Archive
03/21/2017 – Ephemeris – Let’s find Cancer the crab
Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 21st. The Sun will rise at 7:43. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 7:56. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 4:26 tomorrow morning.
At 10 this evening, the faint constellation, and member of the Zodiac, Cancer the crab is located in the south half way between the bright stars Castor and Pollux of the constellation Gemini, high in the south and the bright star Regulus in Leo the lion in the southeast. Cancer is very dim, looking like an upside-down Y if it’s stars can be made out. In the center of Cancer is a fuzzy spot to the unaided eye. In binoculars or a low power telescope this fuzzy spot becomes a cluster of stars. It is the Beehive cluster. At 577 light years away, according to the latest measurements, it is one of the closest star clusters, but more distant than the Pleiades and Hyades the face of Taurus the bull off in the west.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Cancer the crab finder chart. Note the beehive cluster, also known to amateur astronomers as M44, along with other catalog names. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
The Beehive star cluster, M44. Its ancient name was the Praesepe or manger when glimpsed by the naked eye. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Skycharts)
04/04/2016 – Ephemeris – Hydra the water snake will slither along the southern horizon this spring
Ephemeris for Monday, April 4th. The Sun will rise at 7:17. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 8:14. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 6:18 tomorrow morning.
In the southeastern evening sky can be found the constellation of Hydra the water snake. Unlike the monster of the same name this Hydra has but one head, which is its most distinctive part. At 10 p.m. look to the south-southeast. The head of Hydra is located below a line from the constellation Leo the Lion in the southeast and Gemini high in the southwest. It is directly below Cancer the crab in the south. Hydra’s head is a small but distinctive group of 6 stars that make a loop and the snake’s slightly drooping head. The rest of Hydra wends its way to the southeastern horizon, and eventually ends near the late spring constellation Libra the scales. Over the next few months the rest of Hydra will slither across the southern horizon.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Hydra the water snake raising its head below Cancer at 10 p.m. April 4, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
02/25/2016 – Ephemeris – The Crab and the Beehive
Ephemeris for Thursday, February 25th. The Sun will rise at 7:27. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 56 minutes, setting at 6:24. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 9:29 this evening.
At 9 this evening, the faint constellation, and member of the Zodiac, Cancer the crab will be located in the southeastern sky half way between the bright stars Castor and Pollux of the constellation Gemini, high in the south and the bright star Regulus in Leo the lion and Jupiter in the east. Cancer is very dim, looking like an upside-down Y. In the center of Cancer is a fuzzy spot to the unaided eye. In binoculars or a low power telescope this fuzzy spot becomes a cluster of stars. It is Messier 44 or the Beehive star cluster. At 577 light years away, it is one of the closest star clusters, but more distant than the Pleiades and Hyades the face of Taurus the bull. Of the three the Pleiades is the youngest at 100 million years. The Beehive is 7 times older.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Cancer Finder Chart. Created using Stellarium.
The Beehive star cluster, M44, a great binocular object. Its ancient name was the Praesepe or manger when glimpsed by the naked eye as a fuzzy spot. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts)
02/09/2015 – Ephemeris – How to find the constellation of Cancer the crab
Ephemeris for Monday, February 9th. The sun will rise at 7:52. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 6:02. The moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 11:51 this evening.
A small, dim member of the zodiac is Cancer the crab. It’s dim stars make to my eyes and upside down letter Y. It lies between Gemini to the upper right and Leo to the lower left, especially as it is still rising in the southeastern sky at 9 p.m. Right now the bright planet Jupiter is about half way between it and Leo. It does have a relatively bright fuzzy object to the naked eye amongst it’s stars, positioned roughly in the center. It was discovered as a fuzzy spot before the invention of the telescope and called Praesepe, the manger. With the invention of the telescope it was discovered to be a loose group of stars in an open or galactic star cluster. This easy binocular object is best known now as the Beehive cluster or M44.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The zodiacal constellation Cancer with Jupiter nearby in the southeast at 9 p.m. February 9, 2015. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).
The Beehive star cluster, M44. Its ancient name was the Praesepe or manger when glimpsed by the naked eye. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
M44 is a young star cluster, perhaps 600-700 million years old and only 577 light years away. It is an open or galactic star cluster. It only appears outside the band of the Milky Way because it’s close to us. The same cannot be said for M67.
Finder Chart for open cluster M67, found just west of α Cancri, or Acubens. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).
M67 is a fuzzy spot in binoculars but really shows its beauty in telescopes. M67 is pretty old for an open star cluster, one of the oldest known, at about the age of the Sun or a bit younger. It’s nearly 3,000 light years away, so it really is out of the plane of the galaxy.
06/12/2014 – Ephemeris – Jupiter is making up for lost time and is heading rapidly eastward
Ephemeris for Thursday, June 12th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 31 minutes, setting at 9:28. The moon, 1 day before full, will set at 6:38 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 5:56.
The planet Jupiter which is the brilliant star-like object in the west is starting to pick up its eastward motion in the stars. Several months ago as the earth was passing Jupiter when it was rising in the east at sunset, it had stopped its eastward motion against the stars and headed westward. This retrograde motion was due to Earth in essence passing the slower moving Jupiter. Now that it’s on the other side of the sun Jupiter is making up for lost time because it and Earth are now moving in opposite directions. This I see in the week to week setting times of Jupiter. Stars rise and set 4 minutes earlier each night. For Jupiter its down to three minutes, meaning it’s moving eastward. When we see it again in December it will have blown past Cancer to Leo, but it will later backtrack into Cancer.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter’s apparent motion over the next 180 days. Note by December Jupiter will slow and will begin its retrograde loop as the Earth catches up with it again. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
03/03/2014 – Ephemeris – The dim zodiacal constellation of Cancer the Crab
Ephemeris for Monday, March 3rd. The sun will rise at 7:16. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 6:33. The moon, 2 days past new, will set at 9:44 this evening.
At 9 this evening, the faint constellation, and member of the Zodiac, Cancer the crab is located in the south-southeast half way between the bright stars Castor and Pollux of the constellation Gemini, high in the south and the bright star Regulus in Leo the lion in the east Cancer is very dim, looking like an upside-down Y. In the center of Cancer is a fuzzy spot to the unaided eye. In binoculars or a low power telescope this fuzzy spot becomes a cluster of stars. It is the Beehive cluster. At 525 light years away, it is one of the closest star clusters, but more distant than the Pleiades and Hyades the face of Taurus the bull. Back a few thousand years ago Cancer was the farthest north of the constellations, Gemini has that honor today.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The constellation Cancer the crab at 9 p.m. March 3, 2014. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Skycharts).
The Beehive star cluster, M44. Its ancient name was the Praesepe or manger when glimpsed by the naked eye. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Skycharts)
03/07/2013 – Ephemeris – The zodiacal constellation Cancer the crab
Ephemeris for Thursday, March 7th. The sun will rise at 7:08. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 6:38. The moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:57 tomorrow morning.
At 9 this evening, the faint constellation, and member of the Zodiac, Cancer the crab is located in the south half way between the bright stars Castor and Pollux of the constellation Gemini, high in the south and the bright star Regulus in Leo the lion in the southeast. Cancer is very dim, looking like an upside-down Y. In the center of Cancer is a fuzzy spot to the unaided eye. In binoculars or a low power telescope this fuzzy spot becomes a cluster of stars. It is the Beehive cluster also cataloged as M44. At 577 light years away, according to the latest measurements, it is one of the closest star clusters, but more distant than the Pleiades and Hyades the face of Taurus the bull. Before it was seen in a telescope the cluster was known as Praesepe, the manger.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Cancer Finder Chart. Created using Stellarium.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 