Archive
04/27/2012 – Ephemeris – Astronomy Day and other viewing opportunities this weekend
Ephemeris for Arbor Day, Friday, April 27th. The sun rises at 6:37. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 4 minutes, setting at 8:42. The moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 2:10 tomorrow morning.
The moon’s crescent is getting fatter each day as it moves eastward. There are two events scheduled to take with the moon and the bright spring planets, and one to show the sun this weekend. Tonight the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will hold a star party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It will be held at Platte River Point, west of Honor starting at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday is International Astronomy Day. Some of us will take our telescopes to the Open Space in Traverse City to view the sun with our new solar telescope and other scopes. That’s from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. That evening starting at nine with be a star party at the Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
04/26/2012 – Ephemeris – Three astronomical viewing opportunities this weekend
Ephemeris for Thursday, April 26th. The sun rises at 6:39. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 2 minutes, setting at 8:41. The moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 1:33 tomorrow morning.
The moon is getting ready to take over the night sky. It’s crescent is getting fatter each day as it moves eastward. There are two events scheduled to take with the moon and the bright spring planets, and one to show the sun this weekend. Tomorrow the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will hold a star party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It will be held at Platte River Point, west of Honor starting at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday is International Astronomy Day. Some of us will take our telescopes to the Open Space in Traverse City to view the sun with our new solar telescope and other scopes. That’s from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. That evening starting at nine with be a star party at the Rogers Observatory.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
10/21/11 – Ephemeris – Star Party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Friday, October 21st. The sun will rise at 8:05. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 43 minutes, setting at 6:48. The moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 2:52 tomorrow morning. | Tonight if it’s clear The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will be holding the last Star Party of the year at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. This time we’ll be at Stop 3 on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive starting at 7 p.m. Parking will be at Picnic Mountain, adjacent to Stop 3, which is a cul-de-sac off the main drive. Celestial wonders that will be visible include the planet Jupiter and three of its moons, shy Io will be hiding behind the planet til after 9. Some of the northern summer wonders including the great globular star cluster in Hercules are still visible. Rising, while we’re viewing will be the Pleiades the Seven Sisters, better seen in binoculars than a telescope, actually, and many more autumn wonders will be visible..
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
09/09/11 – Ephemeris – Star party Saturday September 10th, 2011 at the Sleeping Bear Dunes
Friday, September 9th. The sun will rise at 7:14. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 8:04. The moon, 3 days before full, will set at 5:32 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow is the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society’s 4th star party of 2011 at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. This time we’ll be at the Dune Climb. The bottom, not the top, in or near the parking lot. We’ll have the bright moon early. We’ll be also looking at binary stars, star clusters and the Ring Nebula. Toward the end of the evening Jupiter will be high enough to view. The event will be canceled if it’s too cloudy. There will be another star party, this one to celebrate the Lakeshore’s 41st anniversary in October, so stay tuned for that one. So far we’ve had no outright cancellations, but two of the nights were hampered by clouds. Our one absolutely clear night cleared just after sunset, and after an earlier rain shower.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
07/22/11 – Ephemeris – 8 days and nights of astronomy outreach
Friday, July 22nd. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 1 minute, setting at 9:19. The moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 12:22 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:18.
Tonight is the first of three appearances of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at Friday Night Live on Front Street in Traverse City. We’re usually stationed a few doors west of the State Theater. If it’s clear we’ll have telescopes looking at the sun. Solar activity is picking up with more sunspots visible than last year. The society will also be there next Friday along with three other events next week. On Wednesday the 27th we’ll be at Black Star Farms in Suttons Bay for a dinner, dessert, a twilight talk and viewing of the stars. On Thursday its the GTAS at the Lanphier Observatory in Glen Arbor. Saturday we’ll be at stop 3 on Pierce Stocking Drive at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
07/15/11 – Ephemeris – Inland Seas Summer Festival
Friday, July 15th. Today the sun will be up for 15 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 9:25. The moon, at full today, will rise at 9:32 this evening. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 6:12.
The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will be part of the Inland Seas Summer Festival tomorrow in Suttons Bay. If it’s clear we’ll be viewing the sun. We’ll also have exhibits including meteorites and hands on activities. July is a big month for the society with Friday Night Live appearances on the 22nd and 29th. That last week of July will also see society members at Black Star Farms, The Lanphier Observatory in Glen Arbor and at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. As far as viewing the sun goes, our telescopes are equipped with safe filters that fit over the front of our telescopes and provide a safe viewing experience. Plus this year the sun is coming alive with sunspots as a new sunspot cycle is starting. It should reach peak in 2013.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 