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Ephemeris: 07/05/2024 – GTAS meeting: processing astrophotographs
This is Ephemeris for Friday, July 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 26 minutes, setting at 9:30, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:04. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
Tonight’s meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers observatory, which starts at 9 PM tonight, will feature a talk by Dan Dall’Olmo, one of our successful astrophotographers in the society. He will discuss image processing. Taking the picture is only the beginning. He will show how to bring out and sharpen images taken with digital cameras. Back in my day processing photographs involved chemicals in the darkroom. “I love the smell of Hypo in the morning”. Now it involves computers and software. Afterward if it’s, clear we’ll be viewing the sky. Note the later start time for the meeting. We follow the later sunsets this time of year, so viewing starts after sunset. The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Rd. Between Garfield and Keystone roads.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Here are a couple of Dan’s photographs of celestial objects visible this time of year. The eaw images do not look this good, hence the image processing to bring out the image brightness and detail.
Ephemeris: 06/07/2024 – GTAS hears from NASA engineer tonight
This is Ephemeris for Friday, June 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 28 minutes, setting at 9:26, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:57. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 11:19 this evening.
Tonight’s meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will start at 9 pm, at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory. The later start time in June and July will allow the following star party, which will start at the end of the meeting, around 10 pm, to start after sunset. The sky will still be in bright twilight. We are pleased to have Joe Gibson, Principal Flight Software Engineer, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to speak to us. After the program, at about 10 pm, if it’s clear will be viewing of the skies as it gets dark. The public is always welcome. This meeting also marks the Society’s 42nd anniversary. The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Road between Garfield and Keystone roads.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). They may be different for your location.
Addendum
08/03/2018 – Ephemeris – Mars will be featured tonight at the NMC Rogers Observatory
Ephemeris for Friday, August 3rd. The Sun rises at 6:31. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 34 minutes, setting at 9:05. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 12:37 tomorrow morning.
Tonight the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will host a star party at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory from 9 to 11 p.m. If it’s clear the planets Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Venus will be the featured attractions. This is our nearest star party to the closest approach of Mars earlier this week, so Mars will be at its largest appearing in telescopes, however the position of Mars is quite far south in our sky, allowing our atmosphere to degrade the crispness of the view. Saturn is always magnificent with its rings, and Jupiter with it’s moons and cloud bands. Venus is getting nearer now and showing a gibbous phase. Later on the wonders of the Milky Way will be on display.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
05/04/2018 – Ephemeris – Tonight I present Venus from the mists of time to today
Ephemeris for Friday, May 4th. The Sun rises at 6:28. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 8:51. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 1:15 tomorrow morning.
The planet Venus is our evening star now. I’ve been talking about it on this program lately. Want to hear and see more? Tonight at 8 p.m. at the May meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory, I will be giving an illustrated talk: Venus from the mists of time to today. To the early Greeks it was two planets. To the Maya it was a calendar. In the 18th century it was a way to measure the size of the solar system. Today, it could be what our future looks like. After the meeting, at 9 p.m. the society will host a star party to view the planets Venus and Jupiter. The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Road between Garfield and Keystone roads.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
5 Pages of the Dresden Codex produced by the Maya tracking Venus’ appearances in the skies over the Yucatan. for 104 years. The Dresden Codex is one of only 4 surviving Mayan Codices.
12/01/2017 – Ephemeris – A look at how the ancients saw their world at the Rogers Observatory tonight
Ephemeris for Friday, December 1st. The Sun will rise at 7:59. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 4 minutes, setting at 5:03. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 6:22 tomorrow morning.
This evening’s meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society starting at 8 p.m. at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory will be yours truly’s biennial December program on mostly Ancient Cosmologies, a look at the cosmologies or world view of many mostly pre-scientific cultures, including the Biblical world view. We’ll see how these ideas are alike and different for cultures spread across distance and time. I’ll finish with a modern unscientific and throwback cosmology of the believers in a flat Earth. At 9 p.m. there will be a star party at the observatory, and another program if it’s cloudy. All are welcome. The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Road.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
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