Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Memorial Day, Monday, May 28th.  Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 14 minutes, setting at 9:17.   The moon, at first quarter today, will set at 2:10 tomorrow morning.  Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:01.

Memorial day is a day of remembrance for those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.  When astronomers name craters or other features on planets or moons, they are names of those who have gone before.  For instance craters near the moon’s north and south poles are named for explorers of the corresponding earthly pole.  The Challenger astronauts have craters named for them in the moon system of Uranus, from discovery pictures relayed to the earth by Voyager 2 a few days before the Challenger accident.  The Mars Rover Spirit is itself a silent sentinel in the Columbia Hills on Mars, its features named for the Columbia astronauts who died 11 months before Spirit landed.

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