01/21/2013 – Ephemeris – MLK Day, Jupiter above the Moon tonight

Ephemeris for Martin Luther King Day and Inauguration Day, Monday, January 21st.  The sun will rise at 8:11.  It’ll be up for 9 hours and 24 minutes, setting at 5:36.   The moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 4:33 tomorrow morning.

Today is the holiday commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and his struggle for civil rights.  Today we will have the second inauguration of the first African American President.  Another chapter in the struggle for the equality of all people.  Back before the Civil War, runaway slaves used the stars to steer their flight northward.  The prominent pattern of northern stars that aided their journey was the Drinking Gourd.  We know it as the Big Dipper. which is starting to rise higher in the northeast.  Also in the sky tonight the planet Jupiter will appear above the moon, their closest approach will be at 10:30 p.m.  For us closest approach will be at 2 moon diameters.  A couple of thousand miles south of here the moon will cover the planet.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Jupiter and the moon at 10:30 p.m. January 21, 2013. Created using Stellarium.