Archive
09/12/2014 – Ephemeris – There’s a star party tomorrow night at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Ephemeris for Friday, September 12th. The sun will rise at 7:17. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 40 minutes, setting at 7:58. The moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:08 this evening.
Tomorrow night will be the last of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore held on Saturday by the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society for the year. Never fear the GTAS has three more events planned in October: a lunar eclipse on the 8th, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake Shore’s 44th anniversary star party on the 21st, and a partial solar eclipse at sunset on the 23rd. Saturday’s event will be held at the Dune Climb starting around 9 p.m., and the featured attractions will be the wonders of the summer Milky Way. These are star clusters and nebulae or clouds of gas, some expelled by dying stars and others where new stars are being born. The Dune observing events will be canceled if completely overcast or rain.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society (GTAS) is available to host sun and star parties around the Grand Traverse Area. Below are photos from two recent visits to the Betsie Valley District Library in Thompsonville, MI. First an evening visit inauguration of their new library building, and a daytime visit for the youngster’s reading program. The photos courtesy of Librarian Michelle Guerra and her staff. Contact the society via email at info@gtastro.org.
He just saw Jupiter through the GTAS 25″ telescope.
What’s in this telescope? (A really small Jupiter.)
A crowd gathers to view Saturn and Jupiter.
During both the evening and the daytime visits I take the folks through the sky using Stellarium pointing the constellations and telling their stories.
GTAS member Gary Carlisle shows the Sun through his telescope.
GTAS member Richard Kuschell shows his meteorite collection. Always a hit.
Here I am showing the kids how a telescope works.
Using a telescope solar filter to show how small the sun looks.
08/08/2014 – Ephemeris – Supermoon plus astronomical fun in the Grand Traverse Area
Ephemeris for Friday, August 8th. The sun rises at 6:36. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 8:58. The moon, 2 days before full, will set at 5:17 tomorrow morning.
In two days the Moon will reach perigee within a few hours of being a full moon. This has become known as a supermoon. Perigee is the point where an Earth orbiting object is closest to the Earth. The farthest point is called apogee. The coincidence of full moon and perigee was coined as the supermoon by astrologer Richard Knolle in 1979, but apparently didn’t catch on until he wrote a popular article in 2011. No wonder I hadn’t heard of it, this program had been on for 4 years before the term was even coined. The problem with appreciating the supermoon is the lack of a reference of nearly the same size. The moon always looks large when it’s near the horizon. It’s a well-known optical illusion, It’ll fool us every time.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Saturday evening the 9th the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society (GTAS) will host a Sun and Star Party at Thoreson Farm at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It’s the concluding event at the Port Oneida Fair. Solar viewing will be from 4 to 6 p.m., and the evening event will run from 9 to 11 p.m. with the main attraction will be the nearly full Moon, the planet Saturn and colorful binary stars and bright star clusters. Thoreson Farm is located on South Thoreson Road. South Thoreson Road runs into M22, about a mile west of Port Oneida Road.
Sunday evening the 10th the GTAS will attend the Meteors and S’mores event at the Leelanau State Park at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. The event will run from 8:30 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. The Perseid meteor shower will reach peak a couple of days later, but there will still bright Perseids visible to the vigilant.
I’ll have more to say about the supermoon tomorrow in a non-Ephemeris post.
07/25/2014 – Ephemeris – Tomorrow’s viewing event at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Ephemeris for Friday, July 25th. The sun rises at 6:21. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 54 minutes, setting at 9:15. The moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 6:17 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will be at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for observations of the Sun, planets and the rest of the heavens. Sleeping Bear The venue on Saturday will be on Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive at the Dunes Overlook, Stop #3 clouds permitting. Hazy or partly cloudy skies are acceptable. There will be observation of the Sun from 4 to 6 p.m. and viewing of the night sky from 9 to 11 p.m. For the solar part of the afternoon the park rangers have neat models of the sun and its prominences. The planets visible will be Mars and Saturn, and by 10:30 the constellations will be visible to view the wonders they contain and the ancient stories they represent.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Looking through the 25 inch Dobsonian telescope at Stop #3. This was in October, so it maybe warmer in July. Credit: Eileen Carlisle.
One of the other telescopes at the Stop #3 event in October a few years ago. Credit: Eileen Carlisle.
06/06/2014 – Ephemeris – Astronomy activities this weekend in the Grand Traverse Region
Ephemeris for Friday, June 6th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 26 minutes, setting at 9:24. The moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 2:33 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 5:57.
The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society, or GTAS, has a busy weekend. At 8 p.m. the regular meeting at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory features Dr. David Penney with his presentation of “The Rare Earth”. At 9 p.m. at the observatory will be a star party until 11 p.m. On Saturday the GTAS will have their telescopes at The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Philip A. Hart Visitors Center in Empire for viewing the sun from 4 to 6 p.m. Then at 9 the GTAS will deploy their telescopes at the Dune Climb for an evening with the planets. The Dunes events will be contingent on the weather. Due to the lateness of the sunset it will be about 10 p.m. before any planets are spotted.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Meteor Watch cloud and meteor status May 23/24, 2014
May 24, 5;33 a.m. EDT
Just got back from the Dune Climb. Yes Virginia there are Camelopardalids. Just not many of them. I saw about 10 meteors overnight with just over half Camelopardalids. Now I was busy with other things, running the star party. However it seemed that of the ones I saw, there were a better an average, compared to the Perseids, number of bright ones. One also left a smokey train that was visible for a few seconds. I didn’t have my binoculars with me to view it longer. But it was impressive. We had maybe 40-50 folks come out, coming and going over the night, with about 11 sticking it out to the bitter end at 4 a.m.
May 23, 5:32 p.m. EDT
Weather is still great. Picked up a tweet saying the the Camelopardalids are being picked up via the radio reflection of their ionized trains.
I’m going to head out in a half hour to the Visitors Center (see below) for the talk and to pick up some traffic cones.
May 23, 12:45 p.m. EDT
The weather is holding. The forecast is for clear skies through Sunday daytime. It should be a great Memorial Day weekend. For those venturing out to observe the meteor storm (we hope) dress warmly. The temperatures in northern Michigan will drop to the mid 40s. I plan to bring a light coat and my winter coat. For those who wish to lie on the ground to see the sky show bring two blankets one under you and one over you. It will get dewy. Hat, gloves and a thermos of warm drinks will also be welcome. Winter boots might be welcome for those who tend to get cold feet. Meteor watching is not an active pursuit, so you may want to walk around or climb up the dune a ways to keep warm. Remember there’s a talk by astronomer Tyler Nordgren at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Philip A. Hart Visitor Center near the corner of M72 and M22 in Empire at 7 p.m. Sunset will be at 9:15 p.m.. The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society (GTAS) will be ready to observe the planets at the Dune Climb by 10 p.m.
May 22, 11:00 p.m. EDT
This is a pre-post entry. The blog will be published at noon on the 23rd and be updated as necessary. New updates will appear above older ones. I may also tweet. My twitter handle is @robertcmoler. The hashtag for the meteor shower appears to be #Camelopardalids. I hope you’re a good speller. The National Weather Service for tomorrow (Friday) and tomorrow night is for decreasing clouds during the day and mostly clear tomorrow night. Anttilla Danko’s Clear Sky Chart for the Leelanau School’s Lanphier Observatory also shows clear skies for the night of the 23rd/24th at this time. The observatory is located a few miles northeast of the Dune Climb area. New to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore? Here’s their website: http://www.nps.gov/slbe/index.htm Here’s a link to the map of the park. The Dune Climb is at points 7 & 8 on highway M109 just south of Glen Haven.
05/20/2014 – Ephemeris – Special doings at the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore Friday Night
Ephemeris for Tuesday, May 20th. Today the sun will be up for 14 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 9:09. The moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 2:09 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:08.
This Friday evening Dr. Tyler Nordgren, astronomer, artist and dark sky advocate will give a presentation at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire at 7 p.m. Afterward he will be signing copies of his beautiful new poster See the Stars from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore featuring the Great and Little Bear constellations and the bluffs of the Sleeping Bear Dunes and the Manitou Islands. After that, weather permitting see the sunset from many of the parks locations, then, for the hardy, settle down for an all night vigil for a possible meteor storm with the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at the Dune Climb (The bottom, not the top, though you can climb up there for an all-sky view.).
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
See the Stars from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Poster by Tyler Nordgren.
05/09/2014 – Ephemeris – This is Astronomy Day weekend
Ephemeris for Friday, May 9th. The sun rises at 6:21. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 35 minutes, setting at 8:56. The moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 4:04 tomorrow morning.
This Saturday is International Astronomy Day. There will be two star parties this weekend to celebrate. A star party is where amateur astronomers bring their telescopes to share the heavens with all those who come. The first will be at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, at Platte River Point at the end of Lake Michigan Road, off M22. Saturday’s Star Party will be at Northwestern Michigan College’s (NMC) Rogers Observatory, on Birmley Road south of Traverse City. Both events will start at 9 p.m. The Sleeping Bear event will be canceled due to clouds. The NMC event has an indoor component and will be open rain or shine. The planets Jupiter, Mars and Saturn will be featured at both events. These star parties are hosted by the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
04/25/2014 – Ephemeris – Star parties this weekend in the Grand Traverse area
Ephemeris for Arbor Day, Friday, April 25th. The sun rises at 6:41. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 8:39. The moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 5:11 tomorrow morning.
The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will be holding two events this weekend, starting tonight. Tonight’s Star Party will be held at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s Dune Climb parking lot. The event runs from 9 to 11 p.m. The event will be cancelled due to clouds. Check by calling the park if in doubt this afternoon. The second event will be a star party at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers observatory tomorrow night. That one runs also from 9 to 11 p.m. For that one rain or shine we will have scheduled a presentation on famous women astronomers presented by Becky Shaw. The observatory is located south of Traverse City, on Birmley road about a mile south of Hammond Road.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
10/21/2013 – Ephemeris – Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore 43rd Anniversary Star Party Tonight
Ephemeris for Monday, October 21st. The sun will rise at 8:05. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 41 minutes, setting at 6:47. The moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 8:33 this evening.
The Federal Government shutdown is over, and that means that the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is open again, just in time to hold its 43rd anniversary star party at the Dune Climb parking lot starting at 8 p.m. tonight with the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society. The moon will be rising shortly after the event starts. Also some of the brighter wonders of the heavens will be visible in the moon light. This will conclude the fourth year of star parties with the rangers at the park It started in 2010 with two star parties in October that year to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the park. Currently the society works with the park rangers to hold seven monthly star parties. The star party will be canceled if it’s cloudy.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Sleeping Bear Dunes Star Party tonight
7:00 p.m.
It’s cleared up. Don’t know how long that will last. But its a GO for tonight. The official time for the star party is 9 to 11 p.m. Set up starts at 8 p.m. See you out there!
5:00 p.m.
I talked to ranger Marie Scott just a few minutes ago and consulted the clear sky chart for observatories in the area, and I’d guess prospects are 50% at best. I’ll check in with her again at near 7 p.m. for a final update.
1:30 p.m.
The Star Party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will take place if weather permits. It starts at 9 p.m. at the Dune Climb parking lot. As of 1:30 p.m. it is gloomy out with rain in the area. The rain is supposed to end by 3 p.m. according to my weather.com app on my phone. Plus satellite images show that it is clearing over Lake Michigan. We may get a break tonight.
Check back here for updates. I should be contacting the park rangers by around 5 or 6 tonight, but keep an eye on the weather.
Bob
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 