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01/20/2016 – Ephemeris – The planet action is in the morning sky
Update: This is the proper text for today
Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 20th. The Sun will rise at 8:13. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 5:34. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 5:51 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. All the classical planets visible from antiquity are now in the morning sky. However Mercury is too close to the Sun, and may remain too low in the sky to spot when it’s farther from the Sun. Jupiter will be the first to rise, actually at 10 p.m., in the east. It’s still a morning planet since it’s not up at sunset. Mars will rise next at 2:03 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s below and left of the bright star Spica. Saturn will rise at 4:55 a.m. in the east-southeast. Venus will rise at 6 a.m. again in the east-southeast. Comet Catalina is a binocular object between the bowls of the Big and Little Dippers. It’s heading across the tail of Draco the dragon.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Here of the morning planets. From right to left, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and Venus. Time: 6:30 a.m., January 21, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its 4 Galilean moons at 6:30 a.m., January 21, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn and its moons at a greater magnification as for Jupiter above at 6:30 a.m., January 21, 2016. Small telescopes will show only the moon Titan. Created using Stellarium.
Comet Catalina’s path for the next week. Note the magnitudes for the comet are about correct. It will take binoculars or a small telescope to spot the comet which will not show a tail visually. Created using Stellarium.
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for January 20, 2016 showing the location of the planets, the Moon and Comet Catalina at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
The top and bottom images above are shown smaller than actual size. Image expansion lately hasn’t worked. If you are using Firefox, right-click on the image, and then click on View Image.
01/14/2016 – Ephemeris – Mercury joins the rest of the bright morning planets
Ephemeris for Thursday, January 14th. The Sun will rise at 8:17. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 5:26. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 11:08 this evening.
After 9:03 this morning all the bright planets, known from antiquity, will be in the morning sky. To be a morning planet one must be in the sky at sunrise. And even though Jupiter rises before midnight, it is still in the sky at sunrise. It will leave the morning sky and enter the evening sky February 6th when it moves in opposition with the Sun and rises at sunset. Mercury is joining the morning planets by passing inferior conjunction with the Sun this morning, however this is not a good time of year to spot it in the morning. In the later part of February, we may have a shot at spotting it. However folks in the southern hemisphere will have better luck at spotting it, because it too is in the southern part of the sky.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) LASCO C3 coronograph animated GIF of a three day period 1/10 to 1/13/2016 image of the Sun. Mercury will enter the picture above center on the left on 1/11. Mercury is not very bright due to the fact that the Sun is illuminating it on the other side. We’re seeing mostly the unlit side. Credit ESA/NASA.
01/13/2016 – Ephemeris – Four bright planets are in the morning sky but one more is hiding
Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 13th. The Sun will rise at 8:17. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 7 minutes, setting at 5:25. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 9:57 this evening.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. Mercury is now only one day from inferior conjunction, passing between the Earth and the Sun. The next inferior conjunction after this, May 9th Mercury will pass across the face of the Sun. In the morning sky there are four bright planets. Jupiter will be the first to rise, actually at 10:28 p.m., in the east. Mars will rise next at 2:11 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s left of the bright star Spica. Saturn will rise at 5:19 a.m. Venus will rise at 5:47 a.m. again in the east-southeast, following Saturn. Comet Catalina is a binocular object near the star at the end of the handle of the Big Dipper named Alkaid. It’s heading to go between the Big and Little Dippers this week.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Here of the morning planets. From right to left, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and Venus. Time: 6:30 a.m., January 14, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its 4 Galilean moons at 6:30 a.m., January 14, 2016. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Saturn and its moons through a telescope at 6:30 a.m., January 14, 2016. Small telescopes will show only the moon Titan. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Comet Catalina’s path for the next week. Note the magnitudes for the comet are about correct. It will take binoculars or a small telescope to spot the comet which will not show a tail visually. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for January 13, 2016 showing the location of the planets, the Moon and Comet Catalina at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
Several of the images above are shown smaller than actual size. Image expansion lately hasn’t worked. If you are using Firefox, right-click on the image, and then click on View Image.
01/06/2016 – Ephemeris – The bright planet action is in the morning
Jan 6. This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 6th. The Sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 5:17. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 5:46 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. Mercury is now too close to the Sun in the evening sky, and is only 8 days from inferior conjunction with the Sun. The next inferior conjunction after this, May 9th Mercury will pass in front of the Sun. In the morning sky there are four bright planets. Jupiter will be the first to rise, actually at 10:56 p.m., in the east. Mars will rise next at 2:20 a.m. also in the east-southeast. It’s left of the bright star Spica. Venus will rise at 5:30 a.m. also in the east-southeast. Saturn will rise at 5:47 a.m. following Venus. Comet Catalina is a binocular object about a third of the way from the bright star Arcturus, and the star at the end of the handle of the Big Dipper named Alkaid.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Here of the morning planets. From right to left, Jupiter, Mars and the traffic jam of Venus, Saturn and the Moon. Time: 7 a.m., January 7, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
The planets to, mostly, the same scale of apparent sizes. Venus is the size of the small gibbous center of the overexposed glow. Mars is smaller than it’s image, about half the size of Venus. Created using Stellarium.
Comet Catalina’s path for the next week. Note the magnitudes for the comet are about 1 magnitude too bright. It will take binoculars or a small telescope to spot the comet which will not show a tail visually. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for January 6, 2016 showing the location of the planets, the Moon and Comet Catalina at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
Several of the images above are shown smaller than actual size. Image expansion lately hasn’t worked. If you are using Firefox, right-click on the image, and then click on View Image.
12/30/2015 – Ephemeris – Last look at the bright planets for this year
Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 30th. The Sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 5:10. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:58 this evening.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. Mercury moved to its greatest separation from the Sun Monday night. It will be visible very low in the southwest before it sets at 6:42 p.m. in the west-southwest. In the morning sky there are four bright planets. Jupiter will be the first to rise, actually at 11:23 p.m., in the east. Tomorrow it will be just left of the Moon. Mars will rise next at 2:27 a.m. also in the east. It’s left of the bright star Spica. Venus will rise at 5:11 a.m. in the east-southeast. Saturn will rise at 6:10 a.m. in the east-southeast. Comet Catalina is a binocular object just below the bright star Arcturus, which is pointed to by the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mercury at 6 p.m., 50 minutes after sunset, December 30, 2015. It may be visible as early as 5:30. Binoculars will help. Created using Stellarium.
The morning planets, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Saturn, plus Comet Catalina at 7 a.m. December 31, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and the Moon tomorrow morning December 31, 2015 at 7 a.m. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic view of Jupiter at 7 a.m. December 31, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic view of Venus at 7 a.m. December 31, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic view of Saturn at 7 a.m. December 31, 2015. The satellites would be pretty much invisible except for Titan with Saturn low in the sky in twilight. Created using Stellarium.
The three planet telescopic views are shown to the same scale, that is seen with the same magnification.
Comet Catalina’s path for the next week. Note the magnitudes for the comet are about 1 magnitude too bright. It will take binoculars or a small telescope to spot the comet which will not show a tail visually. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts)..
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for December 30, 2015 showing the location of the planets, the Moon and Comet Catalina at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
Several of the images above are shown smaller than actual size. Image expansion lately hasn’t worked. If you are using Firefox, right-click on the image, and then click on View Image.
12/28/2015 – Ephemeris – Mercury is at its greatest penetration into the evening tonight
Ephemeris for Monday, December 28th. The Sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:09. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 8:57 this evening.
Later this evening the tiny planet Mercury will appear at its greatest separation from the Sun. This is a little early to be viewing Mercury in the evening. Generally the best time to be able to view Mercury, when it’s east of the Sun, in the evening is from late winter into spring. Mercury’s event is called its greatest eastern elongation from the Sun. The sky may be dark enough in the west to start looking for Mercury 20 minutes after sunset. That’s about 5:30 when Mercury will be 9 degrees above the true horizon and due southwest. For the next half hour Mercury will drop to 5 degrees altitude, but the skies will be darker. Mercury will set at 6:38, and you will lose it before that. Mercury has always been a difficult planet to view from the Earth.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mercury at greatest eastern elongation (19.7 degrees) from the Sun. 6 p.m. December 28, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
12/23/2015 – Ephemeris – Only Mercury is making a stand in the evening sky
Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 23rd. The Sun will rise at 8:17. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:05. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 7:04 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. Mercury is becoming marginally visible very low in the southwest before it sets at 6:24 p.m. in the west-southwest. In the morning sky there are four bright planets. Jupiter will be the first to rise, actually at 11:49 p.m., in the east. Mars will rise next at 2:33 a.m. also in the east, Venus will rise at 5 a.m. in the east-southeast. Even as Venus and Jupiter separate Mars still lies almost halfway between the two. Don’t confuse Mars with the star Spica which is brighter and below right of it. Saturn will rise at 6:30 a.m. in the east-southeast. Comet Catalina is a binocular object about three widths of a fist held at arm’s length directly above Venus at 6 a.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mercury at 6 p.m., 55 minutes after sunset, December 23, 2015. It may be visible as early as 5:30. Binoculars will help. Created using Stellarium.
The morning planets, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Saturn, plus Comet Catalina at 7 a.m. December 24, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic view of Jupiter at 7 a.m. December 24, 2015. Note Europa is in transit of Jupiter at that time and would pretty much be invisible. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic view of Venus at 7 a.m. December 24, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
Telescopic view of Saturn at 7 a.m. December 24, 2015. The satellites would be pretty much invisible in the twilight. Created using Stellarium.
Note that the planets shown as they would be seen in telescopes at the same magnification.
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for December 23, 2015 showing the location of the planets and the Moon at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
A note on enlarging the pictures: Apparently WordPress is not able to enlarge pictures by clicking on them. However if you are using Firefox and you right-click on an image, select View Image to show the image up to full size.
11/18/2015 – Ephemeris – The planet action is in the morning
Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 18th. The Sun will rise at 7:43. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 28 minutes, setting at 5:12. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 11:57 this evening.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. Saturn is about to depart the evening sky. It’s too close to the direction of the Sun to spot. Mercury passed behind the Sun yesterday and is entering the evening sky. In the morning sky there are three bright planets. Jupiter will be the first to rise, at 1:50 a.m. in the east-northeast. Mars will rise next at 3:04 a.m. in the east, followed by Venus at 3:45 a.m. also in the east. Mars lies in line between Venus below and Jupiter above, a bit more than a third the way from Venus to Jupiter. These three planets will continue to pull apart. Nearly in line with the planets are the bright stars Regulus to the upper right and Spica to the lower left.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mercury passed behind the Sun in a superior conjunction yesterday the 17th. The Sun actually occulted Mercury, though that couldn’t be seen. Below is a SOHO LASCO C2 coronagraph GIF animation from the 14th to the 17th showing Mercury entering on the right and disappearing behind the disk that hides the Sun’s photosphere. The white circle in the center shows the position and size of the Sun. The plane of Mercury’s orbit crosses the plane of the Earth’s orbit where the Earth is in early November and again 6 months later in early May. It happens that next May 9th Mercury will pass in front of the Sun, an event called a transit, that will be visible here. It will start at 7:13 a.m. (11:13 UT) and end at 2:44 p.m. (18:44 UT). Transits of Mercury are not as spectacular or as rare as those of Venus. I’ll have more on the transit when the date draws close.
A GIF animation from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory LASCO C2 coronagraph for November 14th to the 17th. Mercury will enter from the right. Credit ESA/NASA – LASCO/NRL SOHO team.
Jupiter, Mars and Venus appear in the southeast at 6 a.m., November 19, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons in a telescope at 6 a.m., November 19, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
Venus as seen in a telescope at 6 a.m. November 19, 2015. This is at the same scale as the Jupiter image above. Created using Stellarium.
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for November 18, 2015 showing the location of the planets and the Moon at that time. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on the image to enlarge.
11/12/2015 – Ephemeris – The North Taurid meteor shower
Ephemeris for Thursday, November 12th. The Sun will rise at 7:35. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 5:18. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 6:19 this evening.
Today is the expected peak of the Northern Taurid meteor shower. While poor in numbers, the two Taurid showers produce many fireballs, that are really, really bright. So bright they are not hindered by a bright moon. They will be visible all night because the radiant, near the head of Taurus the bull will rise in the east by the end of twilight. The radiant is below the Pleiades star cluster and just above the letter V group of stars that is the head of the bull. The path of Encke’s comet, which is responsible, crosses near the Earth’s orbit twice a year. Now and where the Earth is on June 30th. Those meteors then would seem to come from out of the Sun, leaving some to speculate that the Tunguska event in 1908 was caused by a piece of Encke’s Comet.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Taurid Radiant
It turns out that Earth isn’t the only planet to have a meteor shower from Encke’s Comet. It happens to be Mercury. Dave Dickinson has a post on Universe Today pointing to an announcement of data returned from the MESSENGER spacecraft that orbited Mercury at the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society (#DPS15) meeting this week.
10/21/2015 – Ephemeris – The bright planets and an anniversary star party
Update 5:05 p.m.:
The star party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes has been canceled due to clouds.
Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 21st. The Sun will rise at 8:05. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 6:48. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 2:00 tomorrow morning.
We’ve got a busy day. The planet Saturn will be low in the west-southwest after sunset and will set at 8:31 p.m. In the morning sky the brilliant planet Venus will rise at 4:05 and be quite high at this program’s air time. Jupiter will be just below and left of it. Mars will be below and left of Jupiter by a similar amount. Both rise within 20 minutes of Venus. Far below and left will be Mercury which will rise at 6:38. Tonight is the last star party of the year at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. This is the lakeshore’s 45th anniversary. It will held starting at 8 p.m. at Pierce Stocking Drive Stop #3 the Dunes Overlook if it’s clear, Park at Picnic Mountain. The Moon will be the big attraction tonight. The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society has been holding star parties at the Sleeping Bear Dunes since the park’s 40th anniversary in 2010.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Saturn and the Moon (at twice normal size) at 7:30 p.m. October 21, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
The telescopic Moon tonight, October 21, 2015, for the star party at Sleeping Bear Dunes. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas.
The morning planets at 7 a.m., October 22, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for October 21, 2015 showing the location of the planets and the Moon at that time. The charts are rotated 90 degrees to more clearly show the traffic jam of the morning planets. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on the image to enlarge.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 