the Sun and rises before the Sun. From now until its superior conjunction next year, on June 4th. It will move closer and closer to the Sun from our vantage point. But it’s just moving around behind the Sun. The Mayans at the peak of their civilization were diligent observers of Venus. They found the Venus cycle, what we would call synodic period of Venus of 584 days, from the heliacal rising of Venus, its first appearance in the morning sky after disappearing in the evening, to the next heliacal rising. Venus would reach its greatest elongation from the Sun about 66 days after its heliacal rising.
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 Extra: Star Party Tomorrow night, 10/21/2023, if it’s clear
Update: 10/21/2023 The Star Party has been canceled due to weather (clouds)
This was the last planned star party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes this year. Look for star parties in 2024. Also, there will be a star party after the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society meetings, November 3rd and December 1st, of course weather permitting, at Northwestern Michigan College’s Joseph H. Rogers Observatory. The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Road. Meetings start at 8 pm, and are not weather dependent, with observing after (approximately 9 pm) if it’s clear. Topic of the meeting programs: November: A documentary video Jack Newton’s Journey to the Stars. Jack Newton (1942-) is a Canadian amateur astronomer and pioneering astrophotographer. December: Ancient Greek astronomy.
Original Post Below
Members of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will team up with the park rangers of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for the last star party of the year celebrating the park’s 53rd anniversary. It will take place at the Dune Climb. Of course, it will only occur if it is clear or partly cloudy. It starts at 4 pm with solar observing using personal and the society’s solar telescopes. Starting at 7 pm it will be dark enough to view the first quarter Moon, followed a bit later with Saturn, and still later with Jupiter. The brighter wonders beyond the solar system will be also be visible later.
Ephemeris: 10/20/2023 – Halley’s Comet is back! Sort of.
This is Ephemeris for Friday, October 20th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 45 minutes, setting at 6:50, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:05. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 10:42 this evening.
Halley’s Comet is back! (Pronounced Hall-ey’s) Well sorta. In the form of the Orionid meteor shower. Bits of Halley’s Comet from previous passes by the Earth’s orbit make their twice-yearly show in our skies as these bits collide with the Earth’s atmosphere. Halley’s orbit passes close to the earth’s orbit at points where the Earth is around May 6th and again near October 21st. Light dust and ionized gas get blown back into the tail of the comet. Heavier particles, still affected by the pressure of sunlight and the gravitational pull of the Sun and planets end up roughly following the comet’s orbit. In the morning after the Moon sets (11:55 pm on the 21st) should be the best time to see them. They will seem to come from a spot above Orion and below 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: 10/19/2023 – The southern star of autumn – Fomalhaut
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, October 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 6:51, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:04. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 9:39 this evening.
There’s a bright star that appears for only seven and a half hours on autumn evenings. Its appearance, low in the south-southeast at 9 p.m., is a clear indication of the autumn season. It is currently below the much brighter Saturn. The star’s name is Fomalhaut, which means fish’s mouth. That’s fitting because it’s in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish. At our latitude it’s kind of the fish that got away, because usually Fomalhaut appears to be quite alone low in the sky. For the last few years Jupiter and then Saturn have kept it company. In a couple of years Saturn will have moved on leaving Fomalhaut to its lonely vigil in the south.
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: 10/18/2023 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 18th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 6:53, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:03. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 8:50 this evening.
Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week. Three of those five planets are now visible, but Mars sets too close to sunset to be seen, and Mercury rises too close to sunrise, and besides it will enter the evening sky after Friday. Saturn is the sole official evening planet visible. It can be spotted in the southeast to south in the evening. And it will still be visible in the morning hours until it sets at 3:17 am. Saturn is seen against the stars of Aquarius this year and next. Jupiter and Venus are the visible morning planets. Jupiter, still a morning planet, will rise at 7:34 pm. It’s in Aries this year. Jupiter has to rise before sunset to be an evening planet. Venus, the brilliant morning star, will rise in the east-northeast at 4:02 am.
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: 10/17/2023 – How the Fisher paints the trees with their fall colors
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 54 minutes, setting at 6:55, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:01. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 8:12 this evening.
The tree leaves are beginning to turn to reds and yellows as we advance into autumn. The native Anishinaabek peoples, whose homeland we share, have a story about how that came to be. Of how a magical weasel-like creature called the Fisher or, in their native language, Ojiig, brought summer to the Earth from Skyland. For his trouble, he was shot with an arrow in his only vulnerable spot, his tail. As he fell to Earth Gichi Manitou, the Great Spirit, caught him and placed him in the sky where we see the Great Bear and the Big Dipper. Every late autumn night we see his tail, the handle of the dipper, slowly swooping down to the horizon where his bloody tail paints the trees with their autumn colors.
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
For my take on how the Fisher brought summer to the Earth, click here.
Extra: About last Saturday’s partial solar eclipse
Last Saturday I went to the Betsie Valley District Library in Thompsonville, MI for the partial solar eclipse that was visible from that location. Unfortunately, it was cloudy. It wasn’t solid clouds, so there probably was a chance at seeing something. What I did was to give an alternate program about the total solar eclipses I’ve traveled to since 1963, and a look at next April’s total solar eclipse. I was getting ready to finish up when I noticed that there were shadows outside. That meant that the Sun was out. We stopped there and went outside and got to witness at least the maximum part of the eclipse. We had about 15 minutes before the clouds came in again. So we were able to see at least part of this partial eclipse.
Ephemeris: 10/16/2023 – Finding the constellation of Andromeda
This is Ephemeris for Monday, October 16th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 6:56, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:00. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 7:43 this evening.
In the east at 9 this evening can be found a large square of stars, the Great Square of Pegasus the upside down flying horse. The square is standing on one corner. What looks like its hind legs stretching away from the left corner star is another constellation, Andromeda the chained princess. She is seen in the sky as two nearly horizontal but diverging curved strings of stars that curve upward. She was doomed to be devoured by a sea monster that was ravaging the coast due to her mother, Queen Cassiopeia’s boasting, which angered the god Poseidon. She was rescued by the hero Perseus, a nearby constellation, riding his steed Pegasus.
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: 10/13/2023 – Tomorrow’s solar eclipse
This is Ephemeris for Friday, October 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 7:01, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:56. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 7:45 tomorrow morning.
The safest way to view tomorrow’s solar eclipse is by projection, we call it pinhole projection, although the pinhole can be up to 1/4 inch in diameter and will cast a usable image of the Sun about 6 feet. My wife once used the mirror in her compact to reflect the Sun’s image onto the north side of a building across the street. It’s probably too late to buy them, but if you have any eclipse glasses leftover from the 2017 eclipse make sure they don’t have any pinholes in them. They can be used to view the eclipse. Make sure they are ISO approved. Still projection is your safest bet. For our area the eclipse will last from 11:42 am to 2:18 pm. I’ll be at the Betsie Valley District Library in Thompsonville for the eclipse. You’ll be in good shape for next April 8th total eclipse, whose path of totality will be much closer to us.
Jerry Dobek, Northwestern Michigan College instructor will be on campus with telescopes to view the eclipse on campus.
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.
Addenda
In case of clouds, I will still be at the Betsie Valley District Library with an alternate program of my experience with five previous total solar eclipses, and a look at some future eclipses. Being a NASA Solar System Ambassador, I’ll have some NASA stickers and other things to hand out to the kids, big or small.
The next solar eclipse
The next eclipse visible from our area will occur on April 8, 2024, six months from now. It will be a total solar eclipse whose path of totality is within a day trip from our area, if it’s clear in Indiana or Ohio. I’ll have a lot more information as we approach April. On the Internet search for american eclipse 2024, or words to that effect. It’s always best to plan early.
Ephemeris: 10/12/2023 – Saturday’s (October 14, 2023) Annular Solar Eclipse
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, October 12th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 7:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:55. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 6:39 tomorrow morning.
There will be a partial solar eclipse Saturday for most of the unit for the 48 Continental United States. It will be maximum on a line from Oregon through Texas. It’s called an annular eclipse. At its maximum an annular eclipse is an eclipse where the Moon is too far away to completely cover the face of the Sun so at maximum it leaves a ring of the Sun. Some call it a Ring of Fire. We’re well north of that line so we will see a partial eclipse where about 35% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon at its peak, although the Moon will encroach about 45% of the diameter of the Sun. For northern Michigan the eclipse will start at about 11:42 am, maximum eclipse is about 1 pm and the eclipse will end at 2:18 pm. I’ll talk about eclipse viewing safety tomorrow.
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: 10/11/2023 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?
This is Ephemeris for International Day of the Girl, Wednesday, October 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 12 minutes, setting at 7:05, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:54. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 5:35 tomorrow morning.
Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week. Three of those five planets are now visible, but Mars sets too close to sunset to be seen, and Mercury rises too close to sunrise. Saturn is the sole official evening planet visible. It can be spotted in the southeast in the evening. And it will still be visible in the morning hours until it sets at 3:46 am. Saturn is seen against the stars of Aquarius this year and next. Jupiter and Venus are the visible morning planets. Jupiter, still a morning planet, will rise at 8:04 pm. It’s in Ares this year. It has to rise before sunset to be an official evening planet. Venus, the brilliant morning star, will rise in the east-northeast at 3:57 am, and be seen in the east thereafter.
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
