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Ephemeris: 07/31/2026 – Previewing August skies

July 31, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Friday, July 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 41 minutes, setting at 9:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:29. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 10:12 this evening.

Let’s look ahead at the month of August in the skies. Daylight hours will decrease from 14 hours and 39 minutes tomorrow to 13 hours 17 minutes on the 31st. The altitude of the Sun at local noon, that is degrees of angle above the southern horizon, will decrease from 63 degrees tomorrow to just over 53 degrees on the 31st. Straits area listeners can subtract one more degree from those angles. Local noon, when the Sun is due south, is about 1:43 p.m. During August we have 3 astronomical events occurring. The first is August 12th, a double header: during the day a little nibble of a solar eclipse and in the evening the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, generally the best of the year, for us. And late night on the 27th we have an eclipse of the Moon that will be almost total.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

August Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for August evenings 2026 (10 PM EDT, August 15, 2026). Created using my LookingUp program. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 PM EDT in the evening and 4:30 AM on the 16th for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Interlochen/Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian, West 75° longitude. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Note, the chart times of 10 PM and 4:30 AM are for the 15th & 16th respectively. For each week before these dates, add ½ hour (28 minutes if you’re picky). For each week after the 15th, subtract ½ hour, or 28 minutes. The planet positions are updated each Wednesday on this blog.

August Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for August mornings, 2026 (4:30 AM EDT, August 16, 2026). The Perseid meteor shower peaks on the evening of the 12th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp program.

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

      EDT        
  Morning Twilight Evening Twilight Dark Night Moon
Date Astro. Nautical Nautical Astro. Start End Illum.
2026-08-01 4h27m 5h15m 22h27m 23h15m – – 87%
2026-08-02 4h29m 5h17m 22h25m 23h13m – – 80%
2026-08-03 4h31m 5h18m 22h24m 23h11m – – 70%
2026-08-04 4h33m 5h20m 22h22m 23h09m 23h09m 23h30m 60%
2026-08-05 4h35m 5h21m 22h20m 23h07m 23h07m 23h57m 49%
2026-08-06 4h36m 5h23m 22h18m 23h05m 23h05m – 38%
2026-08-07 4h38m 5h24m 22h17m 23h02m 23h02m 0h33m 27%
2026-08-08 4h40m 5h26m 22h15m 23h00m 23h00m 1h20m 17%
2026-08-09 4h42m 5h27m 22h13m 22h58m 22h58m 2h22m 9%
2026-08-10 4h44m 5h29m 22h11m 22h56m 22h56m 3h36m 3%
2026-08-11 4h46m 5h30m 22h10m 22h54m 22h54m 4h46m 0%
2026-08-12 4h48m 5h32m 22h08m 22h52m 22h52m 4h48m 0%
2026-08-13 4h50m 5h33m 22h06m 22h49m 22h49m 4h50m 3%
2026-08-14 4h51m 5h35m 22h04m 22h47m 22h47m 4h51m 8%
2026-08-15 4h53m 5h36m 22h02m 22h45m 22h45m 4h53m 15%
2026-08-16 4h55m 5h38m 22h00m 22h43m 22h43m 4h55m 23%
2026-08-17 4h57m 5h39m 21h58m 22h41m 22h42m 4h57m 32%
2026-08-18 4h59m 5h41m 21h56m 22h38m 23h06m 4h59m 41%
2026-08-19 5h00m 5h42m 21h55m 22h36m 23h35m 5h00m 51%
2026-08-20 5h02m 5h43m 21h53m 22h34m – 5h02m 61%
2026-08-21 5h04m 5h45m 21h51m 22h32m 0h12m 5h04m 70%
2026-08-22 5h06m 5h46m 21h49m 22h29m 0h57m 5h06m 78%
2026-08-23 5h07m 5h48m 21h47m 22h27m 1h51m 5h07m 85%
2026-08-24 5h09m 5h49m 21h45m 22h25m 2h52m 5h09m 91%
2026-08-25 5h11m 5h51m 21h43m 22h23m 3h58m 5h11m 96%
2026-08-26 5h12m 5h52m 21h41m 22h20m 5h07m 5h12m 99%
2026-08-27 5h14m 5h53m 21h39m 22h18m – – 100%
2026-08-28 5h16m 5h55m 21h37m 22h16m – – 99%
2026-08-29 5h17m 5h56m 21h35m 22h14m – – 95%
2026-08-30 5h19m 5h58m 21h33m 22h11m – – 90%
2026-08-31 5h21m 5h59m 21h31m 22h09m – – 82%

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

Aug  1  Sa            Venus: 45.3° E
     2  Su   3:59 AM  Mercury Elongation: 19.5° W
     5  We  10:21 PM  Last Quarter
     7  Fr   2:23 AM  Moon-Pleiades: 1.2° S
     8  Sa   7:42 PM  Moon North Dec.: 28.1° N
     9  Su   1:31 AM  Moon-Mars: 4.4° S
    10  Mo   7:18 AM  Moon Perigee: 363300 km
    12  We   1:37 PM  New Moon
    12  We   1:47 PM  Total Solar Eclipse
                      11% Partial Solar Eclipse in N. Michigsn
    12  We   9:56 PM  Perseid Shower: ZHR = 90
    13  Th   5:56 AM  Moon Descending Node
    15  Sa   1:59 AM  Venus Elongation: 45.9° E
    16  Su   4:46 AM  Moon-Venus: 2.2° N
    17  Mo   7:49 AM  Moon-Spica: 2.6° N
    19  We  10:46 PM  First Quarter
    21  Fr  12:17 AM  Moon-Antares: 0.7° N
    22  Sa   4:20 AM  Moon Apogee: 404600 km
    22  Sa   6:59 AM  Moon South Dec.: 28.1° S
    27  Th  12:44 PM  Mercury Superior Conjunction
    27  Th   2:47 PM  Moon Ascending Node
    28  Fr  12:14 AM  Partial Lunar Eclipse
    28  Fr  12:18 AM  Full Moon
Sep  1  Tu            Venus: 44.6° E

All event times are given for UTC-4:00 Eastern Daylight Saving Time.

Events in bold will be covered in subsequent posts on this blog. Also, the August 2026 issue of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society’s Stellar Sentinel contains an article I wrote about them. Access it here when it is published in a few days.

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. However, it uses standard time all year.

Fred passed away a year ago, on June 1, 2025. RIP.

Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events

LU          Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
August, 2026    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Sat  1| 06:29a  09:08p  14:39 | 10:23p  05:13a |      Rise 10:30p   89%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  2| 06:30a  09:07p  14:36 | 10:22p  05:14a |      Rise 10:48p   81%|
|Mon  3| 06:31a  09:05p  14:34 | 10:20p  05:16a |      Rise 11:07p   72%|
|Tue  4| 06:32a  09:04p  14:32 | 10:18p  05:17a |      Rise 11:29p   62%|
|Wed  5| 06:33a  09:03p  14:29 | 10:17p  05:19a |L Qtr Rise 11:57p   51%|
|Thu  6| 06:34a  09:01p  14:26 | 10:15p  05:20a |      Rise 12:32a   40%|
|Fri  7| 06:35a  09:00p  14:24 | 10:13p  05:22a |      Rise 01:20a   29%|
|Sat  8| 06:37a  08:58p  14:21 | 10:11p  05:23a |      Rise 02:21a   19%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  9| 06:38a  08:57p  14:19 | 10:10p  05:25a |      Rise 03:36a   10%|
|Mon 10| 06:39a  08:56p  14:16 | 10:08p  05:26a |      Rise 04:58a    4%|
|Tue 11| 06:40a  08:54p  14:13 | 10:06p  05:28a |      Rise 06:22a    1%|
|Wed 12| 06:41a  08:53p  14:11 | 10:04p  05:29a |New   Set  09:00p    0%|
|Thu 13| 06:42a  08:51p  14:08 | 10:02p  05:31a |      Set  09:22p    2%|
|Fri 14| 06:44a  08:49p  14:05 | 10:00p  05:32a |      Set  09:42p    7%|
|Sat 15| 06:45a  08:48p  14:03 | 09:58p  05:34a |      Set  10:01p   13%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 16| 06:46a  08:46p  14:00 | 09:57p  05:35a |      Set  10:20p   21%|
|Mon 17| 06:47a  08:45p  13:57 | 09:55p  05:37a |      Set  10:41p   30%|
|Tue 18| 06:48a  08:43p  13:54 | 09:53p  05:38a |      Set  11:05p   39%|
|Wed 19| 06:50a  08:41p  13:51 | 09:51p  05:40a |F Qtr Set  11:35p   49%|
|Thu 20| 06:51a  08:40p  13:49 | 09:49p  05:41a |      Set  12:11a   58%|
|Fri 21| 06:52a  08:38p  13:46 | 09:47p  05:43a |      Set  12:56a   68%|
|Sat 22| 06:53a  08:36p  13:43 | 09:45p  05:44a |      Set  01:50a   76%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 23| 06:54a  08:35p  13:40 | 09:43p  05:46a |      Set  02:51a   84%|
|Mon 24| 06:55a  08:33p  13:37 | 09:41p  05:47a |      Set  03:57a   90%|
|Tue 25| 06:57a  08:31p  13:34 | 09:39p  05:49a |      Set  05:06a   95%|
|Wed 26| 06:58a  08:30p  13:31 | 09:37p  05:50a |      Set  06:15a   99%|
|Thu 27| 06:59a  08:28p  13:28 | 09:35p  05:51a |      Set  07:25a  100%|
|Fri 28| 07:00a  08:26p  13:25 | 09:33p  05:53a |Full  Rise 08:36p   99%|
|Sat 29| 07:01a  08:24p  13:22 | 09:31p  05:54a |      Rise 08:54p   96%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 30| 07:02a  08:22p  13:19 | 09:29p  05:56a |      Rise 09:14p   91%|
|Mon 31| 07:04a  08:21p  13:17 | 09:27p  05:57a |      Rise 09:35p   84%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Generated using my LookingUp for DOS app.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Month preview Tags:

Ephemeris: 03/03/2026 – Eclipse prospects for the rest of the year

March 3, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 6:33, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:14. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 7:04 this evening.

If you’re listening to me right now the total lunar eclipse this morning has ended or will shortly end. In any case it’s invisible because, even if it’s ongoing, twilight has wiped it out. Then there is the possibility of clouds, which I can’t predict from when I’m recording this Sunday night. We do have another chance to view a lunar eclipse, this year, on the night of August 27-28th. It’ll be a little bit earlier. It will start late in the evening and be almost total after midnight. There’s also going to be a solar eclipse on August 12th, but it will be just a little nibble of the moon on the sun for us. It’s going to be total for the east coast of Greenland, the northern Atlantic, and northern Spain, before ending at sunset in the Mediterranean Sea.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Maximums of the two eclipses visible from the Grand Traverse area in August 2026,
The maximums of the two eclipses visible from the Grand Traverse area in August of 2026. The solar eclipse of August 12th only lasts a little more than an hour, and at maximum the Moon encroaches only 11% into the Sun’s diameter. The August 28th partial lunar eclipse is more substantial. It will last three in the third hours and the Moon will immerse 93% of its diameter into the Earth’s inner shadow called the umbra, where the only sunlight to reach it filters through the Earth’s atmosphere from all the sunrises and sunsets around the world at the time. Sun and Moon images created using Stellarium.
Categories: Eclipses, Ephemeris Program, Observing Tags: , ,