Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 45 minutes, setting at 8:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:22. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 3:30 tomorrow morning.

The 4th month of the year begins tomorrow. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 12 hours and 48 minutes tomorrow to 14 hours 13 minutes on the 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 the 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. Venus is our brilliant evening planet while Jupiter, Saturn and Mars are our morning planets with Mars passing below Saturn unseen by us this afternoon.

The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

March Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for April 2020 (10 p.m. EDT April 15, 2020). Click on image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EDT in the evening and 5 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. The brilliant planet Venus is our Evening Star in the West at chart time. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian, West 75° longitude. (An hour and 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT).

April Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for April mornings 2020 (5 a.m. EDT April 15, 2020). Click on image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.

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, then
• Follow the spike to Spica.
• The Summer Triangle appears in red.
• LyrR is the radiant of the Lyrid meteor shower which will reach peak on the morning of the 22nd.

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

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/2018/09/27/.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

   Date      Time    Event
Apr 1  We  05:12 am  Moon North Dec.: 23.7° N
    1  We  06:21 am  First Quarter
    1  We            Venus: 45.9° E
    3  Fr  02:24 am  Moon-Beehive: 1.3° S
    3  Fr  10:39 am  Venus-Pleiades: 0.3° S
    7  Tu  02:08 pm  Moon Perigee: 356900 km
    7  Tu  10:35 pm  Full Moon (super moon)
   12  Su  10:58 pm  Moon Descending Node
   13  Mo  05:03 pm  Moon South Dec.: 23.8° S
   14  Tu  06:56 pm  Last Quarter
   14  Tu  07:04 pm  Moon-Jupiter: 2.1° N
   15  We  05:26 am  Moon-Saturn: 2.6° N
   16  Th  12:33 am  Moon-Mars: 2.2° N
   20  Mo  03:01 pm  Moon Apogee: 406500 km
   22  We  02:07 am  Lyrid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 20
   22  We  10:26 pm  New Moon
   26  Su  06:19 am  Uranus Conjunction
   26  Su  11:23 am  Moon-Venus: 6.6° N
   27  Mo  01:54 pm  Moon Ascending Node
   27  Mo            Venus greatest brilliancy
   28  Tu  11:23 am  Moon North Dec.: 23.9° N
   30  Th  09:17 am  Moon-Beehive: 1.6° S
   30  Th  04:38 pm  First Quarter
May 1  Fr            Venus: 38° E

Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html.

Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events

LU                  Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
April, 2020    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Wed  1| 07:22a  08:11p  12:48 | 09:15p  06:18a |F Qtr Set  04:23a   56%|
|Thu  2| 07:20a  08:12p  12:51 | 09:17p  06:16a |      Set  05:09a   67%|
|Fri  3| 07:18a  08:13p  12:54 | 09:18p  06:14a |      Set  05:48a   77%|
|Sat  4| 07:17a  08:14p  12:57 | 09:20p  06:12a |      Set  06:22a   86%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  5| 07:15a  08:16p  13:00 | 09:21p  06:10a |      Set  06:53a   93%|
|Mon  6| 07:13a  08:17p  13:03 | 09:23p  06:08a |      Set  07:21a   98%|
|Tue  7| 07:11a  08:18p  13:06 | 09:24p  06:06a |Full  Rise 07:55p  100%|
|Wed  8| 07:09a  08:19p  13:09 | 09:25p  06:04a |      Rise 09:16p   99%|
|Thu  9| 07:08a  08:21p  13:12 | 09:27p  06:02a |      Rise 10:36p   95%|
|Fri 10| 07:06a  08:22p  13:15 | 09:28p  06:00a |      Rise 11:54p   88%|
|Sat 11| 07:04a  08:23p  13:19 | 09:30p  05:58a |      Rise 01:07a   80%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 12| 07:02a  08:24p  13:22 | 09:31p  05:56a |      Rise 02:13a   70%|
|Mon 13| 07:01a  08:26p  13:25 | 09:33p  05:54a |      Rise 03:09a   60%|
|Tue 14| 06:59a  08:27p  13:28 | 09:34p  05:52a |L Qtr Rise 03:56a   50%|
|Wed 15| 06:57a  08:28p  13:30 | 09:36p  05:50a |      Rise 04:34a   40%|
|Thu 16| 06:55a  08:29p  13:33 | 09:37p  05:48a |      Rise 05:05a   30%|
|Fri 17| 06:54a  08:31p  13:36 | 09:39p  05:46a |      Rise 05:32a   22%|
|Sat 18| 06:52a  08:32p  13:39 | 09:40p  05:44a |      Rise 05:55a   15%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 19| 06:50a  08:33p  13:42 | 09:42p  05:42a |      Rise 06:17a    9%|
|Mon 20| 06:49a  08:34p  13:45 | 09:43p  05:40a |      Rise 06:37a    4%|
|Tue 21| 06:47a  08:36p  13:48 | 09:45p  05:38a |      Rise 06:58a    1%|
|Wed 22| 06:45a  08:37p  13:51 | 09:46p  05:36a |New   Set  08:15p    0%|
|Thu 23| 06:44a  08:38p  13:54 | 09:48p  05:34a |      Set  09:18p    1%|
|Fri 24| 06:42a  08:39p  13:57 | 09:50p  05:32a |      Set  10:21p    3%|
|Sat 25| 06:41a  08:41p  13:59 | 09:51p  05:30a |      Set  11:25p    8%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 26| 06:39a  08:42p  14:02 | 09:53p  05:29a |      Set  12:27a   14%|
|Mon 27| 06:37a  08:43p  14:05 | 09:54p  05:27a |      Set  01:26a   22%|
|Tue 28| 06:36a  08:44p  14:08 | 09:56p  05:25a |      Set  02:20a   31%|
|Wed 29| 06:34a  08:45p  14:11 | 09:57p  05:23a |      Set  03:07a   41%|
|Thu 30| 06:33a  08:47p  14:13 | 09:59p  05:21a |F Qtr Set  03:47a   52%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset

Generated using my LookingUp for DOS program.

Ephemeris for Friday, March 31st.  The Sun will rise at 7:24.  It’ll be up for 12 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 8:09.  The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 12:35 tomorrow morning.

The second quarter of the year begins with April Fools Day tomorrow.  Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 12 hours and 47 minutes tomorrow to 14 hours 12 minutes on April 30th as spring really takes hold.  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.  Jupiter will reach opposition from the Sun this month, and be a great planet to view in a telescope all night long.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addenda

April Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for April 2017. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EDT in the evening and 5 a.m. for the morning chart.  These are the chart times.  Note, Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian.  (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian. during EDT and 45 minutes behind our daylight standard time meridian. during EST).  To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1:45 or 0:45  earlier than the current time if you were near your time meridian.

April Morning Chart

Star Chart for April 2017 mornings. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

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
• Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, and
• Straighten to a spike to Spica
• The Summer Triangle is in red
• The Lyrid meteor shower radiant is in yellow and marked LyrR

Evening nautical twilight ends at 9:17 p.m. EDT on the 1st, increasing to 10:01 p.m. EDT on the 30th.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 9:54 p.m. EDT on the 1st, increasing to 10:45 p.m. EDT on the 30th.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 5:46 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and increasing to 4:42 a.m. EDT on the 30th.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 6:23 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and Increasing to 5:26 a.m. EDT on the 30th.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

Credit:  Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC)

To generate your own calendar go to http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html

Times are Eastern Time and follow the time change dates.

Date        Time    Event
Apr 01  Sa  Venus: 13.4° W
    01  Sa 04:49 Moon-Aldebaran: 0.3° S
    01  Sa 05:59 Mercury Greatest Eastern Elongation: 19°
    03  Mo 02:12 Moon North Dec.: 19° N
    03  Mo 14:39 First Quarter
    05  We 08:45 Moon-Beehive: 4° N
    07  Fr 00:30 Moon-Regulus: 0.8° N
    07  Fr 05:14 Moon Ascending Node
    07  Fr 16:58 Jupiter Opposition from the Sun
    10  Mo 17:20 Moon-Jupiter: 2.4° S
    11  Tu 02:08 Full Moon
    14  Fr 01:43 Uranus Conjunction with the Sun
    15  Sa 06:05 Moon Apogee: 405500 km
    16  Su 14:39 Moon-Saturn: 3.6° S
    17  Mo 09:12 Moon South Dec.: 19.1° S
    19  We 05:57 Last Quarter
    20  Th 01:46 Mercury Inferior Conjunction with the Sun
    21  Fr 04:16 Mars-Pleiades: 3.5° S
    21  Fr 18:30 Moon Descending Node
    22  Sa 07:40 Lyrid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 20
    23  Su 13:59 Moon-Venus: 5.3° N
    26  We 08:16 New Moon
    27  Th 12:18 Moon Perigee: 359300 km
    28  Fr 13:20 Moon-Aldebaran: 0.5° S
    30  Su 09:33 Moon North Dec.: 19.2° N
May 01  Mo  Venus: 39.9° W

April 2017 Calendar

     LU                  Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
April, 2017    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Sat  1| 07:23a  08:10p  12:47 | 09:15p  06:18a |      Set  01:43a   30%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  2| 07:21a  08:12p  12:50 | 09:16p  06:16a |      Set  02:44a   41%|
|Mon  3| 07:19a  08:13p  12:53 | 09:18p  06:14a |F Qtr Set  03:38a   53%|
|Tue  4| 07:17a  08:14p  12:56 | 09:19p  06:12a |      Set  04:25a   63%|
|Wed  5| 07:15a  08:15p  12:59 | 09:21p  06:10a |      Set  05:05a   74%|
|Thu  6| 07:14a  08:17p  13:02 | 09:22p  06:08a |      Set  05:40a   82%|
|Fri  7| 07:12a  08:18p  13:06 | 09:24p  06:06a |      Set  06:11a   90%|
|Sat  8| 07:10a  08:19p  13:09 | 09:25p  06:04a |      Set  06:40a   95%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  9| 07:08a  08:20p  13:12 | 09:27p  06:02a |      Set  07:08a   98%|
|Mon 10| 07:06a  08:21p  13:15 | 09:28p  06:00a |      Set  07:36a  100%|
|Tue 11| 07:05a  08:23p  13:18 | 09:29p  05:58a |Full  Rise 08:54p   99%|
|Wed 12| 07:03a  08:24p  13:21 | 09:31p  05:56a |      Rise 09:54p   97%|
|Thu 13| 07:01a  08:25p  13:24 | 09:32p  05:54a |      Rise 10:52p   93%|
|Fri 14| 06:59a  08:26p  13:27 | 09:34p  05:52a |      Rise 11:49p   87%|
|Sat 15| 06:58a  08:28p  13:30 | 09:35p  05:50a |      Rise 12:43a   80%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 16| 06:56a  08:29p  13:33 | 09:37p  05:48a |      Rise 01:34a   72%|
|Mon 17| 06:54a  08:30p  13:36 | 09:38p  05:46a |      Rise 02:22a   64%|
|Tue 18| 06:52a  08:31p  13:39 | 09:40p  05:44a |      Rise 03:05a   54%|
|Wed 19| 06:51a  08:33p  13:41 | 09:41p  05:42a |L Qtr Rise 03:45a   44%|
|Thu 20| 06:49a  08:34p  13:44 | 09:43p  05:40a |      Rise 04:21a   34%|
|Fri 21| 06:47a  08:35p  13:47 | 09:44p  05:39a |      Rise 04:55a   25%|
|Sat 22| 06:46a  08:36p  13:50 | 09:46p  05:37a |      Rise 05:27a   16%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 23| 06:44a  08:38p  13:53 | 09:48p  05:35a |      Rise 05:59a    9%|
|Mon 24| 06:43a  08:39p  13:56 | 09:49p  05:33a |      Rise 06:33a    3%|
|Tue 25| 06:41a  08:40p  13:59 | 09:51p  05:31a |      Rise 07:08a    1%|
|Wed 26| 06:39a  08:41p  14:01 | 09:52p  05:29a |New   Set  09:01p    1%|
|Thu 27| 06:38a  08:43p  14:04 | 09:54p  05:27a |      Set  10:16p    4%|
|Fri 28| 06:36a  08:44p  14:07 | 09:55p  05:25a |      Set  11:29p    9%|
|Sat 29| 06:35a  08:45p  14:10 | 09:57p  05:23a |      Set  12:35a   17%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 30| 06:33a  08:46p  14:13 | 09:58p  05:22a |      Set  01:34a   27%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

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