Archive
05/23/2013 – Ephemeris – The planetary group tightens
Ephemeris for Thursday, May 23rd. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 9:12. The moon, 2 days before full, will set at 5:39 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:05.
Lets take a look at the planet jam in the west after sunset. There’s a rather short period and a very low western horizon that will let you see them. Jupiter will be on top, with Venus just below and to its right. Mercury will be to Venus’ right and just a bit higher. The separation from Jupiter to Mercury is just under 6 degrees, a bit more than half the width of a fist held at arm’s length. It is generally true that the width of one fist held at arm’s length describes a ten degree angle in the sky, Kind of a rule of thumb, or in this case fist to help one gauge the sky with out a sextant or quadrant. Tomorrow the grouping will be getting even more compact. Reaching their most compact Sunday evening.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter, Venus and Mercury at 10 p.m. on May 23, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Dance of the planets Jupiter, Venus and Mercury, May 21 thru May 28, 2013. Created using Stellarium. Click on the image to start animation.
05/22/2013 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 22nd. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 4 minutes, setting at 9:11. The moon, 3 days before full, will set at 4:54 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:06.
The early evening will be taken up with the grouping of Jupiter, Venus and Mercury low in the west northwest at about 10 p.m. Jupiter will be on top and the easiest to spot with Venus below and right of Jupiter and tiny Mercury off to its right. Mercury sets at 10:24 p.m., with Venus following a minute later, while Jupiter will set at 10:48. Hanging backing from this planetary grouping in the east southeast will be Saturn this evening, the brightest star-like object in the constellation Virgo appearing yellowish to the left of the extremely blue-white star Spica. Tonight Saturn will be to the left of and above the bright moon. Saturn will pass due south at midnight, and will set at 5:16 tomorrow morning.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Dance of the planets Jupiter, Venus and Mercury, May 21 thru May 28, 2013. Created using Stellarium. Click on the image to start animation.
Saturn and the moon at 10 p.m. on May 22, 2013. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn will appear above the moon on the morning of February 3rd
Here’s what you’ll see looking to the south at 4:55 a.m. EST. Created using Stellarium.
While you’re at it check out both with a telescopes. The two will hang out next to each other through the beginning of twilight.
03/15/2012 – Ephemeris – Astronomical Conjunction of Jupiter and Venus
Ephemeris for Thursday, March 15th. The sun will rise at 7:53. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 55 minutes, setting at 7:49. The moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 4:22 tomorrow morning.
This morning is the actual conjunction of Jupiter and Venus according to astronomers. They may have looked closest yesterday or the day before, but this morning is the time they appear at the same right ascension. Right ascension is the celestial equivalent to longitude on the earth. Meaning that Venus would be directly north of Jupiter. The terms celestial longitude and latitude have already been taken, and are actually oriented to the plane of the earth’s orbit, rather to the earth’s axis and equator. First year astronomy students accuse instructors of using such terms just to confuse them. Astronomers call the angle for the tilt of the earth’s axis the obliquity of the ecliptic. How’s that for a tongue twister.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter and Venus at nightly intervals from March 12 to 16, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
The 4th step, the one before the last is where Jupiter and Venus are tonight.
03/12/2012 – Ephemeris – Jupiter is level with Venus, also possible northern lights tonight
Ephemeris for Monday, March 12th. The sun will rise at 7:59. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 45 minutes, setting at 7:45. The moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 1:33 tomorrow morning.
In the western evening sky, Jupiter and Venus are making a pass at each other. They shouldn’t, in the modern sense since Venus or Aphrodite of the Greeks was the daughter of Jupiter or Zeus. .Over this week we’ll watch as Jupiter slips below Venus to lead Venus in setting. Tonight Jupiter is level with and left of Venus. Venus will always be the brighter of the two. We also have an aurora watch for this evening. The sun has been active this weekend with a series of flares emanating from the largest sunspot group now visible called active region 1429. This group is rotating off so it’s flares soon won’t affect the earth. Check spaceweather.com for the latest. And check bobmoler.wordpress.com for an animation of the planet conjunction.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter and Venus at nightly intervals from March 12 to 16, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
The first frame of the animation is for tonight.
02/24/2012 – Ephemeris – The moon will pass Venus and Jupiter this weekend
Friday, February 24th. The sun will rise at 7:29. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 53 minutes, setting at 6:22. The moon, 3 days past new, will set at 9:36 this evening.
This weekend we will be able to spot appearances of the moon passing two planets. Tomorrow night Venus will appear below the moon. It should be a spectacular sight with Jupiter nearby to the upper left. Then Sunday night the moon will have moved near Jupiter. This time Jupiter will appear to the left of the moon, their closest apparent approach being after they set Monday morning. Even though the moon will leave these planets, keep watching them. As Venus slowly approaches Jupiter. They will be their closest, called a conjunction on the Ides of March. That’s March 15th using our calendar. These two planet will still be with us for the next few months, with Mars and Saturn appearing later in the evening now.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The moon will pass above Venus at 7 p.m. Saturday February 25, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
The moon will pass Jupiter, seen at 10 p.m. February 26, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
02/10/2011 – Ephemeris – The moon will be near Saturn Sunday morning
Ephemeris for Friday, February 10th. The sun will rise at 7:50. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 12 minutes, setting at 6:03. The moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 9:52 this evening.
Sunday morning the moon will pass Saturn in our sky. The ringed planet is just to the left of the bright blue-white star Spica in the constellation of Virgo. Saturn and Spica rise around midnight now. Saturn will be best seen in the evening this spring and early summer. Its rings are still opening up from their edge on passage in 2009. Saturn’s rings can be seen in any telescope with 20 power or over. In fact in sturdily mounted binoculars, Saturn will appear not point-like as stars do but may appear somewhat oblong, due to its rings. The rings are not solid, a fact that’s been known for a few centuries. A solid disk would be tour asunder by the tidal forces on it by the difference in the gravitational forces across the rings.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Saturn, Spica and the moon at 6 a.m. February 12, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
08/16/11 – Ephemeris – Solar conjunctions today of Mercury and Venus
Tuesday, August 16th. The sun rises at 6:45. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 0 minutes, setting at 8:46. The moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 9:38 this evening.
Today we have an interesting coincidence. Both Venus and Mercury will be in conjunction with the sun. Astrologers may make a big deal out of it but this time astronomers won’t. A conjunction means that two solar system bodies are just north and south of each other. At 8:07 this morning Venus will be just north of the sun in superior conjunction. That is it is beyond the sun. And at 9:03 this evening Mercury will be somewhat south of the sun in inferior conjunction. Thai is it is between the earth and the sun. Mercury will be going into our morning sky, while Venus will begin to appear in the evening sky later this fall. But the coolest thing of all will be Venus’ next inferior conjunction June 6th, 2012. It will cross the face of the sun in a rare transit.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
05/13/11 – Ephemeris – Astronomical meaning of the morning planet lineup
Friday, May 13th. Today the sun will be up for 14 hours and 43 minutes, setting at 9:01. The moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 4:09 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:16
The planet grouping that’s now breaking up in the morning twilight might be taken as having meaning by astrologers. To astronomers it’s just a nice line up of planets, that is along our line of sight. Let’s look at their distances from the earth. Mercury is actually closest of the four now at 86 million miles, The rest are farther than the sun. Venus is next farthest at 139 million miles. Next comes Mars at 214 million miles away. Finally there’s Jupiter at 541 million miles out. So these planets are grouped by accident of their directions from the earth. They are not really close together. As far as influence goes, the moon, Jupiter and Venus gave the greatest gravitational effect of the earth, but that’s miniscule compared to the sun.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Line of sight of the planets in the Planet Jam for May 13th.
Here’s the animation of the morning planets this month.
Planet Jam May 2011 animation
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 