08/17/2015 – Ephemeris – The celestial snake handler

Ephemeris for Monday, August 17th.  The Sun rises at 6:47.  It’ll be up for 13 hours and 58 minutes, setting at 8:45.   The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 10:04 this evening.

The planet Saturn and the red star Antares shine in the south-southwest at 10:30 p.m. In the and around constellation of Scorpius.  In the area of sky above it lies a large constellation of faint stars called Ophiuchus, the serpent bearer.  The constellation shape is like a large bell, which reminds me of the head, shoulders and arms of a fellow that’s holding the snake-like a weight lifter pulling up a heavy bar bell.  The serpent he’s holding is Serpens, the only two part constellation in the heavens.  The head rises to Ophiuchus’ right and the tail extends up to the left.  In legend Ophiuchus was a great physician, educated by the god Apollo, and the centaur Chiron, also found in the stars as Sagittarius, below and left of him.

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

Addendum

Ophiuchus, Serpens and Sagittarius with Saturn and Antares on August 17, at 10 p.m. Created using Stellarium.

08/14/2015 – Ephemeris – Two events with an astronomical flavor this weekend

Ephemeris for Friday, August 14th.  The Sun rises at 6:43.  It’ll be up for 14 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 8:50.  The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.

The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society (GTAS) will be at Friday Night Live* this evening in Traverse City and will stay after if its clear to view Saturn in the telescopes.  Tomorrow night is something new.  A group of people are applying to make the Arcadia Dunes a dark sky park or a dark sky community.  The GTAS will help by holding a star party there tomorrow night starting at 9 p.m.  The location is the Baldy Trailhead parking lot on M22, north of Arcadia.  To find directions to the location using the Internet search for Arcadia Dunes to locate the Arcadia Dunes, C.S. Mott Nature Preserve which is owned by The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy where there are interactive maps to the trailheads.  If the application is successful the GTAS may be there 4 times a year.

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

*Friday Night Live is a block party on the 100 and 200 blocks of Front Street in Traverse City, MI which officially runs from 5:30 to 9 p.m.  The GTAS usually stays later if it’s clear.

Addendum

Ron Uthe (with the beard) explains that his telescope is pointed to Saturn in the 2013 Friday Night Live. Credit mine.

Passers by look at the Moon through Gary Carlisle’s telescope in a 2013 Friday Night Live. Credit mine.

08/13/2015 – Ephemeris – The constellation Sagittarius, toward the heart of the Milky Way

Thursday, August 13th.  The Sun rises at 6:42.  It’ll be up for 14 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 8:52.   The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 6:48 tomorrow morning.

The Milky Way runs from north to south through the heavens at 11 p.m. You’ll notice that the Milky Way is brighter and broader just above the horizon in the south.  In that glow in the south is a star pattern that looks like the stout little teapot of the children’s song, with a the Milky way like steam rising from the spout, which faces the west. This pattern of stars is the major part of the constellation called Sagittarius.  According to Greek mythology Sagittarius is a centaur with a bow and arrow poised to shoot Scorpius the scorpion to the right.  This centaur is called Chiron, the most learned of the breed, centaurs usually being a rowdy bunch.  The center of the pin wheel of our galaxy lies hidden beyond the stars above the spout of the teapot.

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

Addendum

Sagittarius and Scorpius mythological view 10 p.m. August 13, 2015. Created using Stellarium.

Location of the center of the Milky Way and the Teapot of Sagittarius.

08/12/2015 – Ephemeris – One ringed planet and a sky full of meteors

Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 12th.  The Sun rises at 6:41.  It’ll be up for 14 hours and 12 minutes, setting at 8:53.   The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 5:49 tomorrow morning.

Lets take a look for the bright planets for this week.  Our brightest evening planets Venus and Jupiter are leaving the evening sky in the west.  Venus is 3 days from inferior conjunction with the Sun.  Saturn is in the south-southwest in the evening twilight.  It can be spotted just to the right of the constellation of Scorpius the scorpion and its bright red star Antares below and right of it.  Even small telescopes can see Saturn’s rings.  The Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak overnight tonight.  Your back yard is a fine spot to view the meteors, or for dark skies, I’ll be leading an all night meteor watch at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s Dune Climb if it’s clear.  I’ll be there by 9 p.m. and it will be dark enough by 10:30.

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

Addendum

Saturn and the summer Zodiacal constellations in the south at 10 p.m. August 12, 2015. Created using Stellarium.

Saturn through a telescope at 10 p.m. on August 12, 2015. Created using Stellarium.

Next week Wednesday we will also turn to the morning sky looking for Mars and awaiting Venus’ grand entrance into the dawn skies.

All-sky meteor charts from yesterday’s post

“PerR” is the Perseid radiant.

11 p.m. August 12, 2015. Created using Bob Moler’s LookingUp program for Windows.

2 a.m. August 13, 2015. Previewing autumn stars. Created using Bob Moler’s LookingUp program for Windows.

5 a.m. August 13, 2015. Good morning Orion! Created using Bob Moler’s LookingUp program for Windows.

08/11/2015 – Ephemeris – Perseid meteor shower is tomorrow night

Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 11th.  The Sun rises at 6:40.  It’ll be up for 14 hours and 14 minutes, setting at 8:55.   The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 4:51 tomorrow morning.

The Perseid meteor shower is growing in numbers of meteors seen per hour.  The expected peak is Thursday morning about a quarter after 2.  However the peak time is only really known statistically after the event.  The point in the sky from which the meteors or shooting stars seem to come from is called the radiant and it is near the constellation of Perseus.  The meteors will appear all night from dusk to dawn.  The peak number of meteors can be up to 90 an hour.  No telescope is needed.  Just lie down on a blanket and look up.  The darker your sky the better.  One of the darkest skies around is at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  I will be leading an all night meteor shower watch at the Dune Climb Wednesday night til dawn if it’s clear.

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

Addendum

Here are some meteors seen in the 2007 Perseid meteor shower taken by Scott Anttila. The image is centered on Cassiopeia. The radiant is low and a bit left of center in the image. The Double Cluster is seen below center and the Great Andromeda Galaxy is seen on the right above center.  Click on the image to enlarge.

Position of the Perseid radiant and stars in all-sky plots for 3 times during the night: 11 p.m., 2 a.m., & 5 a.m.

11 p.m. August 12, 2015. Created using Bob Moler’s LookingUp program for Windows.

2 a.m. August 13, 2015. Created using Bob Moler’s LookingUp program for Windows.

5 a.m. August 13, 2015. Created using Bob Moler’s LookingUp program for Windows.

08/10/2015 -Ephemeris – The Tears of St. Lawrence

Ephemeris for Monday, August 10th.  The Sun rises at 6:39.  It’ll be up for 14 hours and 17 minutes, setting at 8:56.   The Moon, half way from last quarter to new, will rise at 3:55 tomorrow morning.

Today is the Catholic Church’s feast of Saint Lawrence a deacon, who was martyred around 258.  I make reference to this because of the Perseid meteor shower which will reach peak early Thursday morning.  It is also known as the Tears of St Lawrence or St Lawrence’s Fiery Tears because the meteor shower comes near the date of the feast.  We know these meteors as the Perseids because the appear to come from just off the constellation of Perseus the hero in our northern sky.  Small bits of rocky material are the meteoroids that have been shed from Comet Swift-Tuttle on its previous passes near the sun strike the Earth’s atmosphere.  Since the comet’s orbit nearly crosses the Earth’s orbit we pass through this ring of debris every year.

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

Addendum

The Perseid meteor shower radiant a about 2 a,m, during the period of the shower. Created using my LookingUp program.

My best Perseid photo. From the 70’s.

 

08/07/2015 – Ephemeris – An opportunity to view the heavens tonight

Ephemeris for Friday, August 7th.  The Sun rises at 6:35.  It’ll be up for 14 hours and 25 minutes, setting at 9:00.   The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 1:27 tomorrow morning.

Tonight the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will host a star party at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory.  Featured if weather permits will be the planet Saturn and some of the wonders of the summer Milky Way.  In any case we’ll be previewing the skies of August and September, what I consider the richest part of the heavens.  It has more beautiful sights than the skies of winter, that everyone raves about.  The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Road opening at 9 p.m.  The star party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes originally slated for tomorrow has been canceled due to the damage from last Sunday’s storm.  The next star party at the Dunes will be September 12th at the Dune Climb.

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

08/06/2015 – Ephemeris – There’s an eagle in the stars

Ephemeris for Thursday, August 6th.  The Sun rises at 6:34.  It’ll be up for 14 hours and 27 minutes, setting at 9:02.   The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 12:46 tomorrow morning.

The southernmost star in the Summer Triangle of three bright stars is Altair, high in the south-southeast in the evening.  It’s in the head of the constellation Aquila the Eagle.  Altair is flanked by two stars, the eagle’s shoulders, and farther out are the wing tips.  Other stars to the lower right are in its body and a last three in its tail.  Near the tail binoculars will show a fuzzy spot that telescopes show as a compact star cluster, sometimes called the Wild Duck Cluster for its nearly triangular shape.  Aquila is flying northeastward through the Milky Way, where it is split in two by a cloud of gas and dust.  According to mythology the Trojan boy Ganymede was taken to heaven at the behest of the god Zeus by this eagle.

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

Addendum

Aquila the Eagle in the southeastern sky. Created using Stellarium.

Finder chart for M11, the Wild Duck Cluster, Created using Stellarium.

08/05/2015 – Ephemeris – Down to one easily visible evening planet

Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 5th.  The Sun rises at 6:33.  It’ll be up for 14 hours and 30 minutes, setting at 9:03.   The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 12:08 tomorrow morning.

Lets take a look at the bright planets for this week.  Our evening stars Venus and Jupiter leaving the evening sky in the west.  Venus will set 2 minutes after the Sun, so the only hope to spot it is before sunset, a dangerous prospect with the Sun so close.  Jupiter is just too faint in the twilight to pick up.  Venus is 10 days from inferior conjunction with the Sun.  Saturn is in the south in the evening twilight.  Saturn can be spotted just to the right of the constellation of Scorpius the scorpion and its bright red star Antares below and right of it.  Even small telescopes can see Saturn’s rings.  A spotting scope of 20 power magnification can show that Saturn has a ring.  Antares though is star-like, scintillating like a sparkler.

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

Addendum

Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury plus the star Regulus together at 9 p.m. August 5, 2015 with the bright Earth’s atmosphere removed. Created using Stellarium.

The reason I don’t discuss Mercury is that This will not be a good apparition of that planet.   Apparitions (appearances) of Mercury are best seen in the evening in late winter and spring.  Morning apparitions are best seen in late summer and autumn.

Saturn and the southern Milky Way and stars of summer at 10:30 p.m. August 5, 2015. Created using Stellarium.

What Saturn and its moons might appear like in a telescope at 10:30 p.m., August 5, 2015. Small telescopes will show only the moon Titan. Created using Stellarium.

This is a chart showing the sunrise and sunset skies for August 5, 2015 showing the location of the planets at that time. The traffic jam of planets near the western horizon at sunset is best seen in the first image above. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on the image to enlarge.

08/04/2015 – Ephemeris – Is it a swan or a cross?

Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 4th.  The Sun rises at 6:32.  It’ll be up for 14 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 9:04.   The Moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 11:33 this evening.

High in the east northeast as it gets dark flies the constellation of Cygnus the swan.  This constellation is also known as the Northern Cross.  The cross is seen lying on its side with the bright star Deneb at the head of the cross to the left.  The rest of the cross is delineated in the stars to the right.  As a swan, Deneb is the tail, the stars of the crosspiece of the cross are part of the leading edges of the wings as Cygnus flies south through the Milky Way.  There are faint stars that also define the tips and trailing edges of its wings.  It is a very good portrayal of a flying swan, like the mute swans we see on the wing in our area.  This is the form the Greek god Zeus took to seduce the maiden Leda in the Leda and the swan affair, out of whose union Pollux was born, who was the twin of Castor, both of whom are also in the stars as the constellation Gemini.  In Cygnus we are looking toward the direction that the Sun and the Earth are traveling as we orbit the center of the Milky Way.

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

Addendum

Cygnus The Swan Created using Stellarium.

Note for telescope owners:  The star that appears in the eye of the swan image above is Alberio (β Cygni), which splits into a beautiful binary star, whose component  stars are blue and gold.  It takes a bit more magnification than a pair of binoculars provides.

Note also the mythological citation in the program was omitted from the broadcast version due to time constraints.