01/23/2015 – Ephemeris – Checking on Comet Lovejoy and the Moon.

Ephemeris for Friday, January 23rd.  The sun will rise at 8:11.  It’ll be up for 9 hours and 27 minutes, setting at 5:38.   The moon, half way from new to first quarter, will set at 9:59 this evening.

The crescent moon is growing brighter but shouldn’t bother binocular views of Comet Lovejoy, now between the Pleiades and the small constellation of Triangulum, a narrow pointy triangle.  Tonight only it’s above the crescent Moon.  The Moon in binoculars or a small telescope is revealing more of its surface nightly.  The Sea of Crises or Mare Crisium is now fully in sunlight and The Sea of Fertility Or Mare Fecunditatis is now half in sunlight, with the odd pair of craters Messier and Messier A right at the terminator near the center of the sea.  Check these craters after a few days and an odd ray pattern will appear.  Apparently the body or bodies that created them came in at a very low angle and threw material forward in a couple of streaks.

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

Addendum

Comet Lovejoy appearing tonight only above the Moon. This is for 8 p.m. January 23, 2015. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts)

The Moon through a telescope at low power. 8 p.m., January 23, 2015. Created using Virtual Moon Atlas and Gimp.

The Craters Messier A and B from Apollo 11. NASA