01/07/2022 – Ephemeris – Help with your telescope tonight

This is Ephemeris for Friday, January 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 5:19, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:19. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 11:18 this evening.

Did you or someone in your family get a telescope for Christmas, or have one in a closet or attic because you don’t know how to put it together or how to operate it? Or maybe you are trying to figure out which one to buy. Well, tonight’s your night. The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will host a virtual telescope clinic via Zoom starting at 8 pm. Professor Jerry Dobek of Northwestern Michigan College will demonstrate the types of telescopes and how to use them. He and other members may be able to help particular problems by seeing participants telescopes using their webcams or smartphones. This should be interesting, to say the least. Go to gtastro.org for information and a link for the meeting.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT – 5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Here’s a quick guide to telescopes, how they work, and what’s important in selecting one that I wrote some time ago: Telescope Basics2.pdf

Alternately, when we get back to in-person star parties at the Northwestern Michigan College’s Joseph H. Rogers Observatory, we invite folks to bring their telescopes. Members can have a look at them at or near the end of the evening.