11/29/2019 – Ephemeris – Previewing December skies

Ephemeris for Friday, November 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 7 minutes, setting at 5:04, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:58. The Moon, 3 days past new, will set at 7:54 this evening.

December is the month with the shortest daylight hours. Winter will officially arrive at the winter solstice on the 21st at 11:19 p.m. There will be little movement in the sunset times: In the Traverse City/Interlochen area this will be from 5:03 Sunday, down to 5:02 and then advancing to 5:11 at the end of the month. There is more movement in the sunrise times which will advance from 7:59 Sunday to 8:20 on the 31st. There is also little movement of daylight hours. The noontime Sun will hang around 22 to 23 degrees above the southern horizon all month. The Geminid meteors on the 14th will have competition with the nearly full moon. And to change the subject, tonight the planet Saturn will appear just above the crescent Moon.

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

Addendum

December Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for December 2019 (9 p.m. EST December 15, 2019). Click on image to enlarge.Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
Credit my LookingUp program.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST 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, West 75° longitude. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT).

December Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for December mornings 2019 (6 a.m. EST December 15, 2019). Click on image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program. Credit my LookingUp program.

For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.

• Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
• The leaky bowl of the Big Dipper drips on Leo.
• Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, then
• Follow the spike to Spica.
• The Summer Triangle is in red.
• GemR on the star charts is the radiant of the Geminid meteor shower which peaks on the 14th.

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

			EST
Traverse City	Morning twilight		Evening twilight		Dark night		Moon
Date	Astro.	Nautical	Nautical	Astro.	Start	End	Illum.
2019-12-01	6h20m	6h55m	18h16m	18h51m	21h56m	6h20m	0.28
2019-12-02	6h21m	6h56m	18h15m	18h51m	22h58m	6h21m	0.38
2019-12-03	6h22m	6h57m	18h15m	18h50m	0h00m	6h22m	0.47
2019-12-04	6h23m	6h58m	18h15m	18h50m	–	6h23m	0.57
2019-12-05	6h24m	6h59m	18h15m	18h50m	1h01m	6h24m	0.66
2019-12-06	6h25m	7h00m	18h15m	18h50m	2h02m	6h25m	0.75
2019-12-07	6h25m	7h01m	18h15m	18h50m	3h03m	6h25m	0.83
2019-12-08	6h26m	7h02m	18h15m	18h50m	4h05m	6h26m	0.9
2019-12-09	6h27m	7h02m	18h15m	18h50m	5h09m	6h27m	0.95
2019-12-10	6h28m	7h03m	18h15m	18h50m	6h15m	6h28m	0.99
2019-12-11	6h29m	7h04m	18h15m	18h50m	–	–	0.99
2019-12-12	6h29m	7h05m	18h15m	18h51m	–	–	1
2019-12-13	6h30m	7h06m	18h15m	18h51m	–	–	0.99
2019-12-14	6h31m	7h06m	18h15m	18h51m	18h51m	19h36m	0.95
2019-12-15	6h32m	7h07m	18h16m	18h51m	18h51m	20h46m	0.89
2019-12-16	6h32m	7h08m	18h16m	18h52m	18h52m	21h59m	0.8
2019-12-17	6h33m	7h08m	18h16m	18h52m	18h52m	23h14m	0.7
2019-12-18	6h30m	7h05m	18h13m	18h48m	18h48m	–	0.59
2019-12-19	6h30m	7h06m	18h13m	18h49m	18h49m	0h28m	0.47
2019-12-20	6h31m	7h06m	18h14m	18h49m	18h49m	1h42m	0.35
2019-12-21	6h31m	7h07m	18h14m	18h50m	18h50m	2h55m	0.24
2019-12-22	6h32m	7h07m	18h15m	18h50m	18h50m	4h09m	0.15
2019-12-23	6h32m	7h08m	18h15m	18h51m	18h51m	5h22m	0.08
2019-12-24	6h33m	7h08m	18h16m	18h51m	18h51m	6h33m	0.03
2019-12-25	6h33m	7h09m	18h16m	18h52m	18h52m	6h33m	0
2019-12-26	6h33m	7h09m	18h17m	18h52m	18h52m	6h33m	0
2019-12-27	6h34m	7h09m	18h18m	18h53m	18h53m	6h34m	0.03
2019-12-28	6h34m	7h10m	18h18m	18h54m	19h40m	6h34m	0.07
2019-12-29	6h34m	7h10m	18h19m	18h54m	20h43m	6h34m	0.13
2019-12-30	6h35m	7h10m	18h20m	18h55m	21h46m	6h35m	0.21
2019-12-31	6h35m	7h10m	18h20m	18h56m	22h47m	6h35m	0.29

Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2018/09/27/.

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

     Date     Time    Event
Dec  1  Su            Venus: 27.9° E
     4  We   1:58 am  First Quarter
     4  We  11:09 pm  Moon Apogee: 404400 km
    11  We   6:03 am  Venus-Saturn: 1.8° N
    12  Th  12:12 am  Full Moon
    13  Fr   9:15 am  Moon Ascending Node
    13  Fr   3:57 pm  Moon North Dec.: 23.2° N
    14  Sa   1:25 pm  Geminid Shower: ZHR = 120
    15  Su  10:54 am  Moon-Beehive: 1° S
    18  We   3:30 pm  Moon Perigee: 370300 km
    18  We  11:57 pm  Last Quarter
    21  Sa  11:19 pm  Winter Solstice
    22  Su   8:49 pm  Moon-Mars: 3.6° S
    22  Su  10:00 pm  Ursid Shower: ZHR = 10
    26  Th  12:13 am  New Moon
    26  Th  12:18 am  Annular Solar Eclipse  (Asia, Australia)
    26  Th   8:01 am  Moon Descending Node
    26  Th   3:11 pm  Moon South Dec.: 23.2° S
    27  Fr   1:06 pm  Jupiter Conjunction
    28  Sa   8:32 pm  Moon-Venus: 1.1° N
Jan  1  We            Venus: 34.6° E

All event times are given for UTC-5 Eastern Standard Time.

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
December, 2019    Local time zone: EST
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Sun  1| 07:59a  05:03p  09:04 | 06:13p  06:50a |      Set  09:56p   29%|
|Mon  2| 08:00a  05:03p  09:02 | 06:12p  06:51a |      Set  10:58p   38%|
|Tue  3| 08:01a  05:03p  09:01 | 06:12p  06:52a |      Set  12:00a   47%|
|Wed  4| 08:02a  05:02p  08:59 | 06:12p  06:53a |F Qtr Set  01:01a   57%|
|Thu  5| 08:04a  05:02p  08:58 | 06:12p  06:54a |      Set  02:01a   66%|
|Fri  6| 08:05a  05:02p  08:57 | 06:12p  06:55a |      Set  03:02a   75%|
|Sat  7| 08:06a  05:02p  08:56 | 06:12p  06:56a |      Set  04:05a   82%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  8| 08:07a  05:02p  08:55 | 06:12p  06:56a |      Set  05:09a   89%|
|Mon  9| 08:07a  05:02p  08:54 | 06:12p  06:57a |      Set  06:15a   95%|
|Tue 10| 08:08a  05:02p  08:53 | 06:12p  06:58a |      Set  07:22a   98%|
|Wed 11| 08:09a  05:02p  08:52 | 06:12p  06:59a |      Set  08:28a  100%|
|Thu 12| 08:10a  05:02p  08:51 | 06:12p  07:00a |Full  Rise 05:38p   99%|
|Fri 13| 08:11a  05:02p  08:50 | 06:12p  07:01a |      Rise 06:33p   96%|
|Sat 14| 08:12a  05:02p  08:50 | 06:13p  07:01a |      Rise 07:36p   91%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 15| 08:13a  05:02p  08:49 | 06:13p  07:02a |      Rise 08:46p   83%|
|Mon 16| 08:13a  05:03p  08:49 | 06:13p  07:03a |      Rise 09:59p   74%|
|Tue 17| 08:14a  05:03p  08:48 | 06:13p  07:03a |      Rise 11:14p   64%|
|Wed 18| 08:15a  05:03p  08:48 | 06:14p  07:04a |      Rise 12:28a   52%|
|Thu 19| 08:15a  05:04p  08:48 | 06:14p  07:05a |L Qtr Rise 01:42a   41%|
|Fri 20| 08:16a  05:04p  08:48 | 06:15p  07:05a |      Rise 02:55a   30%|
|Sat 21| 08:16a  05:04p  08:48 | 06:15p  07:06a |      Rise 04:09a   20%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 22| 08:17a  05:05p  08:48 | 06:16p  07:06a |      Rise 05:22a   12%|
|Mon 23| 08:17a  05:05p  08:48 | 06:16p  07:07a |      Rise 06:34a    6%|
|Tue 24| 08:18a  05:06p  08:48 | 06:17p  07:07a |      Rise 07:41a    2%|
|Wed 25| 08:18a  05:07p  08:48 | 06:17p  07:07a |      Rise 08:42a    0%|
|Thu 26| 08:18a  05:07p  08:48 | 06:18p  07:08a |New   Set  05:40p    1%|
|Fri 27| 08:19a  05:08p  08:49 | 06:19p  07:08a |      Set  06:38p    3%|
|Sat 28| 08:19a  05:09p  08:49 | 06:19p  07:08a |      Set  07:40p    8%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 29| 08:19a  05:10p  08:50 | 06:20p  07:09a |      Set  08:43p   14%|
|Mon 30| 08:19a  05:10p  08:50 | 06:21p  07:09a |      Set  09:45p   22%|
|Tue 31| 08:20a  05:11p  08:51 | 06:22p  07:09a |      Set  10:47p   30%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset

Generated using my LookingUp for DOS program.

11/28/2019 – Ephemeris – This is the best time to spot Mercury in the morning

Ephemeris for Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 8 minutes, setting at 5:05, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:57. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 6:59 this evening.

The planet Mercury is at its greatest western elongation from the Sun this morning. Being west of the Sun it rises first. It being a planet inside the Earth’s orbit it appears to swing from the east side to the west side of the Sun, from the evening to the morning side of the Sun. It never appears outside of twilight around here. For the next week it will be going away from us, and becoming more illuminated by the Sun from our perspective, and actually is getting brighter. Then it will seem to fall back, actually moving around and behind the Sun. This evening the thin sliver of the Moon will appear near brilliant Venus. The best time to look is around an hour after sunset, which is about 6 p.m. Venus will set at 6:43 p.m.

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

Addendum

Mercury in the morning, about an hour before sunrise (7 a.m. here) for the next week. The aspect of its orbit changes for two reasons, sunrise time is advancing a bit, and the Earth is changing its position with respect to Mercury and its orbit, and Mercury too is moving. Create using Stellarium and GIMP.

11/27/2019 – Ephemeris – Where are all the naked-eye planets?

Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 5:05, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:56. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 6:10 this evening.

Let’s look at all the naked-eye planets for this week. Venus will be briefly visible low in the west-southwest before it sets at 6:42 p.m. Jupiter will appear to the right of Venus tonight. It will set at 6:34 p.m. Saturn, the ringed planet, will be in the south-southwestern sky in the evening, and will set at 8:01 p.m. Jupiter is approaching Saturn in our sky, and when we see them again next year they will appear very close. Mars is in the morning sky and will rise in the east-southeast at 5:19 a.m. It’s not very bright because it’s 223 million (359 million km) miles away, but it’s getting slowly closer to the Earth. Mercury can be spotted after it rises in the east at 6:06 a.m. It will be at its greatest separation from the Sun tomorrow morning.

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

Addendum

Jupiter, Venus and Saturn against a flat horizon tonight at 6 p.m. November 27, 2019. Created using Stellarium.

 

Telescopic views of Venus, Jupiter and Saturn with the same magnification at 6 p.m. tonight November 27, 2019. In the morning, I will show Mars here when it reaches an apparent diameter of 10″ (seconds of arc).  It’s currently 3.9″. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

Mars and Mercury in the morning with the star Spica at 7 a.m. November 28, 2019. Created using Stellarium.

Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on November 27, 2019. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 28th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.

11/26/2019 – Ephemeris – The Pleiades in mythology

Ephemeris for Tuesday, November 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 12 minutes, setting at 5:06, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:54. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.

Let’s look at how some other cultures saw the Pleiades, the star cluster that is seen in the eastern sky these evenings. To the Anishinaabe native peoples around here the Pleiades is the “Hole in the Sky” or the seven stones that are heated for the sweat lodge ceremony. To the Kiowa these were sister stars that had been whisked into the sky from the top of Devils Tower in Wyoming where they were threatened by a huge bear. In Norse mythology these were the goddess Freya’s hens. The name we know them by has rather misty origins. Some think the Greek name is from the mother of the seven sisters, Pleione. The Greek word for sail is similar to Pleiades, and some suggested that the appearance of the Pleiades in the morning sky signaled the best sailing weather in the Mediterranean region. (12/16/2016 – Ephemeris – The Pleiades in the mythology of many cultures)

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

Addendum

The Pleiades, about what you’d see in binoculars.

The Greek Pleiades a painting by Elihu Vedder in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Public Domain.

Seven maidens being attacked by a giant bear, having fled to the top of Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. Painting by Herbert Collins, http://www.nps.gov/deto

11/25/2019 – Ephemeris – Fomalhaut has a visible exoplanet

Ephemeris for Monday, November 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 14 minutes, setting at 5:06, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:53. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 7:41 tomorrow morning.

The lonely bright star low in the south at 8 p.m. these evenings is Fomalhaut the harbinger of autumn in my book, and about to leave as winter approaches. Fomalhaut means fishes mouth and is located at the head of Piscis Austrinus, a very dim constellation. Fomalhaut is a young white star only about 400 million years old with a disk of dust surrounding it. Near an outer dust ring, 15 years ago the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a spot. Four years later astronomers discovered that the spot moved along the dust lane and announced the first direct discovery of an exoplanet. In 2010 and 2012 the planet now dubbed Fomalhaut b or Dagon was observed again and it really does orbit Fomalhaut in a very eccentric orbit.

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

Addendum

Fomalhaut in the south at 8 p.m. in November. Created using Stellarium.

The track of observations of Fomalhaut b or Dagon in 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2012. Credit: NASA and ESA – http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/717874main_p1301aw-orig_full.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23735991

11/22/2019 – Ephemeris – Jupiter and Venus will appear to cross paths this weekend

Ephemeris for Friday, November 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 5:08, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:49. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:55 tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow night the planet Venus will be just below Jupiter low in the southwestern sky not long after sunset. Jupiter is retreating toward the Sun four times faster than Venus is advancing from the Sun. Jupiter will pass in conjunction with the Sun on December 27th and enter the morning sky. Venus after this will pass Saturn on December 11th. It will become Christmas Star this year. Venus will continue moving away from the Sun until March 24th next year. While Venus is hanging around low on the western horizon now, in winter and most of spring it will be high in the western sky after sunset, our Evening Star. Saturn itself will pass into the morning sky January 13th.

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

Addendum

Jupiter-Venus conjunction animation for 6 p.m. from Friday thru Monday November 22-25, 2019. Click on image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

11/21/2019 – Ephemeris – There may be a chance to see a meteor storm late tonight

Ephemeris for Thursday, November 21st. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 5:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:48. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 2:39 tomorrow morning.

Tonight we might be in for a treat it it is clear: a meteor storm. It comes from a very minor meteoroid stream called the Alpha Monocerotids. That means the meteors will appear to come from the constellation of Monoceros the unicorn, just east of Orion. Don’t worry about that. At the predicted peak time 11:50 p.m. (04:50 UTC November 22) the meteors will appear to come from the east, but appear all over the sky. Predictions of this sort are tricky since members of the meteor stream can only be tracked as they burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. This shower had meteor storms in 1925, 1935, 1985, and 1995. In 1985 there was an outburst at a rate of 700 meteors an hour. The storm is expected to last less than an hour.

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

Addendum

Alpha Monocerotis radiant at 11:30 p.m. November 21, 2019. Note the word alpha is replaced by the Greek letter α. The other shower radiant the seen, the November Orionids is another minor shower which will reach peak on the 28th with an estimated 3 meteors an hour. The normal rate for the α-Monocerotids is 5 an hour. Click on the image to enlarge.  Created using Stellarium.

Online sources:  Bad Astronomer Phil Plait – https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/will-the-unicorn-give-us-a-meteor-storm-on-november-22;  here’s another source: https://www.meteornews.net/2019/11/06/likely-alpha-monocerotids-amo246-outburst-on-the-morning-of-november-22-2019/.

 

 

11/20/2019 – Ephemeris – Where are the naked-eye planets this week

Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 20th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 24 minutes, setting at 5:10, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:47. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 1:24 tomorrow morning.

Let’s look at the naked-eye planets for this week. Venus is starting to make an evening appearance. It will be briefly visible low in the west-southwest before it sets at 6:33 p.m. Jupiter will be very low in the southwestern sky as it gets dark. It will set at 6:55 p.m. Saturn, the ringed planet, will be in the south-southwestern sky in the evening, and will set at 8:26 p.m. Jupiter is approaching Saturn in our sky. Mars is in the morning sky and will rise in the east-southeast at 5:22 a.m. It’s not very bright because it’s 226 million (365 million km) miles away, but it’s getting slowly closer to the Earth. Mercury can be spotted after it rises in the east at 6:11 a.m. It will be getting brighter over the next two weeks.

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

Addendum

Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn against a lake horizon at 6 p.m. November 20, 2019. Created using Stellarium.

Telescopic views of Venus, Jupiter and Saturn with the same magnification at 6 p.m. tonight November 20, 2019. In the morning, Mars is to tiny. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

Mars and Mercury in the morning at 7 a.m. November 21, 2019. Created using Stellarium.

The Moon as it might be seen in binoculars, including earth shine, at 7 a.m. tomorrow November 21, 2019. Created using Stellarium.

Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on November 20, 2019. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 21st. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.

 

11/19/2019 – Ephemeris – Spying Capella low in the northeast

Ephemeris for Tuesday, November 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 26 minutes, setting at 5:11, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:46. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 12:09 tomorrow morning.

As I was driving northward in the country at 6:15 Saturday night under partly cloudy skies I spied a bright star low in the north-northeast. It was Capella, the northernmost of the 21 first magnitude stars, and the 4th brightest star visible from our earthly location near 45 degrees north latitude. It’s in the pentagon shaped constellation of Auriga the Charioteer, which I couldn’t make out due to the clouds and the fact I was driving. Capella has the same color as the Sun, but there the similarity ends. Capella is made up of two massive stars that are so close that they appear as one. Capella is 43 light years away. At that distance a star the brightness of the Sun would barely be visible to the naked eye.

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

Addendum

Low northern stars about an hour after sunset on November 19, 2019. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.

11/18/2019 – Ephemeris – More about the Leonid meteor shower that just reached peak this morning

Ephemeris for Monday, November 18th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 28 minutes, setting at 5:12, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:44. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 10:56 this evening.

The Leonid meteor shower should have reached its peak early this morning hindered by a bright waning gibbous Moon. In past years, usually every 33 years the Leonid meteors have a super peak, called a meteor storm, where thousands of meteors streak through the skies. These appear for a brief period over a rather small geographic area. In 1966 it occurred principally over the Rocky Mountains. The comet responsible is 55P/Comet Tempel-Tuttle, independently discovered by two astronomers Tempel and Tuttle in 1865 & 1866. The comet has a 33 year orbit of the Sun, and its orbit crosses very close to the Earth’s orbit. Comets are notorious litter bugs, shedding gas, dust and pebble sized debris as they come close to the warming rays of the Sun.

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

Addendum

The Leonid meteor shower as seen from space. The time is set for today so the Earth’s blue dot is lost in the stream of meteors crossing the Earth’s orbit (3rd one out from the Sun) just above the 9 o’clock position. The long ellipse is the orbit of Comet Tempel-Tuttle and the purple dot near the aphelion near Uranus’ orbit is the calculated current position of the comet. The flurry of dots are the calculated positions of meteors that whose orbits have been calculated. Click on the image to enlarge. Credit: NASA’s CAMS video camera surveillance network, and were calculated by meteor astronomer Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center. This visualization is developed and hosted by Ian Webster.

These interactive animations can be found on the International Meteor Organization website:  https://www.imo.net. under Resources and Meteor Shower Calendar.