Archive
02/01/2021 – Ephemeris – Previewing February Skies
This is Ephemeris for Monday, February 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 5:51, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:00. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:33 this evening. | February is the shortest month, even so the daylight hours throughout the month will be getting longer. Daylight hours will increase from 9 hours and 50 minutes today to 11 hours and 7 minutes on the 28th. The sunrise time will decrease from 8:01 today to 7:21 at months end. The sunset times will increase from 5:51 today to 6:29 on the 28th. Along with that the altitude of the Sun at noon will increase from 28.4 degrees today to 37.6 degrees at month’s end. It will be a degree lower for folks in the Straits area because they are a degree of latitude farther north. Local noon, by the way for Interlochen and Traverse City is about 12:56 p.m.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Star Chart for February 2021 (9 p.m. EST February 15, 2021). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST in the evening and 6 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere (rotating star finder) you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Note the chart times of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. are for the 15th. For each week before the 15th add ½ hour (28 minutes if you’re picky). For each week after the 15th subtract ½ hour. The planet positions are updated each Wednesday on this blog. For planet positions on dates other than the 15th, check the Wednesday planet posts on this blog.
February Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for February mornings 2021 (6 a.m. EST February 15, 2021). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, and
- Extend like a spike to Spica,
- The Summer Triangle is in red.
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| EST | |||||||
| Morning twilight | Evening twilight | Dark night | Moon | ||||
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2021-02-01 | 6h22m | 6h56m | 18h56m | 19h30m | 19h30m | 22h33m | 0.78 |
| 2021-02-02 | 6h21m | 6h55m | 18h57m | 19h31m | 19h31m | 23h48m | 0.67 |
| 2021-02-03 | 6h20m | 6h54m | 18h59m | 19h33m | 19h33m | – | 0.56 |
| 2021-02-04 | 6h19m | 6h53m | 19h00m | 19h34m | 19h34m | 1h03m | 0.45 |
| 2021-02-05 | 6h18m | 6h52m | 19h01m | 19h35m | 19h35m | 2h20m | 0.34 |
| 2021-02-06 | 6h16m | 6h50m | 19h02m | 19h36m | 19h36m | 3h35m | 0.23 |
| 2021-02-07 | 6h15m | 6h49m | 19h04m | 19h38m | 19h38m | 4h48m | 0.15 |
| 2021-02-08 | 6h14m | 6h48m | 19h05m | 19h39m | 19h39m | 5h54m | 0.08 |
| 2021-02-09 | 6h13m | 6h47m | 19h06m | 19h40m | 19h40m | 6h13m | 0.03 |
| 2021-02-10 | 6h12m | 6h46m | 19h08m | 19h41m | 19h41m | 6h12m | 0 |
| 2021-02-11 | 6h10m | 6h44m | 19h09m | 19h43m | 19h43m | 6h10m | 0 |
| 2021-02-12 | 6h09m | 6h43m | 19h10m | 19h44m | 19h44m | 6h09m | 0.02 |
| 2021-02-13 | 6h08m | 6h42m | 19h11m | 19h45m | 20h14m | 6h08m | 0.06 |
| 2021-02-14 | 6h06m | 6h40m | 19h13m | 19h47m | 21h19m | 6h06m | 0.12 |
| 2021-02-15 | 6h05m | 6h39m | 19h14m | 19h48m | 22h22m | 6h05m | 0.19 |
| 2021-02-16 | 6h04m | 6h37m | 19h15m | 19h49m | 23h25m | 6h04m | 0.27 |
| 2021-02-17 | 6h02m | 6h36m | 19h17m | 19h50m | – | 6h02m | 0.35 |
| 2021-02-18 | 6h01m | 6h34m | 19h18m | 19h52m | 0h27m | 6h01m | 0.45 |
| 2021-02-19 | 5h59m | 6h33m | 19h19m | 19h53m | 1h30m | 5h59m | 0.54 |
| 2021-02-20 | 5h58m | 6h32m | 19h21m | 19h54m | 2h33m | 5h58m | 0.64 |
| 2021-02-21 | 5h56m | 6h30m | 19h22m | 19h56m | 3h35m | 5h56m | 0.73 |
| 2021-02-22 | 5h55m | 6h28m | 19h23m | 19h57m | 4h34m | 5h55m | 0.81 |
| 2021-02-23 | 5h53m | 6h27m | 19h24m | 19h58m | 5h28m | 5h53m | 0.89 |
| 2021-02-24 | 5h52m | 6h25m | 19h26m | 19h59m | – | – | 0.94 |
| 2021-02-25 | 5h50m | 6h24m | 19h27m | 20h01m | – | – | 0.98 |
| 2021-02-26 | 5h48m | 6h22m | 19h28m | 20h02m | – | – | 1 |
| 2021-02-27 | 5h47m | 6h20m | 19h30m | 20h03m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2021-02-28 | 5h45m | 6h19m | 19h31m | 20h05m | 20h05m | 20h16m | 0.95 |
Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2019/09/27/
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
Date Time Event
Feb 1 Mo Venus: 13° W
3 We 2:33 pm Moon Perigee: 370,100 km
4 Th 12:37 pm Last Quarter
6 Sa 7:29 pm Moon Descending Node
8 Mo 8:39 am Mercury Inferior Conjunction
8 Mo 10:34 am Moon South Dec.: 25° S
11 Th 2:06 pm New Moon
18 Th 5:22 am Moon Apogee: 404,500 km
18 Th 5:47 pm Moon-Mars: 4.1° N
19 Fr 1:47 pm First Quarter
20 Sa 8:44 pm Moon Ascending Node
22 Mo 7:12 pm Moon North Dec.: 25.1° N
23 Tu 2:38 am Mercury-Saturn: 4° N
24 We 7:16 pm Moon-Beehive: 2.5° S
27 Sa 3:17 am Full Moon
All event times are given for UTC-5:00: Eastern Standard or Daylight Time
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html
If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC February, 2021 Local time zone: EST +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM | | | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN| +=======================================================================+ |Mon 1| 08:01a 05:51p 09:50 | 06:57p 06:55a | Rise 10:33p 79%| |Tue 2| 08:00a 05:53p 09:53 | 06:59p 06:54a | Rise 11:48p 69%| |Wed 3| 07:59a 05:54p 09:55 | 07:00p 06:53a | Rise 01:03a 58%| |Thu 4| 07:57a 05:56p 09:58 | 07:01p 06:52a |L Qtr Rise 02:19a 47%| |Fri 5| 07:56a 05:57p 10:00 | 07:03p 06:51a | Rise 03:35a 36%| |Sat 6| 07:55a 05:59p 10:03 | 07:04p 06:50a | Rise 04:48a 25%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 7| 07:54a 06:00p 10:06 | 07:05p 06:48a | Rise 05:53a 16%| |Mon 8| 07:52a 06:01p 10:09 | 07:06p 06:47a | Rise 06:49a 9%| |Tue 9| 07:51a 06:03p 10:11 | 07:08p 06:46a | Rise 07:35a 4%| |Wed 10| 07:49a 06:04p 10:14 | 07:09p 06:45a | Rise 08:11a 1%| |Thu 11| 07:48a 06:06p 10:17 | 07:10p 06:43a |New Set 05:57p 0%| |Fri 12| 07:47a 06:07p 10:20 | 07:12p 06:42a | Set 07:07p 2%| |Sat 13| 07:45a 06:08p 10:23 | 07:13p 06:41a | Set 08:14p 5%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 14| 07:44a 06:10p 10:26 | 07:14p 06:39a | Set 09:19p 11%| |Mon 15| 07:42a 06:11p 10:29 | 07:15p 06:38a | Set 10:22p 17%| |Tue 16| 07:41a 06:13p 10:32 | 07:17p 06:37a | Set 11:24p 25%| |Wed 17| 07:39a 06:14p 10:34 | 07:18p 06:35a | Set 12:27a 34%| |Thu 18| 07:38a 06:15p 10:37 | 07:19p 06:34a | Set 01:30a 43%| |Fri 19| 07:36a 06:17p 10:40 | 07:21p 06:32a |F Qtr Set 02:32a 52%| |Sat 20| 07:34a 06:18p 10:43 | 07:22p 06:31a | Set 03:34a 61%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 21| 07:33a 06:20p 10:46 | 07:23p 06:29a | Set 04:33a 71%| |Mon 22| 07:31a 06:21p 10:49 | 07:25p 06:28a | Set 05:28a 79%| |Tue 23| 07:30a 06:22p 10:52 | 07:26p 06:26a | Set 06:15a 87%| |Wed 24| 07:28a 06:24p 10:55 | 07:27p 06:25a | Set 06:56a 93%| |Thu 25| 07:26a 06:25p 10:58 | 07:28p 06:23a | Set 07:30a 98%| |Fri 26| 07:24a 06:26p 11:01 | 07:30p 06:21a | Set 07:59a 100%| |Sat 27| 07:23a 06:28p 11:05 | 07:31p 06:20a |Full Rise 06:59p 99%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 28| 07:21a 06:29p 11:08 | 07:32p 06:18a | Rise 08:16p 96%| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ * Nautical Twilight ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset
Created using my LookingUp for DOS output as HTML.
02/01/2016 – Ephemeris – Previewing February
Ephemeris for Monday, February 1st. The Sun will rise at 8:02. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:50. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 2:34 tomorrow morning.
Let’s preview the month of February. It will be a day longer this year because it’s a leap year, the adjustment to keep the calendar in sync with the seasons. The daylight hours throughout February will be getting longer. Daylight hours will increase from 9 hours and 48 minutes today to 11 hours and 8 minutes on the 29th. The altitude of the sun at noon will increase from 28 degrees tomorrow to nearly 38 degrees at month’s end. The straits area will see the sun a degree lower. Local noon, by the way for Interlochen and Traverse City is about 12:56 p.m, which is mainly due to the fact that our standard time meridian happens to run through Philadelphia and the Sun is currently running 13 minutes slow.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
February Star Chart
Star Chart for February 2016. Created using my LookingUp program. To enlarge in Firefox Right-click on image then click View image.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST. That is chart time. Note, Traverse City is located 45 minutes behind our time meridian. To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 6:56 p.m. EST on January 1st, increasing to 7:33 p.m. EST on the 29th.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 6:56 a.m. EST on January 1st, and decreasing to 6:18 a.m. EST on the 29th.
Add a half hour to the chart time every week before the 15th and subtract and hour for every week after the 15th.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star
- A leaky Big Dipper drips on Leo
Calendar of Planetary Events
Credit: Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC)
To generate your own calendar go to http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html
Times are Eastern Time. Some additions made to aid clarity.
Date Local Event Time EST Feb 01 Mo 3:48 am Moon-Mars: 3° S 01 Mo Venus: 31.4° W 03 We 2:05 pm Moon-Saturn: 3.8° S 04 Th 11:34 pm Moon South Dec.: 18.3° S 06 Sa 2:32 am Moon-Venus: 4.5° S 06 Sa 11:47 am Moon-Mercury: 3.9° S 06 Sa 7:59 pm Mercury Greatest Elongation: 25.6° West 08 Mo 9:39 am New Moon 10 We 3:46 pm Moon Descending Node 10 We 9:42 pm Moon Perigee: 364400 km 12 Fr 9:32 pm Mercury-Venus: 4° N 15 Mo 2:46 am First Quarter 16 Tu 2:41 am Moon-Aldebaran: 0.4° S 17 We 6:18 pm Moon North Dec.: 18.3° N 22 Mo 7:48 am Moon-Regulus: 2.7° N 22 Mo 1:20 pm Full Moon 23 Tu 10:58 pm Moon-Jupiter: 1.9° N 24 We 1:10 am Moon Ascending Node 26 Fr 10:28 pm Moon Apogee: 405400 km 28 Su 10:17 am Neptune Solar Conjunction 29 Mo 1:16 pm Moon-Mars: 3.9° S Mar 01 Tu Venus: 24.9° W
Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina)
The track of Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina) for February 2016. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
The comet magnitudes, given after the date, are now pretty much on track. Comet is plotted every day at 10 p.m. EST (3 hr UT the next day). To monitor the brightness reports from observers go to http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/2013US10/2013US10.html.
02/26/2015 – Ephemeris – The strange month of February
Ephemeris for Thursday, February 26th. The sun will rise at 7:25. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 1 minute, setting at 6:26. The moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 3:21 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take a shot at why February is the shortest month. Blame the ancient Romans and their poor timekeeping skills. The Roman calendar was based on the Sun, or rather the seasons, what we would call the tropical year, rather than the Moon. With a lunar calendar it was easy to tell if it was off by a day or two. The Romans apparently started with a 12 month calendar starting in March with spring. Before the calendar reform of 45 BC months had alternating days of 29 and 31 except for February which had 28. That left them a bit short, so it appears that they added a month Intercalaris every few years or so to fix it. That eventually came down to adding a day to February every 4 years to fix the problem.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
01/31/2013 – Ephemeris – Preview of February Skies
Ephemeris for Thursday, January 31st. The sun will rise at 8:02. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:50. The moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 11:06 this evening.
February is the shortest month, even so the daylight hours through out the month will be getting longer. Daylight hours will increase from 9 hours and 50 minutes tomorrow to 11 hours and 7 minutes on the 28th. The sunrise time will decrease from 8:00 tomorrow to 7:21 at months end. The sunset times will increase from 5:51 tomorrow to 6:28 on the 28th. Along with that the altitude of the sun at noon will increase from 28 degrees today to nearly 38 degrees at month’s end. It will be a degree lower for folks in the Straits area because they are a degree of latitude farther north. Local noon, by the way for Interlochen and Traverse City is about 12:55 p.m. We are expecting clearer skies later this month as the lakes cool.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Ephemeris of Sky Events for NMC Observatory, Traverse City MI |
||||||||||
| February, 2013 – Local time zone: EST | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Sun | Twilight* | Moon | Illum | ||||||
| Rise | Set | Hours | End | Start | Phase | R/S** | Time | Fractn | ||
| Fri | 1 | 08:00a | 05:51p | 09:50 | 07:31p | 06:20a | Rise | 12:15a | 67% | |
| Sat | 2 | 07:59a | 05:53p | 09:53 | 07:33p | 06:19a | Rise | 01:25a | 57% | |
| Sun | 3 | 07:58a | 05:54p | 09:55 | 07:34p | 06:18a | L Qtr | Rise | 02:34a | 45% |
| Mon | 4 | 07:57a | 05:56p | 09:58 | 07:35p | 06:17a | Rise | 03:41a | 34% | |
| Tue | 5 | 07:56a | 05:57p | 10:01 | 07:36p | 06:16a | Rise | 04:42a | 24% | |
| Wed | 6 | 07:54a | 05:58p | 10:03 | 07:38p | 06:15a | Rise | 05:36a | 15% | |
| Thu | 7 | 07:53a | 06:00p | 10:06 | 07:39p | 06:14a | Rise | 06:22a | 7% | |
| Fri | 8 | 07:52a | 06:01p | 10:09 | 07:40p | 06:13a | Rise | 07:01a | 2% | |
| Sat | 9 | 07:50a | 06:03p | 10:12 | 07:41p | 06:12a | Rise | 07:36a | 0% | |
| Sun | 10 | 07:49a | 06:04p | 10:15 | 07:43p | 06:11a | New | Set | 06:58p | 1% |
| Mon | 11 | 07:48a | 06:05p | 10:17 | 07:44p | 06:09a | Set | 08:09p | 4% | |
| Tue | 12 | 07:46a | 06:07p | 10:20 | 07:45p | 06:08a | Set | 09:17p | 9% | |
| Wed | 13 | 07:45a | 06:08p | 10:23 | 07:46p | 06:07a | Set | 10:23p | 16% | |
| Thu | 14 | 07:43a | 06:10p | 10:26 | 07:48p | 06:05a | Set | 11:27p | 24% | |
| Fri | 15 | 07:42a | 06:11p | 10:29 | 07:49p | 06:04a | Set | 12:29a | 33% | |
| Sat | 16 | 07:40a | 06:12p | 10:32 | 07:50p | 06:03a | Set | 01:28a | 42% | |
| Sun | 17 | 07:39a | 06:14p | 10:35 | 07:51p | 06:01a | F Qtr | Set | 02:23a | 51% |
| Mon | 18 | 07:37a | 06:15p | 10:38 | 07:53p | 06:00a | Set | 03:15a | 61% | |
| Tue | 19 | 07:36a | 06:17p | 10:41 | 07:54p | 05:58a | Set | 04:01a | 70% | |
| Wed | 20 | 07:34a | 06:18p | 10:43 | 07:55p | 05:57a | Set | 04:43a | 78% | |
| Thu | 21 | 07:32a | 06:19p | 10:46 | 07:57p | 05:55a | Set | 05:21a | 85% | |
| Fri | 22 | 07:31a | 06:21p | 10:49 | 07:58p | 05:54a | Set | 05:55a | 91% | |
| Sat | 23 | 07:29a | 06:22p | 10:52 | 07:59p | 05:52a | Set | 06:26a | 96% | |
| Sun | 24 | 07:27a | 06:23p | 10:55 | 08:01p | 05:51a | Set | 06:54a | 99% | |
| Mon | 25 | 07:26a | 06:25p | 10:58 | 08:02p | 05:49a | Full | Rise | 06:40p | 100% |
| Tue | 26 | 07:24a | 06:26p | 11:02 | 08:03p | 05:47a | Rise | 07:47p | 98% | |
| Wed | 27 | 07:22a | 06:27p | 11:05 | 08:04p | 05:46a | Rise | 08:56p | 95% | |
| Thu | 28 | 07:21a | 06:29p | 11:08 | 08:06p | 05:44a | Rise | 10:06p | 89% | |
| * Astronomical Twilight | ||||||||||
| ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise | ||||||||||
01/31/2012 – Ephemeris – February preview
Ephemeris for Tuesday, January 31st. The sun will rise at 8:02. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 5:49. The moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 2:50 tomorrow morning.
Let’s preview the month of February. It will be a day longer this year because it’s a leap year, the adjustment to keep the calendar in sync with the seasons. The daylight hours throughout February will be getting longer. Daylight hours will increase from 9 hours and 48 minutes tomorrow to 11 hours and 8 minutes on the 29th. The altitude of the sun at noon will increase from 28 degrees tomorrow to nearly 38 degrees at month’s end. The straits area will see the sun a degree lower. Local noon, by the way for Interlochen and Traverse City is about 12:55 p.m, which is mainly due to the fact that our standard time meridian happens to run through Philadelphia and the sun is currently running 12 minutes slow.
* Times, as always are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.
Addendum
Sunrise planets at 5 day intervals for February 2012
Click on the image to animate.
Sunset planets at 5 day intervals for February 2012
Click on the image to animate.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 