Archive
09/22/2017 – Ephemeris – September star party at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore tomorrow night
Ephemeris for Friday, September 22nd. The Sun will rise at 7:29. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 7:39. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 9:14 this evening.
Autumn starts at 4:02 this afternoon.
The first star party of autumn will be held at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore tomorrow evening starting at 9 p.m. at the Dune Climb if it’s clear. It will be hosted by the Park Rangers and the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society. The society invites all to come, especially those with telescopes willing to share the wonders of the Milky Way, which will span the skies from horizon to horizon, and the planet Saturn. The park has one of the darkest skies in the Lower Peninsula, and the Milky Way is especially impressive in late summer and early autumn.
Please call 231-326-4700, ext. 5005 if in doubt about weather conditions. A decision will be made by 2 hours before the event.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
06/23/2017 – Ephemeris – Astronomy events this weekend
Ephemeris for Friday, June 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 33 minutes, setting at 9:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:58. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
Tomorrow afternoon and evening will be what we call a Sun & Star Party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. This event will be at the Dune Climb. From 4 to 6 p.m., the Sun will be featured using two types of telescopes, one showing the sun’s photosphere in what we call white light, and another showing the chromosphere above it in the light of hydrogen giving a completely different view. Starting at 9 p.m. will be a star party, actually really a planet party, viewing the planets Jupiter and Saturn, plus other objects visible in the deepening twilight.
Sunday at 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. members of the society will be in the parking lot of the NMC Laboratory on Aero Park Drive in Traverse City to view the Sun as part of the Michigan Clean Energy Conference and Fair.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Kids viewing the Sun through the society’s Lunt hydrogen alpha solar telescope.
02/24/2017 – Ephemeris – Winter star party at the Sleeping Near Dunes tomorrow night
Ephemeris for Friday, February 24th. The Sun will rise at 7:27. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 56 minutes, setting at 6:23. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 6:53 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow night the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society and the Rangers of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will hold a star party at the Dune Climb parking lot from 7 to 9 p.m. but only if it is clear. Last Saturday night it happened to be clear, so I went out there to do some photography of the heavens, and the sky was spectacular with the brilliant constellation Orion dominating the southern sky. Its great star forming region, the Great Orion Nebula displaying its bright heart and wispy outer tendrils of gas and dust heading away from that nest of bright baby stars that are illuminating it. Venus is a shining beacon in the west until it sets into the dune. We might even be able to spot the faint Zodiacal Light in the west.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Orion in a 30 second exposure taken at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Dune Climb February, 18, 2017 by Bob Moler. Click on image to enlarge a bit.
Area of the sky from the Hyades and Pleiades on the left to the Double Cluster on the right. While processing the image for this post I discovered two possible meteor trails on the left and below center. A 2 minute exposure taken at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Dune Climb February, 18, 2017 by Bob Moler. Click on image to enlarge and see all the deep sky goodies in it..
08/02/2016 – Ephemeris – Two events for the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society this weekend
Ephemeris for Friday, September 2nd. The Sun will rise at 7:06. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 8:16. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 9:00 this evening.
This is another busy weekend for the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society. Tonight there will be a general meeting of the society at 8 p.m. followed by a star party at 9 p.m. at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory, located on Birmley Road south of Traverse City, to which all are welcome. The featured speaker for the meeting will be Dr. David Penney who will talk about Late Pleistocene Fauna and Extinction and its possible astronomical cause. Saturday there will be a star party at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s Dune Climb starting at 9 p.m. Both star parties will feature the star clusters and nebulae found in the Milky Way, and views of Saturn and Mars. The dunes are the darkest spot around.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
06/17/2016 – Ephemeris – Sun & Star Party Saturday at the Sleeping Bear Dunes
Ephemeris for Friday, June 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 34 minutes, setting at 9:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:56. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 4:58 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow afternoon and evening will be what we call a Sun & Star Party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. This event will be at the Dune Climb. From 4 to 6 p.m., the Sun will be featured using two types of telescopes, one showing the sun’s photosphere in what we call white light, and another showing the chromosphere above it in the light of hydrogen giving a completely different view. Starting at 9 p.m. will be a star party, actually really a planet party, viewing the planets Jupiter, Mars and Saturn, plus the nearly full Moon. A twilight talk will be given at 9 p.m. on how astronomy has been changed in the last 100 years by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, for the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Two of the telescopes that will be used at the Sleeping Bear Dunes star party Saturday night. Taken at the transit of Mercury by Emmett Holmes, whose telescope is in the foreground.
Kids viewing the transit through the society’s Lunt hydrogen alpha solar telescope.
05/20/2016 – Ephemeris – Astronomical outreach events this weekend
Ephemeris for Friday, May 20th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 1 minute, setting at 9:10. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 6:22 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the Sun will rise at 6:08.
The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will be part of two events this weekend. Saturday evening society members will be at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Dune Climb parking lot closest to the dune starting at 9 p.m. for a star party viewing the planets Jupiter, Mars and Saturn and the full moon. There will be some actual star observing too. Folks are urged to park in the last two rows. On Sunday the society will be part of the Northwestern Michigan College’s Barbecue, with telescopes to observer the Sun safely and exhibits of photographs and actual meteorites, and videos in the Health and Science Building. For those who missed it we’ll have photographs of last week’s transit of Mercury, and maybe a video or two.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Two of the telescopes that will be used at the Sleeping Bear Dunes star party Saturday night. Taken at the transit of Mercury by Emmett Holmes, whose telescope is in the foreground.
09/11/2015 – Ephemeris – Astronomy from the dark skies of the Sleeping Bear Dunes this Saturday
Ephemeris for Friday, September 11th. The Sun will rise at 7:16. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 8:01. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 6:39 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow night will be the next to the last Star Party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore of the year. It will be at the Dune Climb in the Parking lot nearest to the dunes. Featured will be the wonders of the Milky Way including globular and galactic star clusters and planetary and emission nebulae. The event starts at 9 p.m. We are entering the second eclipse season of the year.
On Sunday there will be a partial solar eclipse visible from South Africa, the Southern Ocean and part of Antarctica. Eclipses occur in no less a grouping than pairs, solar and lunar, the next eclipse is 16 days away. It will be total lunar eclipse visible from here on Sunday evening the 27th. In the week after next I’ll tell you all about it.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Star Party at the Dunes Overlook. Credit: Eileen Carlisle. I still don’t have a good picture of a star party at the Dune Climb where the dune rises up and blocks the lower 20º of the western sky.
Partial Solar Eclipse of September 13, 2-15. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Fred Espenak.
08/12/2015 – Ephemeris – One ringed planet and a sky full of meteors
Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 12th. The Sun rises at 6:41. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 12 minutes, setting at 8:53. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 5:49 tomorrow morning.
Lets take a look for the bright planets for this week. Our brightest evening planets Venus and Jupiter are leaving the evening sky in the west. Venus is 3 days from inferior conjunction with the Sun. Saturn is in the south-southwest in the evening twilight. It can be spotted just to the right of the constellation of Scorpius the scorpion and its bright red star Antares below and right of it. Even small telescopes can see Saturn’s rings. The Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak overnight tonight. Your back yard is a fine spot to view the meteors, or for dark skies, I’ll be leading an all night meteor watch at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s Dune Climb if it’s clear. I’ll be there by 9 p.m. and it will be dark enough by 10:30.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Saturn and the summer Zodiacal constellations in the south at 10 p.m. August 12, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn through a telescope at 10 p.m. on August 12, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
Next week Wednesday we will also turn to the morning sky looking for Mars and awaiting Venus’ grand entrance into the dawn skies.
All-sky meteor charts from yesterday’s post
“PerR” is the Perseid radiant.
11 p.m. August 12, 2015. Created using Bob Moler’s LookingUp program for Windows.
2 a.m. August 13, 2015. Previewing autumn stars. Created using Bob Moler’s LookingUp program for Windows.
5 a.m. August 13, 2015. Good morning Orion! Created using Bob Moler’s LookingUp program for Windows.
08/11/2015 – Ephemeris – Perseid meteor shower is tomorrow night
Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 11th. The Sun rises at 6:40. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 14 minutes, setting at 8:55. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 4:51 tomorrow morning.
The Perseid meteor shower is growing in numbers of meteors seen per hour. The expected peak is Thursday morning about a quarter after 2. However the peak time is only really known statistically after the event. The point in the sky from which the meteors or shooting stars seem to come from is called the radiant and it is near the constellation of Perseus. The meteors will appear all night from dusk to dawn. The peak number of meteors can be up to 90 an hour. No telescope is needed. Just lie down on a blanket and look up. The darker your sky the better. One of the darkest skies around is at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I will be leading an all night meteor shower watch at the Dune Climb Wednesday night til dawn if it’s clear.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Here are some meteors seen in the 2007 Perseid meteor shower taken by Scott Anttila. The image is centered on Cassiopeia. The radiant is low and a bit left of center in the image. The Double Cluster is seen below center and the Great Andromeda Galaxy is seen on the right above center. Click on the image to enlarge.
Position of the Perseid radiant and stars in all-sky plots for 3 times during the night: 11 p.m., 2 a.m., & 5 a.m.
11 p.m. August 12, 2015. Created using Bob Moler’s LookingUp program for Windows.
2 a.m. August 13, 2015. Created using Bob Moler’s LookingUp program for Windows.
5 a.m. August 13, 2015. Created using Bob Moler’s LookingUp program for Windows.
05/22/2015 – Ephemeris – View the Sun and the Planets from the Sleeping Bear Dunes this Saturday
Ephemeris for Friday, May 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 9:11. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 1:00 tomorrow morning, and tomorrow the Sun will rise at 6:06.
Tomorrow the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will be at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for a Sun and Star Party at the Dune Climb. From 4 to 6 p.m. the Sun will be the attraction. Besides sunspots, visible in most well filtered telescopes, the society’s solar telescope will show the Sun in the light of hydrogen, showing a much more active part of the Sun. Starting about 9:30 Venus, and then Jupiter will appear, followed a bit later by the ringed planet Saturn. The event will take place only if the weather cooperates and it’s clear or partly cloudy. The society has scheduled monthly star parties at the Dunes through October plus a special meteor shower watch in August.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Star Party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Thoreson Farm August 2013. Credit Eileen Carlisle.
Star Party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Thoreson Farm August 2013. Credit Eileen Carlisle.
Sorry we don’t have good pictures of a Dune Climb star party. The event shown above is near the maximum of the Perseid meteor shower, which is why some folks are carrying blankets. The Thoreson Farm event is part of the Port Oneida Fair at the Port Oneida Rural Historic District a small farming community on the eastern shore of Sleeping Bear Bay, and within the boundaries of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 