Archive
05/30/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets tonight?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 30th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 17 minutes, setting at 9:19. The moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 3:07 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:00.
Let’s see what’s happening with the bright planets for this week. Venus is now very difficult to spot low in the west northwest just after sunset. The next time you’ll see it will be passing in front of the sun June 5th, a rare event called a transit. Venus will set at 10:11 p.m. Venus is 27.3 million miles away and won’t get much closer. It is an incredibly thin crescent in telescopes. Mars is in the southwest in the evening in the constellation of Leo the lion with its unmistakable bright reddish color. It has resumed its eastward motion toward Virgo. Mars will be setting in the west at 2:42 a.m. Saturn will be in the south above the bright star Spica this now. It’s due south at 10:37 p.m. and will set at 4:13 a.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
05/23/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 23rd. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 9:12. The moon, 3 days past new, will set at 11:33 this evening. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:05.
Let’s see what’s happening with the bright planets for this week. Venus is in the west as it gets dark. Enjoy it now, because it will be gone in less than 2 weeks. Venus will set at 11:07 p.m. in the west northwest. That’s 33 minutes earlier than last week, so it appears to be drawing closer to the sun. Venus is 29.5 million miles away and closing slowly. It is a beautiful brilliant growing crescent in telescopes. Mars is high in the south southwest in the evening in the constellation of Leo with its unmistakable bright reddish color. It’s beginning to resume its eastward motion toward Virgo. Mars will be setting in the west at 3:05 a.m. Saturn will be in the southeast moving above above the bright star Spica.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The evening sky with the remaining bright planets at 10 p.m. tonight. Created using Stellarium.
05/16/2012 – Ephemeris – Where the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 16th. Today the sun will be up for 14 hours and 52 minutes, setting at 9:05. The moon, half way from last quarter to new, will rise at 4:16 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:11.
Let’s see what’s happening with the bright planets for this week. Venus is in the west as it gets dark. Enjoy it now, because it will be gone in less than 3 weeks. Venus will set at 11:40 p.m. in the west northwest. That’s 29 minutes earlier than last week, so it’s drawing closer to the sun. Venus is 32.1 million miles away and closing. It is a beautiful brilliant growing crescent in telescopes. Mars is high in the south southwest in the evening in the constellation of Leo with its unmistakable bright reddish color. It’s up to 99 million miles from us and moving away. Mars will be setting in the west at 3:28 a.m. Saturn will be in the southeast just to the left of the bright star Spica this evening.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Planets move westward at 10:30 p.m. May 16, 2012. Created using Stellarium
05/11/2012 – Ephemeris – The bright star Spica
Ephemeris for Friday, May 11th. Today the sun will be up for 14 hours and 40 minutes, setting at 8:59. The moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 2:09 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:17.
The bright blue star Spica can be found in the southeast as it gets dark now. It’s one of the fainter of the 21 first magnitude stars. It lies in the constellation of Virgo the virgin, and lies very close to the path of the sun, moon and planets in the sky. Saturn is just to the left of it this year. Spica is a binary star, whose brighter component is drawn into an ellipsoid by the tidal effect of the companion. They orbit each other in only 4 days. Spica is 260 light years away and over 3,000 times brighter than the sun. An Egyptian temple at Thebes was oriented to the setting point of Spica. The change in the setting point over time allowed the Greek astronomer Hipparchus to discover the precession of the equinoxes.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Saturn and Spica on May 11, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
05/09/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 9th. The sun rises at 6:21. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 36 minutes, setting at 8:57. The moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 12:57 tomorrow morning.
Let’s see what’s happening with the bright planets for this week. Venus is high in the west as it gets dark. Enjoy it now, because it will be gone in 4 weeks. Venus will set at 12:09 a.m. in the west northwest. That’s 19 minutes earlier than last week, so it’s noticeable drawing closer to the sun. Venus is 35.9 million miles away and closing. It is a beautiful brilliant crescent in telescopes. Mars is high in the south in the evening with its unmistakable bright reddish color. It’s in the constellation Leo the lion now. It is 94 million miles from us and moving away. Mars will pass due south at 9:08 p.m. and will be setting in the west at 3:52 a.m. Saturn will be in the southeast just to the left of the bright star Spica. It will pass due south at 12:04 a.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Southern sky at 10 p.m. on May 9, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
05/02/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Wednesday, May 2nd. The sun rises at 6:30. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 18 minutes, setting at 8:48. The moon, half way from first quarter to full, will set at 4:39 tomorrow morning.
Let’s see what’s happening with the bright planets for this week. Venus is high in the west as it gets dark. Enjoy it now, because it will be gone in 5 weeks. Venus will set at 12:28 a.m. in the west northwest. That’s 8 minutes earlier than last week, so it’s noticeable drawing closer to the sun. Venus is 40.1 million miles away and closing. It is a breautiful brilliant crescent in telescopes. Mars is high in the south in the evening with its unmistakable bright reddish color. It’s in the constellation Leo the lion now. It is 89 million miles from us and moving away. Mars will pass due south at 9:30 p.m. and will be setting in the west at 4:18 a.m. Saturn will be in the east southeast just to the left of the bright star Spica. It will pass due south at 12:33 a.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The stars and planets at 9:30 p.m. on May 2, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
04/25/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets this week?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 25th. The sun rises at 6:41. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 8:40. The moon, half way from new to first quarter, will set at 12:52 tomorrow morning.
Let’s see what’s happening with the bright planets for this week. Jupiter is very low in the twilight in the west and may be visible by 9:15 p.m. It will set at 9:44 p.m. Venus is high in the west as it gets dark. Enjoy it now, because it will be gone in 6 weeks. Venus will set at 12:37 a.m. in the west northwest. Venus is 44.8 million miles away and closing. Mars is high in the south in the evening with its unmistakable bright reddish color. It’s in the constellation Leo the lion now. It is 84 million miles from us and moving away. Mars will pass due south at 9:53 p.m. and will be setting in the west at 4:44 a.m. Saturn will be rising in the east southeast as twilight fades tonight just to the left of the bright star Spica. It will pass due south at 1:03 a.m.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Looking west at Jupiter, Venus and the moon at 9 p.m. on April 25, 2012. Created with Stellarium.
Planets and stars at 10 p.m. on April 25, 2012. Created with Stellarium.
04/18/2012 – Ephemeris – Where are the bright planets tonight?
Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 18th. The sun rises at 6:52. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 39 minutes, setting at 8:31. The moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 5:47 tomorrow morning.
Let’s see what’s happening with the bright planets for this week. Jupiter has dropped far below brilliant Venus in the west, since their apparent paths crossed a month and a half ago. Jupiter will set at 10:03 p.m. followed by Venus at 12:39 a.m. Venus is 49.6 million miles away and closing. Mars is high in the south in the evening with its unmistakable bright reddish color. It’s in the constellation Leo the lion now. It is 79.4 million miles from us and moving away. Mars will pass due south at 10:18 p.m. and will be setting in the west at 5:15 a.m. Saturn will be rising in the east southeast as twilight fades tonight just to the left of the bright star Spica. It will pass due south at 1:32 a.m. All the bright planets except Mercury are now visible in the evening.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The sky and the evening planets at 9:30 p.m. on April 18, 2012. Created using Stellarium.
04/16/2012 – Ephemeris – Saturn a day after opposition
Ephemeris for Monday, April 16th. The sun rises- at 6:55. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 33 minutes, setting at 8:29. The moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:59 tomorrow morning.
Saturn was in opposition from the sun yesterday. That means that Saturn was opposite the sun in the sky. That means that Saturn was closest to the earth at 811 million miles. The difference from today’s distance isn’t worth mentioning. Saturn, being 9 and a half times the earth’s distance from the sun doesn’t make much difference in Saturn’s apparent size, whether we view it from the nearest point in our orbit of the farthest. Saturn, which is just left of the bright bluish star Spica in the southeast in the evening, is definitely not star-like in binoculars, but a 20 power spotting scope will just bring out Saturn’s rings elliptical nature. Those rings will open up for the next four years, so the rings at their narrowest part will be as wide as the planet.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Image of Saturn created with Cartes du Ciel showing current ring tilt.
04/12/2012 – Ephemeris – The constellation Virgo the virgin
Ephemeris for Thursday, April 12th. The sun will rise at 7:02. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 8:24. The moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 3:02 tomorrow morning.
Tonight in the sky: to the left of the constellation of Leo the lion, which lies in the south at 10 p.m. is the next constellation of the zodiac: Virgo the virgin, seen in the south southeast. Virgo is a large constellation of a reclining woman holding a stalk of wheat. The bright star in the center of the constellation, Spica, is the head of that spike of wheat; and as such ruled over the harvest in two of Virgo’s guises as the goddesses Persephone and Ceres. The planet Saturn is also in Virgo this year to the left of Spica. Virgo is also identified as Astraea the goddess of justice. The constellation of Libra, the scales, is found just east of her a couple of hours later, not yet risen at 10 p.m. Early Christians saw Virgo as the Virgin Mary.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Virgo 2012. Created using Stellarium.
