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06/30/2016 – Ephemeris – Previewing July’s skies
Ephemeris for Thursday, June 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 31 minutes, setting at 9:32, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:01. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:49 tomorrow morning.
Lets preview July’s skies. The sun, having reached its northern solstice, is beginning to slide southward again, at first imperceptibly, then with greater speed. The daylight hours will decrease from 15 hours and 30 minutes tomorrow to 14 hours 40 minutes at month’s end. The daylight hours will be slightly shorter south of Interlochen, and slightly longer to the north. The altitude of the sun at local noon, when the sun is due south will decrease from 68 degrees tomorrow to 63 degrees at month’s end. Despite the warmth, the earth will reach its greatest distance from the Sun on Monday the 4th where the fireworks will begin in earnest when the Juno spacecraft lights its rocket engine to enter orbit Jupiter.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
July Star Chart
Star Chart for July 2016. Created using my LookingUp program. To enlarge in Firefox right-click on image then click View image.
Star Chart for July 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 11 p.m. EDT. That is chart time. Note, Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian.) To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1:45 earlier than the current time if you are near your time meridian.
Evening nautical twilight ends at 10:57 p.m. EDT on the 1st, increasing to 10:24 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 4:35 a.m. EDT on the 1st, and decreasing to 5:2 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Add a half hour to the chart time every week before the 15th and subtract a half hour for every week after the 15th. Before the 13th also subtract an hour for Standard Time.
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
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus
- Extend the arc to a spike to point to Spica.
- The Summer Triangle is outlined in red. Vega in Lyra (Lyr), Deneb in Cygnus (Cyg) and Altair in Aquila (Aql).
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 Time Event Jul 01 Fr Venus: 6.8° E 01 Fr 2:45 a.m. Moon Perigee: 366000 km 01 Fr 11:58 p.m. Moon-Aldebaran: 0.4° S 03 Su 4:06 p.m. Moon North Dec.: 18.6° N 04 Mo 7:01 a.m. New Moon 04 Mo 11:59 a.m. Aphelion: 1.0168 AU 06 We 11:12 p.m. Mercury Superior Conj. 07 Th 7:33 p.m. Moon-Regulus: 1.9° N 08 Fr 9:42 p.m. Moon Ascending Node 09 Sa 6:08 a.m. Moon-Jupiter: 0.9° N 11 Mo 8:52 p.m. First Quarter 13 We 1:24 a.m. Moon Apogee: 404300 km 16 Sa 1:11 a.m. Moon-Saturn: 3.8° S 17 Su 11:41 p.m. Moon South Dec.: 18.6° S 19 Tu 6:57 p.m. Full Moon 23 Sa 3:49 a.m. Moon Descending Node 26 Tu 7:00 p.m. Last Quarter 27 We 7:25 a.m. Moon Perigee: 369700 km 27 We 4:32 p.m. Delta Aquarid Shower: ZHR = 20 29 Fr 6:53 a.m. Moon-Aldebaran: 0.3° S 30 Sa 11:55 a.m. Mercury-Regulus: 0.3° N 31 Su 12:52 a.m. Moon North Dec.: 18.5° N Aug 01 Mo Venus: 15.3° E
07/02/2015 -Ephemeris – A belated preview of July’s skies
Ephemeris for Thursday, July 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 9:31. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 9:48 this evening and tomorrow the Sun will rise at 6:02.
Lets preview July’s skies a day late. Sorry, it’s been a busy week.. The sun, having reached its northern solstice, is beginning to slide southward again, at first imperceptibly, then with greater speed. The daylight hours will decrease from 15 hours and 30 minutes Today to 14 hours 44 minutes at month’s end. The daylight hours will be slightly shorter south of Interlochen, and slightly longer to the north. The altitude of the sun at local noon, when the sun is due south will decrease from 68 degrees Now to 63 degrees at month’s end. The sun will be a degree lower in the Straits area. Despite the warmth, the earth will reach its greatest distance from the sun on Monday the 6th. The range of the earth’s distance from the sun is 3 million out of 93 million miles.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Star Chart for July 2015. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The Moon is not plotted.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 11 p.m. EDT. That is chart time. Note, Traverse City is located 1 hour 45 minutes behind our time meridian. To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Evening Astronomical twilight ends at midnight. EDT on July 1st, decreasing to 11:14 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 3:32 a.m. EDT on July 1st, and increasing to 4:42 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
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.
The green pointer from the Big Dipper is:
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Drill a hole in the bowl of the Big Dipper and the water will drip on the back of Leo the Lion.
- Follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle to Arcturus
- Continue with a spike to Spica
- The Summer Triangle is shown in red
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 Daylight Time on a 24 hour clock. Some additions made to aid clarity.
Conjunctions like the Moon-Jupiter: 4.5° N means Jupiter will appear 4.5° north of the Moon.
Date Local Event
Time
Jul 01 We 02:48 Moon South Dec.: 18.4° S
01 We Venus: 42.4° E
01 We 22:20 Full Moon
05 Su 14:54 Moon Perigee: 367100 km
06 Mo 08:59 Aphelion: 1.0167 AU
07 Tu 20:07 Moon Descending Node
08 We 16:24 Last Quarter
12 Su 13:55 Moon-Aldebaran: 0.9° S
14 Tu 00:24 Moon North Dec.: 18.4° N
14 Tu 17:35 Venus-Regulus: 2.3° S
15 We 21:24 New Moon
18 Sa 13:34 Moon-Jupiter: 4.5° N
18 Sa 21:06 Moon-Venus: 0.5° N
21 Tu 07:02 Moon Apogee: 404800 km
21 Tu 15:32 Moon Ascending Node
23 Th 15:18 Mercury Superior Conjunction with the Sun
24 Fr 00:04 First Quarter
26 Su 04:43 Moon-Saturn: 2.4° S
28 Tu 10:23 Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower: ZHR* = 20
28 Tu 13:34 Moon South Dec.: 18.3° S
31 Fr 06:43 Full Moon
Aug 01 Sa Venus: 21.5° E
*ZHR – Zenithal Hourly Rate: Approximate number of meteors per hour when the shower radiant is at the zenith. For more information on this and other meteor showers in 2015 see the International Meteor Organization website calendar section: http://www.imo.net/calendar.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 