06/02/2020 – Ephemeris – It’s 1968 all over again

A nod to the disturbing events happening back on Earth…

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, June 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 9:22, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:59. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 4:44 tomorrow morning. | It seems that we’re back to 1968 again. Civil unrest, an election year with an unpopular president, advances in space. In 1968, it was Apollo 8’s triumphant journey to and around the Moon. This year’s first commercial Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station, after 9 years of bumming rides from the Russians, whom we supposedly beat in the space race back in the 1960s, is our Apollo 8. Our unpopular wars in the Middle East now hardly make the news, unlike the Vietnam War, but the racial strife seems as bad as ever. To top it off, this year we have the COVID-19 pandemic that is destroying the economy and our way of life. No wonder I seek the solace of the stars in the universe beyond.

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

Addendum

Stars and the Milky Way centered on Perseus. Credit Bob Moler.