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Ephemeris: 03/08/2024 – We’re one month away from the last Great American Eclipse for the next 21 years
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for International Women’s Day, Friday, March 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 33 minutes, setting at 6:40, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:05. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 7:01 tomorrow morning.
We are exactly one month from our total solar eclipse this year, so I hope you’ve gotten your eclipse glasses or whatever else you need to safely view the Sun, or make plans to drive to the path of totality. This weekend we have a time change, spring forward to daylight savings time. It’s something I don’t look forward to, because it pushes the darkness in the evening out one more hour later. Not only does the sunset later each night, but we mess with the clocks to make it even later. By the end of June and early July twilight doesn’t officially end until after midnight. Then we only get 4 1/2 hours of darkness anyway if the Moon wasn’t out.
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
05/19/2016 – Ephemeris – Daylight Saving Time in West Michigan
Ephemeris for Thursday, May 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 9:09. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 5:49 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the Sun will rise at 6:08.
It is nearing summer and the powers that be have bequeathed on us daylight saving time, even starting it before the end of winter since 2007. It is a thing that amateur astronomers hate. This time of year through the end of July the Sun just sets too late, and if one has a day job, it’s nearly impossible to stay up long enough to start observing at 11 p.m. or midnight, and be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the next morning. Nautical twilight, when the sea horizon is no longer discernible ends at 10:28 p.m. tonight, and astronomical twilight, when it’s pitch dark, ends at 11:19. It gets worse the farther north and west you go in the Eastern time zone. At least this year we have three planets to entertain us in the evening twilight.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Our place in the Eastern Time Zone. Source http://www.nationsonline.com. If you are using Firefox right-click on the map and select View Image to enlarge.
We are near longitude W 86°. Our Eastern Standard time meridian is W 75°, which runs through Philadelphia, which I’ve added to the map, southwest of New York. With 15° per hour that makes that 44 minutes behind Philadelphia. Theoretically time zones should extend 30 minutes on either side of a standard time meridian.
During daylight time our time meridian is W 60°, which is off the map. That meridian just ticks the eastern end of Nova Scotia in Canada. For us near 45° north latitude astronomical twilight ends shortly after midnight.
03/11/11 – Ephemeris – Time change again
Friday, March 11th. The sun will rise at 7:02. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 40 minutes, setting at 6:43. The moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 1:52 tomorrow morning.
This weekend we go back to Eastern Daylight Saving Time. It may be a boon to most folks, lengthening the evening daylight hours, but around here it makes stargazing difficult by pushing it to the late night hours, especially in June or July. In the old days noon was when the sun was due south in the sky. Railroad schedules were the impetus for the creation of standard time zones, one hour wide. Thanks to politics Michigan is in the eastern time zone, rather than the closer central time zone. We’re about 43 minutes behind Philadelphia, the eastern time meridian. With the imposition of daylight time, it pushes our time meridian 15 degrees of longitude farther east, out into the Atlantic Ocean. So late winter, or spring, forward Sunday morning.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 