Archive
05/13/2020 – Ephemeris – Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 9:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:15. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 3:08 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week. Venus is our evening star shining brightly in the west. It will be our evening star for only the next 3 weeks. A tiny crescent can now be seen in binoculars. It will cross between the Earth and the Sun on June 3rd. It will set at 11:43 p.m. It’s only 33 million miles (53 million km) away. In the morning sky there are three planets fairly close together in the south-southeast with the Moon among them tomorrow morning. Bright Jupiter will rise first at 1:35 a.m. Followed by Saturn at 1:50 a.m. Mars, is stretching its lead left of Saturn and will rise at 3:14 a.m. Mars is getting closer to us all the time now, until it closest to us in October of this year.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus in evening twilight and bright evening stars tonight at 10 p.m. May 13, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Morning planets and the Moon in twilight at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, May 14, 2020. The Moon is shown at three times its actual size. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon as it might be seen in binoculars at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow May 14, 2020. Created using Stellarium.
The planets as seen in a telescope with the same magnification. Venus, Jupiter and Saturn on the night of May 13/14, 2020. Apparent diameters: Venus, 47.88″. larger than Jupiter, at 42.46″; Saturn, 17.32″, rings, 40.35″. Mars at 8.28″ won’t be added until it reaches 10″. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on May 13, 2020. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 14th. The closeness of Jupiter and Saturn in the morning sky unfortunately overlays planets and labels. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
05/06/2020 – Ephemeris – Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 8:54, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:23. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 6:46 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week. Venus is our evening star shining brightly in the west. It will set at 12:10 a.m. It’s closing in on the Sun in our sky, by approaching the Earth at only 37 million miles (59 million km) away. In the morning sky there are three planets fairly close together in the south-southeast. Bright Jupiter will rise first at 2:02 a.m. Followed by Saturn at 2:17 a.m. Mars, stretching its lead left of Saturn, will rise at 3:31 a.m. Mars is now down to 110 million miles (177 million km) away, as the Earth slowly overtakes it at the rate of about 4 million miles (7 million km) a week. Mars will be closest to us in October at 38 and a half million miles away. That’s only 3 million miles (5 million km) further than it was 2 years ago.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus, the Moon and bright evening stars tonight at 10 p.m. May 6, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The nearly full Moon as it might be seen in binoculars at 10 p.m. tonight May 6, 2020. Created using Stellarium.
Morning planets in twilight at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, May 7, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The planets as seen in a telescope with the same magnification. Venus in the evening and Jupiter and Saturn in the morning on the night of May 6/7, 2020. Apparent diameters: Venus, 42.88″. larger than Jupiter, at 41.54″; Saturn, 17.12″, rings, 39.89″. Mars at 7.92″ won’t be added until it reaches 10″. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on May 6, 2020. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 7th. The closeness of Jupiter and Saturn in the morning sky unfortunately overlays planets and labels. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
04/29/2020 – Ephemeris – Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 8:45, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:33. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 3:07 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week. Venus is our evening star shining brightly in the west. It will set at 12:29 a.m. It’s a couple of days past its greatest brilliancy, and only 41 million miles away. In the morning sky there are three planets fairly close together in the south-southeast. Bright Jupiter will rise first at 2:29 a.m. Followed by Saturn at 2:44 a.m. Mars, stretching its lead left of Saturn, will rise an hour after Saturn. It’s now down to 114 million miles (184 million km) away, as the Earth slowly overtakes it at the rate of about 5 million miles (8 million km) a week. Mars will be closest to us in October. It’s not as close as it was 2 years ago, but closer than it will get for the next 15 years.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus and the fat crescent Moon tonight at 10 p.m. April 29, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon as it might appear in binoculars tonight April 29, 2020. Created using Stellarium,
Morning planets in twilight at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, April 30, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The planets as seen in a telescope with the same magnification. Venus in the evening and Jupiter and Saturn in the morning on the night of April 29/30, 2020. Apparent diameters: Venus, 40.58″; Jupiter, 40.62″; Saturn, 16.92″, rings, 39.42″. Mars at 7.59″ won’t be added until it reaches 10″. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on April 29, 2020. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 30th. The closeness of Jupiter and Saturn in the morning sky unfortunately overlays planets and labels. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
04/22/2020 – Ephemeris – Our weekly look at the naked-eye planets
This is Ephemeris for Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 8:37, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:44. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week. Venus is our evening star shining brightly in the west. It will set at 12:35 a.m. The rest of the planet action is in the morning sky where there are three planets fairly close together in the south-southeast. Bright Jupiter will rise first at 2:55 a.m. Followed by Saturn at 3:11 a.m. Mars, stretching its lead left of Saturn, will rise at 4 a.m. It’s now down to 120 million miles (193 million km) away, as the Earth slowly overtakes it at the rate of about 5 million miles (8 million km) a week. Mars will be closest to us in October at about 39 million miles (62 million km). That’s not as close as it was 2 years ago, but closer than it will get for the next 15 years.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus in the west-northwest at 10 p.m. tonight, April 22, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The Morning planets and the southern summer stars at 6 a.m. tomorrow April 23, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The planets as seen in a telescope with the same magnification. Venus in the evening and Jupiter and Saturn in the morning on the night of April 22/23, 2020. Apparent diameters: Venus, 34.36″; Jupiter, 39.72″; Saturn, 16.73″, rings, 38.96″. Mars at 7.28″ won’t be added until it reaches 10″. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on April 22, 2020. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 23rd. The closeness of Jupiter and Saturn in the morning sky unfortunately overlays planets and labels. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
04/15/2020 – Ephemeris – Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 15th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 8:28, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:55. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 4:34 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week. Venus is our evening star shining brightly in the west above the Pleiades. It will set at 12:37 a.m. The rest of the planet action is in the morning sky where there are three planets nearly evenly spread out in the southeast. Bright Jupiter will rise first at 3:21 a.m. Followed by Saturn at 3:38 a.m. Mars, left of Saturn and nearest to the Moon tomorrow morning, will rise at 4:14 a.m. It’s now down to 125 million (201 million km) miles away, as the Earth slowly overtakes it at the rate of about 5 million miles (8 million km) a week. Mars will be closest to us in October at about 39 million miles (62 million km). Not quite as close as it was 2 years ago, but closer than it will get for the next 15 years.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus in twilight at 9 p.m. tonight April 15, 2020, a half hour or so after sunset. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The Morning planets and the Moon at 6 a.m. tomorrow April 16, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The crescent Moon as it might be seen in binoculars at 6 a.m. tomorrow April 16, 2020. Created using Stellarium.
The planets as seen in a telescope with the same magnification. Venus in the evening and Jupiter and Saturn in the morning on the night of April 15/16, 2020. Apparent diameters: Venus, 31.01″; Jupiter, 38.84″; Saturn, 16.53″, rings, 38.51″. Mars at 6.99″ won’t be added until it reaches 10″. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on April 15, 2020. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 16th. The planet traffic jam in the morning sky unfortunately overlays planets and labels. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
04/14/2020 – Ephemeris – The Moon will be hanging out with the morning planets tomorrow
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 14th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 28 minutes, setting at 8:27, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:57. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 3:56 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow morning the Moon will be in the midst of passing the three morning planets, from right to left: Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Specifically, the last quarter Moon will be below Saturn at 6 a.m. Mars is traveling east rapidly. Its rise times decrease by only two minutes a day compared to the 4 minutes a day for the stars, so it won’t enter the evening sky until October, while Jupiter and Saturn will enter the evening sky in July. A planet is considered to be in the morning sky if it rises after sunset, and in the evening sky if it rises before sunset. Rising in the morning is definitely after sunset. The dividing point is when a superior* planet is at opposition from the Sun when it enters the evening sky, or in conjunction with the Sun when it enters the morning sky.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
* Superior planets have orbits outside the Earth’s orbit: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Addendum
Morning planets and Moon in the south-southeast tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. April 15, 2020. Click on image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
04/08/2020 – Ephemeris – Morning planets are not practicing social distancing
Note: It seems the title is appropriate to our current predicament even though I hadn’t thought about it when I wrote and recorded the radio script that follows last Sunday.
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 8:19, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:08. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 9:16 this evening.
Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week. Venus is our evening star shining brightly in the west above the Pleiades. It will set at 12:33 a.m. The rest of the planet action is in the morning sky where there are three planets nearly evenly spread out in the southeast. Bright Jupiter will rise first at 3:46 a.m. Followed by Saturn at 4:05 a.m. Mars, left and below Saturn will rise at 4:27 a.m. It’s now as bright as a first magnitude star because it’s down to 130 million miles (209 million km) away, as the Earth slowly overtakes it at the rate of about 5 million miles (8 million km) a week. It’s brighter than the star Antares in the southwest. Mars will be closest to us in October, which makes a good time to launch spacecraft to it few months before then.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus in the evening with the setting winter stars including those in Orion and Taurus at 10 p.m. April 8, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon as it might be seen in binoculars at 10 p.m. April 8, 2020. Created using Stellarium.
The morning planets and the southern summer stars in the moonlight at 6 a.m. April 9, 2020. The bright star on the right is Antares. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The planets as seen in a telescope with the same magnification. Venus in the evening and Jupiter and Saturn in the morning on the night of April 8/9, 2020. Apparent diameters: Venus, 28.21″; Jupiter, 38.00″; Saturn, 16.34″, rings, 38.07″. Mars at 6.72″ won’t be added until it reaches 10″. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on April 8, 2020. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 9th. The planet traffic jam in the morning sky unfortunately overlays planets and labels. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
04/01/2020 – Ephemeris – Looking at the naked-eye planets for this week
Ephemeris for April Fools Day, Wednesday, April 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 8:11, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:20. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 4:23 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week. Venus is our evening star shining brightly in the west just below the Pleiades. It will set at 12:26 a.m. The rest of the planet action is in the morning sky where there are three planets close together in the southeast. Bright Jupiter will rise first at 4:11 a.m. Followed by Saturn 4:31 a.m. Mars, left and below Saturn will rise at 4:39 a.m. It’s now as bright as a first magnitude star because it’s down to 135 million miles (217 million km) away, as the Earth slowly overtakes it at the rate of about 5 million miles (8 million km) a week. It’s brighter than the star Antares in the south-southwest. Mars passed Saturn yesterday afternoon moving eastward much faster than Saturn was.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Venus under the Pleiades tonight at 10 p.m. April 1, 2020. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon as it might look like in binoculars this evening April 1, 2020. Created using Stellarium.
Morning planets and the southern stars of summer at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning April 2, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The planets as seen in a telescope with the same magnification. Venus in the evening and Jupiter and Saturn in the morning on the night of April 1/2, 2020. Apparent diameters: Venus, 25.85″; Jupiter, 37.21″; Saturn, 16.16″, rings, 37.65″. Mars at 6.46″ won’t be added until it reaches 10″. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on April 1, 2020. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 2nd. The planet traffic jam in the morning sky unfortunately overlays planets and labels. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
03/25/2020 – Ephemeris – Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week
Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 26 minutes, setting at 8:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:33. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 9:21 this evening.
Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week. Venus is our evening star shining brightly in the west. It will set at 12:14 a.m. The rest of the planet action is in the morning sky where there are three planets close together in the southeast. Bright Jupiter will rise first at 4:35 a.m. Followed by Mars, left and below, rising at 4:50 a.m. It’s now as bright as a first magnitude star because it’s down to 140 million (226 million km) miles away, as the Earth slowly overtakes it at the rate of about 5 million miles (8 million km) a week. It’s brighter than the star Antares in the south-southwest. And lastly, Saturn will rise at 5:01 a.m. Mars is about half way between Jupiter and Saturn. It will pass Saturn next Tuesday.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Day and a half old Moon low over a Lake Michigan horizon tonight at 8:30 p.m. March 25, 2020. The bright edge of the Moon will be a sit brighter, and the earthshine on the night side of the Moon a bit dimmer. Created using Stellarium.
Venus and the setting winter stars tonight at 10 p.m. March 25, 2020. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn, Mars and Jupiter with the southern summer stars at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow March 26, 2020. Mars will pass Saturn on the 31st. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The planets as seen in a telescope with the same magnification. Venus in the evening and Jupiter and Saturn in the morning on the night of March 25/26, 2020. Apparent diameters: Venus, 23.85″; Jupiter, 36.46″; Saturn, 15.99″, rings, 37.26″. Mars at 6.22″ won’t be added until it reaches 10″. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on March 25, 2020. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 26th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
03/19/2020 – Ephemeris – Mars will pass Jupiter tomorrow morning
Ephemeris for Thursday, March 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 7 minutes, setting at 7:54, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:44. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 6:31 tomorrow morning.
Spring will start today, or rather this evening 10 minutes before midnight. But today I’d like to talk about something more immediately visible than the vernal equinox, that is the conjunction of Mars passing Jupiter tomorrow morning. In astronomy a conjunction means that the two planets pass north and south of each other. On Earth we’d say that they had the same longitude. In the sky that would be the same right ascension. The term longitude in the sky is given to measurements along the ecliptic or Sun’s path in the sky, which were more important to ancient astrologers interested more in the motions of the planets, which hung close to the ecliptic. On Earth, measurement of longitude is made from Greenwich Observatory in England, in the sky right ascension is reckoned from the point in the sky where the Sun will be at 11:50 this evening.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The three morning planets in the southeast at 7 a.m. Friday March 20, 2020. Appearing in the southeast means that Mars being south of Jupiter does not mean that it is not directly below Jupiter. See the chart below. Created using Stellarium.
The same chart as above with celestial equatorial coordinates. The lines labeled 19h and 20h near the top are right ascension lines. The lines crossing them are lines of declination which are analogous to latitude on the Earth. Created using Stellarium.
Slightly off topic
Right ascension is measured in hours, minutes and seconds. Because the Earth revolves within the starry sky in 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds, special clocks can be made to run fast by that amount. These are sidereal clocks, and tell sidereal time or star time for one’s location on the Earth, which is the right ascension of the sky or celestial sphere on that’s due south or more properly on the meridian.
The time panel from my LookingUp program showing date, time and the sidereal time that corresponds to it for my location.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 