06/28/2019 – Ephemeris – Arcturus, just passing thru!

Ephemeris for Friday, June 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 33 minutes, setting at 9:32, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:59. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:42 tomorrow morning.

Arcturus is an orange-colored giant star, 37 light years away. We see it high in the south-southwest and pointed to by following the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper. Arcturus is a rapidly moving star. It’s velocity is about 76 miles per second (122 km/s). It’s almost at its nearest to the Sun now. In the next 1,500 years it will move about one degree, twice the width of the Moon toward Spica. Arcturus may have been part of a dwarf galaxy being assimilated by the Milky Way which may account to its rapid motion. Arcturus is thought to be close to 8% more massive than the Sun and about 6 to 8 ½ billion years old. It has entered its red giant stage after running out of hydrogen in its core. It may be a glimpse of what the Sun will look like in 5 billion years.

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

Addendum

Bootes and the Big Dipper, a finder chart for Arcturus.

Closeup of the region around Arcturus. The short line toward 5 o’clock is the distance Arcturus will travel in the next 1,500 years. Note there are other stars, which are nearby like Arcturus, with comparable proper motions. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).