Archive
04/13/2016 – Ephemeris – What’s up with the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 13th. The Sun will rise at 7:01. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 24 minutes, setting at 8:26. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 3:09 tomorrow morning.
Let’s see what the bright naked eye planets are up to. Mercury is in the west-northwest, very low to the horizon, setting at 10:12 p.m. The next 7 days will be the best time to spot it. Jupiter is in the southeast in the evening, and will pass due south at 11:15 p.m., and will set at 5:48 a.m. It’s below the stars of Leo this year. Binoculars can make out some of Jupiter’s moons, but a telescope is required to see all four bright moons and Jupiter’s cloud features. Mars will rise at 12:08 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s above Scorpius but is actually in western Ophiuchus now. Saturn will rise at 12:38 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s just left of Mars. Its rings are a telescopic treat. Venus will rise at 6:37 a.m. and not really visible in the bright twilight.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mercury at 9 p.m. April 13, 2016. At this time Mercury will be located at 284° azimuth and 11.5° altitude. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter, the Moon and the constellations visible at 10 p.m. April 13, 2016.. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons at 10 p.m. April 13, 2016. Jupiter has an apparent diameter of 42.7″ Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
The Moon as it would appear tonight at 9 p.m. April 13, 2016. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas.
Mars and Saturn with a preview of the summer constellations at 6 a.m., April 14, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn and its moons at 6 a.m., April 14, 2016. Saturn’s apparent diameter is 17.7″ and the rings span 41.3″ Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Mars as seen in a large telescope with high power at 6 a.m., April 14 2016. Mars apparent diameter 13.5″. The central meridian will be 202° Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Mars map – North up.
Planets at Sunrise and Sunset on April 13, 2016. If you are using Firefox right-click on the image and select View Image to enlarge the image.
03/30/2016 – Ephemeris – The planets tonight – corrected to March 31-April 1
Note: I’ve been under the weather (bad cold) and have been sleeping a lot. The times for the planet phenomena in the second paragraph have been adjusted to the night of March 31st – April 1st.
Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 30th. The Sun will rise at 7:26. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 8:08. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 2:51 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets for the nigh of March 31-April 1, 2016. Jupiter is up at sunset, and will pass due south, astronomers call it a transit, at 12:11 a.m., and will set at 6:41 a.m. It’s below the stars of Leo now. Binoculars can make out some of Jupiter’s moons, but a telescope is required to see Jupiter’s cloud formations. Mars will rise next at 12:49 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s seen in western Scorpius now. Saturn will rise at 1:30 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s above the stars of Scorpius, actually in Ophiuchus. Its rings are a telescopic treat. Venus will rise at 6:55 a.m. again in the east-southeast. Mercury is now in the evening sky but is too close to the Sun to be seen, it will be visible after sunset by mid-month.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter and the evening constellations at 10 p.m. March 31, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Mars, Saturn and the Moon with the summer constellations at 6 a.m., April 1, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
03/23/2016 – Ephemeris – Another planet defects from the morning sky
Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 23rd. The Sun will rise at 7:39. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 7:59. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 8:21 this evening.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. Jupiter is up at sunset, and will pass due south, astronomers call it a transit, at 12:45 a.m., and will set at 7:15 a.m. It’s below the stars of Leo now. Binoculars can make out some of Jupiter’s moons, but a telescope is required to see Jupiter’s cloud formations. Mars will rise next at 1:12 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s seen in western Scorpius now. Saturn will rise at 2:02 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s above the stars of Scorpius, actually in Ophiuchus. Its rings are a telescopic treat. Venus will rise at 7:05 a.m. again in the east-southeast. Mercury will pass in superior conjunction, that is behind the Sun, this afternoon and enter the evening sky.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter with the moon and the bright stars of winter and spring at 10 p.m., March 23, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons on an active night as the would appear at 10 p.m. March 23, 2016. The equatorial diameter of Jupiter is 44.1″. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Tonight’s satellite events
| Event | Date/Time EDT | Date/Time UT | ||
| Europa Occultation Starts | 23 | — | 23 | 22:17 |
| Ganymede Transit Starts | 23 | — | 23 | 22:19 |
| Io Transit Starts | 23 | — | 23 | 22:22 |
| Io Shadow Crossing Starts | 23 | — | 23 | 22:24 |
| Ganymede Shadow Crossing Starts | 23 | — | 23 | 23:46 |
| Io Transit Ends | 23 | 08:36 PM | 24 | 00:36 |
| Io Shadow Crossing Ends | 23 | 08:58 PM | 24 | 00:58 |
| Ganymede Transit Ends | 23 | 09:31 PM | 24 | 01:31 |
| Europa Eclipse Ends* | 23 | 09:45 PM | 24 | 01:45 |
| Ganymede Shadow Crossing Ends | 23 | 11:04 PM | 24 | 03:04 |
| * When Europa’s occultation ends it will still in Jupiter’s shadow and will enter sunlight a bit away from the planet.
Timings are from Project Pluto. |
||||
The Moon and the morning planets Mars and Saturn with the summer stars at 7 a.m. March 24, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Mars as it would be seen in a large telescope at 6 a.m. March 24, 2016. Apparent diameter is 11.0″ One quarter of Jupiter’s apparent diameter. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Saturn and Titan at 6 a.m. March 24, 2016. The planet’s apparent diameter is 17.2″ and the rings span 40.0″. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Mercury approaching the Sun from the right for the days March 19-22, 2016. Credit SOHO/NASA/ESA.
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for March 23, 2016 showing the location of the planets and the Moon at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
03/16/2016 – Ephemeris – Jupiter is in the evening, the other bright planets are in the morning
Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 16th. The Sun will rise at 7:52. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 58 minutes, setting at 7:50. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 4:26 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. Jupiter is up at sunset, and will pass due south, astronomers call it a transit, at 1:13 a.m., and will set at 7:44 a.m. It’s below the stars of Leo now. Binoculars can make out some of Jupiter’s moons, but a telescope is required to see Jupiter’s cloud formations. Mars will rise next at 1:29 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s seen in western Scorpius now. Saturn will rise at 2:29 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s above the stars of Scorpius, actually in Ophiuchus. Its rings are a telescopic treat. Venus will rise at 7:13 a.m. again in the east-southeast. Mercury is lost in the bright morning twilight and will pass behind the Sun in superior conjunction a week from now.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter and the Moon with the bright stars at 10 p.m. on March 16, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon as it might appear in binoculars at 10 p.m. on March 16, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons as they would be seen in a telescope, at 10 p.m. March 16, 2016. Jupiter has an apparent diameter of 44.3″ Created using Stellarium.
The morning planets Mars, Saturn and Jupiter at 6:30 a.m. March 17, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Mars as seen in a large telescope at high power. It’s only 10.0″ in diameter, about a quarter of Jupiter’s diameter. The long dark area near the bottom or south is Mare Cimmerium. The bright area above center is Elysium. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Saturn and its large satellite Titan and other moons as they should appear in a telescope in the morning of March 17, 2016. The planet is 17.0″ in diameter while the rings span 39.6″. Created using Stellarium.
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for March 16, 2016 showing the location of the planets and the Moon at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
Some of these 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.
03/02/2016 – Ephemeris – The morning planet gang is breaking up
Ephemeris for Wednesday, March 2nd. The Sun will rise at 7:17. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 14 minutes, setting at 6:32. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 3:08 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. All the classical planets visible from antiquity are officially now in the morning sky. I won’t be able to say that next week. Mercury is too close to the Sun and too dim to be spotted. Jupiter will rise at 6:53 p.m., in the east. Jupiter is going to be the morning sky defector as of next Tuesday. It’s below the stars of Leo. Mars will rise next at 12:59 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s seen against the stars of Libra now. Saturn will rise at 2:23 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s above the stars of Scorpius, actually in Ophiuchus. Venus will rise at 6:24 a.m. again in the east-southeast. Mercury will pass behind the Sun in superior conjunction on the 23rd.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter and the rising spring constellations at 10 p.m. March 2, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons as they would be seen in a telescope, at 10 p.m. March 2, 2016. Jupiter has an apparent diameter of 44.4″ Created using Stellarium.
The morning planets and the Moon with the bright stars at 6:45 a.m. March 3, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Mars as might look through a large amateur telescope at 6:45 a.m. March 3, 2016. North is at top. Apparent diameter is 8.9″.
In the Mars map below the center of the map pretty well matches the center of the Mars image above. The dark area to the upper left is Acidalia. The There’s a long dark feature to the right that has a blob at the end. The blob is Meridiani, where Mars’ prime meridian runs through. It is Meridiani where Opportunity landed, marked be MER-B.
Annotated Mars Map. Credit NASA.
Saturn and its large satellite Titan and other moons as they should appear in a telescope in the morning of March 3, 2016. The planet is 16.6″ in diameter while the rings span 38.7″. Created using Stellarium.
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for March 2, 2016 showing the location of the planets and the Moon at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
Some of these 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.
02/24/2016 – Ephemeris – The planets are all hanging out in the morning for another 2 weeks
Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 24th. The Sun will rise at 7:29. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 53 minutes, setting at 6:23. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 8:31 this evening.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. All the classical planets visible from antiquity are officially now in the morning sky. Though Mercury is too close to the Sun to be spotted. Jupiter will rise at 7:25 p.m., in the east. Jupiter is still a morning planet since it’s not up at sunset. It’s among the stars of Leo. Mars will rise next at 1:12 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s seen against the stars of Libra now. Saturn will rise at 2:49 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s above the stars of Scorpius, actually in Ophiuchus. Venus will rise at 6:27 a.m. again in the east-southeast. Comet Catalina is up all night and is a telescopic object and fading fast. At 10 p.m. is above the constellation of Cassiopeia and right of Perseus.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter, the Moon in the official constellation boundaries as set up by the International Astronomical Union at 10 p.m. February 24, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons as they would be seen in a telescope, at 10 p.m. February 24, 2016. Jupiter has an apparent diameter of 44.2″ Created using Stellarium.
The Moon as it might be seen in binoculars at 10 p.m. February 24, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
The morning planets with constellation boundaries at 7 a.m. February 25, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Mars in a telescope at high power. It’s apparent diameter is 8.4″. At 7 a.m. February 25, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn and its large satellite Titan and other moons as they should appear in a telescope in the morning of February 25, 2016. The planet is 16.4″ in diameter while the rings span 38.2″. Created using Stellarium.
The telescopic planet images are not to the same scale. Use the diameters in seconds of arc (“) as a way to compare the sizes.
Comet Catalina has become too faint to be seen in binoculars as it heads out of the solar system. To follow the comet further go to Seiichi Yashida’s Weekly Bright Comets page. Comet Catalina is n longer the brightest comet on the list, and is currently listed second. Click on it [C/2013 US10 ( Catalina )] for finder charts and other information.
This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for February 24, 2016 showing the location of the planets and the Moon at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
Some of these 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.
02/17/2016 – Ephemeris – All the bright planets are in the morning sky, but two of them are trying to sneak out
Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 17th. The Sun will rise at 7:40. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 6:13. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 4:39 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. All the classical planets visible from antiquity are officially now in the morning sky. Though Mercury is too close to the Sun to be spotted. Jupiter will rise at 7:57 p.m., in the east. Jupiter is still a morning planet since it’s not up at sunset. Mars will rise next at 1:24 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s brighter than the bright star Spica growing even farther to the right of it.. Saturn will rise at 3:40 a.m. in the east-southeast. Venus will rise at 6:27 a.m. again in the east-southeast. Mercury is too deep in the twilight glare to be seen. Comet Catalina is up all night and is a binocular object and fading fast. At 10 p.m. is above the constellation of Cassiopeia and right of Perseus.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter, the Moon and the bright winter stars at 10 p.m. February 17, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon as it might be seen in binoculars at 10 p.m. February 17, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons as they would be seen in a telescope, at 10 p.m. February 17, 2016. Jupiter has an apparent diameter of 43.9″ Created using Stellarium.
Morning planets and the bright s tar preview of summer. Mercury, though labeled can’t compete with the bright twilight. Observers south of here may have better luck. At 7 a.m. February 18, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Mars in a telescope at high power. It’s apparent diameter is 7.9″. At 6 a.m. February 18, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn and its large satellite Titan and other moons as they should appear in a telescope at 6 a.m. February 18, 2016. The planet is 16.2″ in diameter while the rigs span 37.8″. Created using Stellarium.
Comet Catalina’s path for the next week. Note that it is fading fast. 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 February 17, 2016 showing the location of the planets, the Moon and Comet Catalina at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
Some of these 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.
02/03/2016 – Ephemeris – Though a morning planet, Jupiter can be seen in the late evening
Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 3rd. The Sun will rise at 8:00. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 53 minutes, setting at 5:53. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:27 tomorrow morning.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. All the classical planets visible from antiquity are officially now in the morning sky. However Jupiter actually will rise at 9 p.m., in the east. Jupiter is still a morning planet since it’s not up at sunset. Mars will rise next at 1:45 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s left of the bright star Spica. Saturn will rise at 4:05 a.m. in the east-southeast. The Moon will be below, left of it tomorrow morning. Venus will rise at 6:19 a.m. again in the east-southeast. Mercury will rise behind Venus at 6:36. Comet Catalina is up all night and is a binocular object in the dark expanse of the constellation Camelopardalis between the bowl of the Big Dipper and the W shape of Cassiopeia.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
Planets
Jupiter low in the east at 10 p.m. on February 3rd, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and its moons as they would be seen in a telescope, at 10 p.m. February 3, 2016. I’d wait for an hour to let Jupiter rise above the thick atmosphere near the horizon for better clarity. Created using Stellarium.
The planets in the morning sky at 7 a.m. on February 4, 2016. Jupiter is far to the west and out of this view. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn and its satellite Titan as they should appear in a telescope at 7 a.m. February 4, 2016
The Moon as it should appear in binoculars tomorrow morning at 7 a.m., February 4, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Comet Catalina’s path for the next week. Note that 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 February 3, 2016 showing the location of the planets, the Moon and Comet Catalina at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
Off Topic
Stellarium
I’m now using Stellarium 0.14. It can detect older PCs and will not always crash, though I’m not thrilled with how it operates and some screen faults. The Portable Apps version has a patch that can be added to the application. The instructions for the patch are in the download page. Simply search “portable apps” to get started. The portable apps version worked better than the installed version, so I use the portable apps version. It turns out that my laptop can run 0.14, while my desktop cannot. The legacy version of Stellarium is 0.12.5.
It finally cleared up. For a while.
I bought myself a DSLR camera for my birthday/Christmas present a month and a half ago. I used to do a fair amount of astrophotography back before CCDs took over. I had some point and shoot digital cameras, which were not suitable for astrophotography. My last big spurge with film was for Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997.
But with the solar eclipse coming up next year the bug is biting again. I hate to brag but I’ve seen 4 total solar eclipses (1963, 1970, 1972, and 1979), plus 2 annular eclipses. I will recount my experiences with those eclipses in the year leading up to August 21, 2017.
In my film days I had developed a system for setting exposures for the Moon, planets, solar and lunar eclipses, and other possibly faint objects. It took a search to locate the data and used it when it finally cleared up on Ground Hog day. Below is one of the photos.
The fat crescent Moon at 7:02 a.m. February 2, 2016. ISO 100, 300mm focal length, f/11, 1/15 second.
01/27/2016 – Ephemeris – The Moon rises near Jupiter tonight
Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 27th. The Sun will rise at 8:07. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 36 minutes, setting at 5:43. The Moon, half way from full to last quarter, will rise at 9:43 this evening.
Let’s check out the whereabouts of the bright naked eye planets. All the classical planets visible from antiquity are officially now in the morning sky. However Jupiter actually will rise at 9:30 p.m., in the east. The Moon will be right below it tonight. Jupiter’s still a morning planet since it’s not up at sunset. Mars will rise next at 1:54 a.m. in the east-southeast. It’s below and left of the bright star Spica. Saturn will rise at 4:30 a.m. in the east-southeast. Venus will rise at 6:11 a.m. again in the east-southeast. Mercury is not favorably placed for northern hemispheric observers now. Comet Catalina is up all night and is a binocular object crossing the line from the pointer stars in the Big Dipper and the North Star Polaris tonight.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Jupiter and the Moon at 10 p.m. January 27, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter and moons as they would appear in a telescope at 10 p.m. January 27, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
The Moon rising. Note the distortion of the atmospheric refraction squishes the Moon vertically being only a quarter-hour after it rose. 10 p.m., January 27, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
The morning planets and the Moon at 6:45 a.m., January 28, 2016. Created using Stellarium.
Saturn and its moons in a telescope on the morning of January 28, 2016. 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 27, 2016 showing the location of the planets, the Moon and Comet Catalina at that time. Created using my LookingUp program.
Some of these 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.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 