03/01/2018 – Ephemeris – Previewing March skies
Ephemeris for Thursday, March 1st. The Sun will rise at 7:20. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 6:30. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 6:16 this evening.
Let’s look at the skies for the month of March. The Sun will pass the celestial equator in March as the promising season of spring will begin. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 11 hours and 10 minutes today to 12 hours 43 minutes on the 31st. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be just under 38 degrees today and will ascend to nearly 50 degrees on the 31st. The altitude of the Sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower. Local apparent noon this month, when the Sun passes due south, will be about 12:49 p.m. and an hour later when daylight time starts. Spring will begin on the 20th at 12:15 p.m. Daylight Time, which now rules most of the year will start on the 11th.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
March Evening Sky Chart
![March evening star chart](https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/star-chart-march_2200-031518.png?w=595&h=594)
Star Chart for March 2018 (10 p.m. EDT March 15, 2018). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EDT in the evening and 6 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian. during EDT and 45 minutes behind our daylight standard time meridian. during EST). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes (Daylight Time) or 45 minutes (Standard Time) earlier than the current time if you are near your time meridian. Note that Daylight time starts at 2 a.m. Sunday March 11th for most US states.
Note the chart times of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. are for the 15th. For each week before the 15th add ½ hour (28 minutes if you’re picky). Watch out for the time change. For each week after the 15th subtract ½ hour. The planet positions are updated each Wednesday on this blog. For planet positions on dates other than the 15th, check the Wednesday planet posts on this blog.
March Morning Star Chart
![March Morning Star Chart](https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/star-chart-march-morning_0600-031518.png?w=595&h=595)
Star Chart for March 2018 mornings based on 6 a.m. March 15th. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
Star chart annotations
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Leaky Big Dipper drips on Leo.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus and
- Continue with a spike to Spica.
- The Summer Triangle is in red.
Twilight
Evening nautical twilight ends at 7:32 p.m. EST on the 1st, increasing to 9:16 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Evening astronomical twilight ends at 8:06 p.m. EST on the 1st, increasing to 9:52 p.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning astronomical twilight starts at 5:44 a.m. EST on the 1st, and decreasing to 5:49 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
Morning nautical twilight starts at 6:17 a.m. EST on the 1st, and decreasing to 6:25 a.m. EDT on the 31st.
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
Date Time Event Mar 01 Th Venus: 12.4° E 01 Th 12:09 am Moon-Regulus: 0.9° S 01 Th 7:51 pm Full Moon (Worm Moon) 04 Su 8:32 am Neptune Solar Conjunction 07 We 1:57 am Moon-Jupiter: 4.4° S 09 Fr 6:20 am Last Quarter 09 Fr 7:37 pm Moon-Mars: 4.2° S 10 Sa 9:37 pm Moon-Saturn: 2.5° S 11 Su 1:39 am Moon South Dec.: 20.1° S 11 Su 2:00 am Daylight Saving Time begins 11 Su 4:13 am Moon Apogee: 404700 km 13 Tu 11:48 pm Moon Descending Node 15 Th 10:59 am Mercury Greatest Eastern Elongation: 18.4° 17 Sa 9:12 am New Moon 18 Su 3:07 pm Moon-Venus: 3.9° N 19 Mo 3:51 am Mercury-Venus: 3.8° N 20 Tu 12:15 pm Vernal Equinox 22 Th 6:33 pm Moon-Aldebaran: 0.9° S 24 Sa 11:35 am First Quarter 24 Sa 10:04 pm Moon North Dec.: 20.2° N 26 Mo 1:17 pm Moon Perigee: 369100 km 26 Mo 8:52 pm Moon-Beehive: 2.2° N 27 Tu 6:56 am Moon Ascending Node 28 We 9:38 am Moon-Regulus: 1° S 31 Sa 8:37 am Full Moon (Blue Moon) Apr 01 Su Venus: 19.9° E
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html
If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year
or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC March, 2018 Local time zone: EST +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM | | | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN| +=======================================================================+ |Thu 1| 07:20a 06:30p 11:10 | 07:33p 06:17a |Full Rise 06:16p 100%| |Fri 2| 07:18a 06:31p 11:13 | 07:35p 06:15a | Rise 07:29p 99%| |Sat 3| 07:16a 06:33p 11:16 | 07:36p 06:13a | Rise 08:40p 95%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 4| 07:15a 06:34p 11:19 | 07:37p 06:12a | Rise 09:48p 89%| |Mon 5| 07:13a 06:35p 11:22 | 07:38p 06:10a | Rise 10:53p 82%| |Tue 6| 07:11a 06:37p 11:25 | 07:40p 06:08a | Rise 11:57p 73%| |Wed 7| 07:09a 06:38p 11:28 | 07:41p 06:06a | Rise 12:58a 64%| |Thu 8| 07:07a 06:39p 11:31 | 07:42p 06:05a | Rise 01:56a 55%| |Fri 9| 07:06a 06:41p 11:35 | 07:44p 06:03a |L Qtr Rise 02:50a 45%| |Sat 10| 07:04a 06:42p 11:38 | 07:45p 06:01a | Rise 03:40a 36%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ | EDT | Time Change | | | |Sun 11| 08:02a 07:43p 11:41 | 08:46p 06:59a | Rise 05:25a 27%| |Mon 12| 08:00a 07:45p 11:44 | 08:48p 06:57a | Rise 06:05a 19%| |Tue 13| 07:58a 07:46p 11:47 | 08:49p 06:55a | Rise 06:42a 12%| |Wed 14| 07:57a 07:47p 11:50 | 08:50p 06:54a | Rise 07:15a 7%| |Thu 15| 07:55a 07:48p 11:53 | 08:52p 06:52a | Rise 07:45a 3%| |Fri 16| 07:53a 07:50p 11:56 | 08:53p 06:50a | Rise 08:13a 0%| |Sat 17| 07:51a 07:51p 12:00 | 08:54p 06:48a |New Set 08:06p 0%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 18| 07:49a 07:52p 12:03 | 08:56p 06:46a | Set 09:13p 2%| |Mon 19| 07:47a 07:54p 12:06 | 08:57p 06:44a | Set 10:21p 7%| |Tue 20| 07:45a 07:55p 12:09 | 08:58p 06:42a | Set 11:30p 13%| |Wed 21| 07:44a 07:56p 12:12 | 09:00p 06:40a | Set 12:39a 22%| |Thu 22| 07:42a 07:57p 12:15 | 09:01p 06:38a | Set 01:48a 32%| |Fri 23| 07:40a 07:59p 12:18 | 09:02p 06:36a | Set 02:53a 43%| |Sat 24| 07:38a 08:00p 12:21 | 09:04p 06:34a |F Qtr Set 03:54a 54%| +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+ |Sun 25| 07:36a 08:01p 12:25 | 09:05p 06:32a | Set 04:47a 65%| |Mon 26| 07:34a 08:02p 12:28 | 09:06p 06:30a | Set 05:34a 76%| |Tue 27| 07:32a 08:04p 12:31 | 09:08p 06:28a | Set 06:14a 85%| |Wed 28| 07:31a 08:05p 12:34 | 09:09p 06:26a | Set 06:49a 92%| |Thu 29| 07:29a 08:06p 12:37 | 09:11p 06:25a | Set 07:21a 97%| |Fri 30| 07:27a 08:07p 12:40 | 09:12p 06:23a | Set 07:50a 100%| |Sat 31| 07:25a 08:09p 12:43 | 09:13p 06:21a |Full Rise 08:27p 100%| +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ * Nautical Twilight ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise