Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Thursday, April 19th.  The sun rises at 6:50.  It’ll be up for 13 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 8:32.   The moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 6:13 tomorrow morning.

The constellation of Leo the lion is seen in the south at 10 p.m.   Mars lies on its underside just left of Leo’s brightest star Regulus.  Regulus lies at the bottom of a backwards question mark of stars that are his head and mane.  To the left beyond Mars is a triangle of stars that are his haunches.  As the lion is the kink of beasts it is fitting that its brightest star Regulus means “Little King Star”.  It was thought in ancient Egypt that the heat of summer, when the sun was in Leo drove the lions to drink the waters of the Nile.  The lion was also the symbol of the Israelite tribe of Judah, from Jacob’s prophesy in Genesis, and may have played a part in the origin of the Star of Bethlehem.  One Egyptian philosopher thought the sun was in Leo at the creation of the world.

* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Leo and Mars at 10 p.m. on April 19, 2012 Created using Stellarium.