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Ephemeris: 12/15/2025 – Capella, the winter star that never quite leaves us*
This is Ephemeris for Monday, December 15th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:14. The Moon, halfway from last quarter to new, will rise at 5:13 tomorrow morning.
Capella is the northernmost first magnitude stars. Tonight it shines in the northeastern sky. First magnitude stars are the 21 brightest stars in the night sky. Capella is the 6th brightest. Although I’ve always known it as the little she-goat, Capella’s name literally translates to “little goat.” Her three Kids are represented by a narrow triangle of stars positioned to the right of her in tonight’s evening sky. Capella is in the topmost corner of the pentagonal constellation of Auriga the Charioteer. Capella is actually a system of four stars only 43 light years away. And never sets for listeners in the Interlochen Public Radio transmission area who have a low northern horizon.
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.
* If you live north of 44° north latitude.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 12/11/25 – The constellation of the guy with the goats
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, December 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:11. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 12:53 tomorrow morning.
The first constellation of winter is in the northeastern sky, called Auriga the charioteer. It’s to the upper left of Orion and directly left of Taurus. Auriga actually never really quite leaves us, because its brightest star, Capella is the star that never leaves us even in the heat of summer, Though for most of us it’s in the trees in the north. Auriga is a pentagon of stars with the Capella on top. Just right of Capella is a thin triangle of three faint stars, an asterism or informal constellation called the Kids, baby goats. Capella is their mother. For some reason they are all held by a charioteer, who is shown without his chariot. Ptolemy, last of the great Greek astronomers called Auriga the coachman. If so, he did have room for the goats.
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
Ephemeris: 01/20/2025 – The planets augment the Winter Hexagon
This is Ephemeris for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 20th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 5:35, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:12. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 12:56 tomorrow morning.
The winter circle or more properly hexagon, seen in the winter sky this evening, has the addition of two planets, and they’re in the proper location so that they don’t spoil the hexagon. We start at the top with the star Capella high in the east. We move clockwise downward to Jupiter and below it the star Aldebaran. We drop lower to Orion’s knee and the star Rigel, then down to Sirius, low in the southeast, the brightest nighttime star, but doesn’t hold a candle to Jupiter. Then we go above left to Procyon and upwards and left to Mars, which is near Pollux, and finally back up to Capella. That’s that is our winter hexagon right now, so take it in while you can, before Jupiter and Mars move off and mess it up.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
As for events happening on Earth: Resist!
Ephemeris: 11/26/2024 – Finding the celestial charioteer and his goats
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, November 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 5:05, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:55. The Moon, 4 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:18 tomorrow morning.
The constellation Auriga the charioteer is halfway up the sky in the east northeast at 9 p.m. It is a pentagon of stars, with the brilliant star Capella at the upper left of its corners. Capella represents a mama goat he’s carrying. A narrow triangle of stars just right of Capella are her kids, that is her baby goats. The Kids is an informal constellation or asterism. The Milky Way runs through Auriga, but it’s not very bright here. We are looking away from the center of the Milky Way to the more sparse outer parts of our galaxy. Within and near that pentagon, one can sweep with binoculars and low power telescopes to find several star clusters, groups of hundreds of stars born in the clump we still see them in. These star clusters will appear as fuzzy spots in binoculars.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 10/03/2024 – Capella rising
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, October 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 34 minutes, setting at 7:18, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:45. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 7:33 this evening.
There is a bright star low in the northeast these evenings. It doesn’t seem to be rising very much over the course of the evening. This star is Capella, whose name means “little goat” and is part of the constellation Auriga the charioteer, which won’t completely rise for until about 11 PM. Capella is a circumpolar star meaning it appears to go around the North Pole of the sky, in a circle, as the Earth rotates but never sets. This is true for the Interlochen/Traverse City area and for latitudes north of the city of Ludington. Capella is slowly rising from the bottom of its circumpolar circle in the north, so it’s moving more horizontally than it is rising up. This motion was suspicious to one person who called me, who wondered what it was.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 05/27/2024 The evening sky is transitioning into summer
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Memorial Day, Monday, May 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 14 minutes, setting at 9:17, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:02. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 1:36 tomorrow morning.
The sky tonight at 10:30 is beginning to show the transition from spring to summer. Antares in Scorpius is very low in the southeast, rising and chasing away Orion who has disappeared in the West. According to Greek mythology, at least in one story, Orion was killed by the sting of a giant scorpion and so neither he nor Scorpius the scorpion can be in the sky at the same time. The bright star Spica in Virgo the virgin is due South at that time, with Leo the lion in the southwest. Very high in the southeast is the star Arcturus. The Big Dipper is overhead. And in the east-northeast high up this is the bright star Vega, one of the stars of the summer triangle. The second star of the triangle Deneb is lower in the northeast. The third star has yet to rise.
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: 12/07/2023 – Auriga, the charioteer
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, December 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 56 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:07. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:20 tomorrow morning.
The first constellation of winter is in the northeastern sky, called Auriga the charioteer. It’s to the upper left of Orion and directly left of Taurus. Auriga actually never really quite leaves us, because its brightest star, Capella is the star that never leaves us even in the heat of summer, Though for most of us it’s in the trees in the north. Auriga is a pentagon of stars with the Capella on top. Just right of Capella is a thin triangle of three faint stars, an asterism or informal constellation called the Kids, baby goats. Capella is their mother. For some reason they are all held by a charioteer, who is without his chariot. And from all the Hollywood Biblical epic movies I’ve seen, it takes two hands to drive a chariot, and it doesn’t have a rumble seat.
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
01/31/2022 – Ephemeris – The winter circle of bright stars
This is Ephemeris for Monday, January 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 47 minutes, setting at 5:50, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:01. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 8:48 tomorrow morning.
The winter skies are blessed with more first magnitude stars than any other season. Six of these stars lie in a large circle centered on the seventh, It’s called the Winter Circle. This circle is up in the evening. Starting high overhead is yellow Capella in Auriga the charioteer. Moving down clockwise is orange Aldebaran in the face of Taurus the Bull. Then down to Orion’s knee, we find blue-white Rigel. Down and left is the brightest star of all the brilliant white Sirius the Dog Star in Canis Major, lowest of these stars in the south-southeast. Moving up and left is white Procyon in Canis Minor, Above Procyon is Pollux in Gemini, the twins. All these are not quite centered on Betelgeuse, the bright red star in Orion’s shoulder.
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
The bright stars of winter arrayed in a not so accurate circle. Some call it the Winter Hexagon. These stars are what make the winter sky so brilliant on the rare clear night in winter. Created using Stellarium.
10/26/2021 – Ephemeris – The bright star Capella is slowly ascending in the northeastern sky
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 26 minutes, setting at 6:39, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:14. The Moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:29 this evening.
The bright star that’s been hanging out fairly low in the northeastern sky in the evening lately is Capella, sometimes called the Goat Star. It’s at the top of a rather oddly shaped pentagon of stars that make up the constellation Auriga, the charioteer. A small, thin triangle of stars to Capella’s right is called the Kids*. Her kids. I’m not sure what a fellow is doing holding 4 goats while driving a chariot. Maybe that’s how he ended up in the sky. Capella itself consists of two yellow giant stars, about the same temperature as the Sun, but much larger. Capella is circumpolar for most of northern Michigan, meaning it never sets. It gets pretty low in the north on summer evenings.
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.
* I’ve always known them as the Kids. Stellarium calls them the Goatlings.
Addendum
Capella and Auriga, low in the northeastern sky. I left the Kids unannotated, but they are easy to find near Capella. An animation created using Stellarium and GIMP.
01/14/2021 – Ephemeris – The constellation of Auriga the charioteer
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, January 14th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 5:27, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:16. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 7:06 this evening.
The constellation Auriga the charioteer is nearly overhead at 9 p.m. It is a pentagon of stars, with the brilliant star Capella at one of its corners. Capella represents a she-goat he’s carrying. A narrow triangle of stars nearby Capella are her kids. The Kids is an informal constellation or asterism. Within and near that pentagon, binoculars and telescopes will find several star clusters, groups of hundreds of stars born in the clump we still see them in. These star clusters will appear as fuzzy spots in binoculars. One called M38 is near the center of the pentagon. Another, M36 is to the east of it. Still another star cluster, M37, is farther east, just outside the pentagon. The M designations come from Charles Messier who 250 years ago ran into them while looking for comets.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Auriga finder animation showing the Kids, nearby stars including Aldebaran and the sideways V shape of the Hyades (unlabeled) of Taurus the bull and the Pleiades AKA M 45. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
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