Archive
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.
10/15/2015 – Ephemeris – More planet and Moon action
Ephemeris for Thursday, October 15th. The Sun will rise at 7:57. It’ll be up for 11 hours and one minute, setting at 6:58. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 8:41 this evening.
Tonight the planet Saturn will be seen about 15 moon-diameters left of the thin crescent Moon. We are getting close to the end of Saturn’s evening visibility. It will be pretty much lost in the evening twilight by the end of the month. In the morning sky, Mercury will be at greatest elongation by tomorrow morning. It will be at an angle of only 18 degrees from the Sun, however that angle won’t diminish much over the next week, and Mercury will actually get a bit brighter because its phase becomes fuller. Remember it is illuminated by the sun and it is beginning to move around the back of the Sun. Both Mercury and Venus show phases in a telescope like the Moon as they move around the sun.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Animation rocking back and forth between 7:45 p.m. on October 15th and 16th (2015_. Created using Stellarium.
10/14/2015 – Ephemeris – The planet get together in the morning
Ephemeris for Wednesday, October 14th. The Sun will rise at 7:56. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 7:00. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 8:06 this evening.
Lets see what’s happening with the bright planets. Saturn is alone in the evening sky spotted by 8 p.m. low in the west-southwestern sky near the bright star Antares to its left. Antares has a reddish hue, while Saturn is brighter and yellowish. Both these colors are enhanced by being low to the horizon. Saturn will set at 8:56 p.m. The rest of the planets are in the morning sky and seeing more action. Brilliant Venus, the morning star, will rise at 4 a.m. a bit north of east. Below and left of Venus is bright Jupiter, though not as bright as Venus. Above it tomorrow is dim Mars. They will pass each other on Saturday. Jupiter will rise at 4:37 preceded by 7 minutes by Mars. Mercury is way below these, but brightening. It will rise at 6:20.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Saturn and Antares appear in west-southwestern twilight with the thin crescent Moon, shown twice its actual size to show up at all, at 7:45 p.m., October 14, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
The morning planets getting together at 7 a.m. Mercury will be falling back toward the Sun after tomorrow. Created using Stellarium.
Apparent sizes of the morning planets Venus, Mars and Jupiter as seen through a telescope. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for October 14, 2015 showing the location of the planets and the Moon at that time. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on the image to enlarge.
10/09/2015 – Ephemeris – The Moon is seen with the morning planets this weekend
Ephemeris for Friday, October 9th. The Sun will rise at 7:50. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 18 minutes, setting at 7:09. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 5:31 tomorrow morning.
This morning up to about 7:15 look to the east at the crescent Moon and the planets. The Moon is between Venus above and Jupiter just below and to the left. Mars will be a bit above and just left of the Moon. Mercury will be farther below the moon to the left and about 22 degrees below the Moon (that’s about twice the width of a fist held at arm’s length.) By Sunday morning the thin sliver of the Moor will be near Mercury with the tiny planet just above left of the Moon. Next Thursday the 15th, Mercury will climb to its greatest angular distance or elongation west of the Sun. It will be getting a bit brighter for a while because even though it’s moving away from us, its phase will be getting fuller. Remember it’s illuminated by the sun.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Morning planet animation for 7 a.m. October 8 to 11, 2015. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
09/16/2015 – Ephemeris – Looking for Saturn in the evening and Venus, Mars and Jupiter in the morning
Ephemeris for Wednesday, September 16th. The Sun will rise at 7:22. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 7:52. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 9:32 this evening.
Lets look for the bright planets for this week. Saturn is alone in the evening sky spotted by 9 p.m. low in the southwestern sky near the bright star Antares to its left. Antares has a reddish hue, while Saturn is brighter and yellowish. Both these colors are enhanced by being low to the horizon. Saturn will set at 10:39 p.m. The rest of the planet action has moved to the morning sky. Venus, the morning star, will rise at 4:42 a.m. a bit north of east. Much dimmer Mars will rise at 4:48 a.m. in the east-northeast. Jupiter is beginning to be visible in the morning sky and will rise at 5:57, almost an hour before the Sun. Mercury, though in the evening sky, sets too soon after the Sun to be visible.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Saturn and the Moon with the Sagittarius teapot pouring its tea on the tail of Scorpius at 9 p.m. September 16, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
The moon as it might be seen in binoculars at 9 p.m. September 16, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
What Saturn and its moons might appear like in a telescope at 9 p.m., September 16, 2015. Small telescopes will show only the moon Titan. Created using Stellarium.
Venus, Mars and Jupiter with the star Regulus in morning twilight at 6:30 a.m. September 17, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
Venus through a telescope – September 17, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for September 16, 2015 showing the location of the planets and the Moon at that time. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on the image to enlarge.
09/09/2015 – Ephemeris – Saturn is in the evening sky but the planet action is moving to the morning
Ephemeris for Wednesday, September 9th. The Sun will rise at 7:14. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 8:05. The Moon, half way from last quarter to new, will rise at 4:42 tomorrow morning.
Lets look for the bright planets for this week. Saturn is alone in the evening sky spotted low in the southwestern sky near the bright star Antares to its left. It will set at 11:06 p.m. The rest of the planet action has moved to the morning sky. Venus, the morning star, will rise at 4:42 a.m. a bit north of east. Tomorrow morning the thin crescent Moon will appear just to the left of it. Much dimmer Mars will be to the left of the Moon, and will rise at 4:52 a.m. in the east-northeast. Mars will rapidly fall behind Venus. Jupiter is beginning to be visible in the morning sky and will rise at 6:16, almost an hour before the Sun. Mercury, though in the evening sky sets too soon after the Sun to be visible. Jupiter is too close to the Sun on thee morning side to be seen.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Saturn with the Zodiacal constellations of Libra, Scorpius and Sagittarius as the Teapot at 9:30 p.m. September 9, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
What Saturn and its moons might appear like in a telescope at 9:30 p.m., September 9, 2015. Small telescopes will show only the moon Titan. Created using Stellarium.
Looking east at Venus, the Moon and Mars at 6 a.m. September 10, 2015. Created using Stellarium.
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for September 9, 2015 showing the location of the planets and the Moon at that time. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on the image to enlarge.
