05/31/2022 – Ephemeris – Let’s preview the sunny month of June

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, May 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 19 minutes, setting at 9:20, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:00. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 10:56 this evening.

Let’s preview June skies. There will be a lot of sun in June and very little night. The daylight hours will increase a bit from 15 hours and 21 minutes Tomorrow to 15 hours and 34 minutes on the 21st, retreating back to 15 hours 31 minutes at month’s end. The altitude of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will hover around 68 to 69 degrees. Local noon, when the Sun is actually due south, will occur at about 1:43 p.m. Summer begins on the 21st at 5:14 am, when the Sun reaches its farthest north. The actual amount of nighttime will be quite short, mostly due to the length of daylight, but also because twilight lasts much longer than average because the Sun sets at a shallow angle. On the 21st, there’s theoretically only 3 ½ hours of total darkness if the Moon wasn’t up.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

June Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for June 2022 (11 p.m. EDT June 15, 2022). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 11 p.m. EDT in the evening and 4 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Interlochen/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). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Note the chart times of 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. are for the 15th. For each week before the 15th, add ½ hour (28 minutes if you’re picky). For each week after the 15th, subtract ½ hour, or 28 minutes. 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 for weekly positions.

June Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for June mornings, 2022 (4 am EDT, June 15, 2022). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

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.
• Leaky dipper drips on Leo
• Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, and
• Extend like a spike to Spica,

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

			EDT
	Morning	Twilight	Evening	Twilight	Dark	Night	Moon
Date	Astro.	Nautical	Nautical	Astro.	Start	End	Illum.
2022-06-01	3h44m	4h42m	22h47m	23h46m	23h49m	3h44m	0.07
2022-06-02	3h42m	4h42m	22h48m	23h47m	–	3h42m	0.12
2022-06-03	3h41m	4h41m	22h49m	23h49m	0h34m	3h41m	0.19
2022-06-04	3h40m	4h40m	22h50m	23h50m	1h11m	3h40m	0.27
2022-06-05	3h39m	4h39m	22h51m	23h52m	1h41m	3h39m	0.36
2022-06-06	3h38m	4h39m	22h52m	23h53m	2h07m	3h38m	0.46
2022-06-07	3h37m	4h38m	22h53m	23h54m	2h29m	3h37m	0.56
2022-06-08	3h36m	4h38m	22h54m	23h56m	2h49m	3h36m	0.66
2022-06-09	3h35m	4h37m	22h55m	23h57m	3h09m	3h35m	0.76
2022-06-10	3h34m	4h37m	22h55m	23h58m	3h29m	3h34m	0.85
2022-06-11	3h34m	4h37m	22h56m	23h59m	–	–	0.92
2022-06-12	3h33m	4h36m	22h57m	0h00m	–	–	0.98
2022-06-13	3h33m	4h36m	22h57m	0h01m	–	–	1
2022-06-14	3h32m	4h36m	22h58m	0h02m	–	–	0.99
2022-06-15	3h32m	4h36m	22h59m	0h02m	–	–	0.95
2022-06-16	3h32m	4h36m	22h59m	0h03m	–	–	0.89
2022-06-17	3h32m	4h36m	22h59m	0h04m	0h04m	0h18m	0.81
2022-06-18	3h32m	4h36m	23h00m	0h04m	0h04m	0h56m	0.71
2022-06-19	3h32m	4h36m	23h00m	0h05m	0h05m	1h25m	0.6
2022-06-20	3h32m	4h36m	23h00m	0h05m	0h05m	1h49m	0.49
2022-06-21	3h32m	4h36m	23h01m	0h05m	0h05m	2h10m	0.39
2022-06-22	3h32m	4h37m	23h01m	0h05m	0h05m	2h29m	0.29
2022-06-23	3h33m	4h37m	23h01m	0h05m	0h05m	2h48m	0.21
2022-06-24	3h33m	4h37m	23h01m	0h05m	0h05m	3h09m	0.13
2022-06-25	3h34m	4h38m	23h01m	0h05m	0h05m	3h32m	0.08
2022-06-26	3h34m	4h38m	23h01m	0h05m	0h05m	3h34m	0.03
2022-06-27	3h35m	4h39m	23h01m	0h05m	0h05m	3h35m	0.01
2022-06-28	3h36m	4h39m	23h01m	0h04m	0h04m	3h36m	0
2022-06-29	3h37m	4h40m	23h00m	0h04m	0h04m	3h37m	0.01
2022-06-30	3h38m	4h41m	23h00m	0h03m	0h03m	3h38m	0.04

The twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts), with some corrections.

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

Jun  1  We            Venus: 36.5° W
     1  We   6:32 pm  Moon North Dec.: 26.9° N
     1  We   9:14 pm  Moon Apogee: 406,200 km
     3  Fr   1:42 am  Moon-Pollux: 2.4° N
     4  Sa   3:17 am  Moon-Beehive: 4° S
     7  Tu  10:48 am  First Quarter
    12  Su   6:02 am  Moon Descending Node
    14  Tu   7:52 am  Full Strawberry Moon (Super Moon)
    14  Tu   7:21 pm  Moon Perigee: 357,400 km
    15  We   6:59 am  Moon South Dec.: 26.9° S
    16  Th  10:59 am  Mercury Elongation: 23.2° W
    18  Sa   8:22 am  Moon-Saturn: 4.3° N
    20  Mo  11:11 pm  Last Quarter
    21  Tu   5:14 am  Summer Solstice
    21  Tu   9:31 am  Moon-Jupiter: 2.9° N
    22  We   2:05 pm  Mercury-Aldebaran: 2.9° N
    22  We   2:16 pm  Moon-Mars: 1° N
    22  We   8:53 pm  Venus-Pleiades: 5.7° S
    25  Sa   3:10 am  Moon Ascending Node
    25  Sa   5:27 pm  Moon-Pleiades: 3.9° N
    26  Su   4:11 am  Moon-Venus: 3° S
    28  Tu  10:52 pm  New Moon
    29  We  12:06 am  Moon North Dec.: 26.9° N
    29  We   2:08 am  Moon Apogee: 406,600 km
    30  Th  10:45 pm  Venus-Aldebaran: 4.1° N
Jul  1  Fr            Venus: 29.6° W

Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html.

Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events

LU                  Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
June, 2022    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Wed  1| 06:00a  09:21p  15:21 | 10:44p  04:37a |      Set  11:49p    6%|
|Thu  2| 05:59a  09:22p  15:22 | 10:45p  04:36a |      Set  12:34a   11%|
|Fri  3| 05:59a  09:23p  15:23 | 10:46p  04:35a |      Set  01:11a   17%|
|Sat  4| 05:58a  09:23p  15:24 | 10:47p  04:35a |      Set  01:41a   25%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  5| 05:58a  09:24p  15:26 | 10:48p  04:34a |      Set  02:06a   34%|
|Mon  6| 05:58a  09:25p  15:27 | 10:49p  04:33a |      Set  02:28a   44%|
|Tue  7| 05:57a  09:25p  15:28 | 10:50p  04:33a |F Qtr Set  02:49a   54%|
|Wed  8| 05:57a  09:26p  15:29 | 10:51p  04:32a |      Set  03:08a   64%|
|Thu  9| 05:57a  09:27p  15:29 | 10:52p  04:32a |      Set  03:29a   74%|
|Fri 10| 05:57a  09:27p  15:30 | 10:53p  04:31a |      Set  03:52a   83%|
|Sat 11| 05:56a  09:28p  15:31 | 10:53p  04:31a |      Set  04:19a   91%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 12| 05:56a  09:28p  15:32 | 10:54p  04:31a |      Set  04:54a   97%|
|Mon 13| 05:56a  09:29p  15:32 | 10:55p  04:30a |      Set  05:41a  100%|
|Tue 14| 05:56a  09:29p  15:33 | 10:55p  04:30a |Full  Rise 10:22p  100%|
|Wed 15| 05:56a  09:30p  15:33 | 10:56p  04:30a |      Rise 11:27p   96%|
|Thu 16| 05:56a  09:30p  15:34 | 10:56p  04:30a |      Rise 12:17a   91%|
|Fri 17| 05:56a  09:30p  15:34 | 10:57p  04:30a |      Rise 12:55a   82%|
|Sat 18| 05:56a  09:31p  15:34 | 10:57p  04:30a |      Rise 01:25a   73%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 19| 05:56a  09:31p  15:34 | 10:57p  04:30a |      Rise 01:49a   62%|
|Mon 20| 05:57a  09:31p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:30a |L Qtr Rise 02:09a   51%|
|Tue 21| 05:57a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:30a |      Rise 02:28a   41%|
|Wed 22| 05:57a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:31a |      Rise 02:48a   31%|
|Thu 23| 05:57a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:31a |      Rise 03:08a   22%|
|Fri 24| 05:58a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:31a |      Rise 03:31a   15%|
|Sat 25| 05:58a  09:32p  15:34 | 10:58p  04:32a |      Rise 03:59a    9%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 26| 05:58a  09:32p  15:33 | 10:58p  04:32a |      Rise 04:32a    4%|
|Mon 27| 05:59a  09:32p  15:33 | 10:58p  04:33a |      Rise 05:13a    1%|
|Tue 28| 05:59a  09:32p  15:32 | 10:58p  04:33a |New   Set  09:44p    0%|
|Wed 29| 06:00a  09:32p  15:32 | 10:58p  04:34a |      Set  10:32p    1%|
|Thu 30| 06:00a  09:32p  15:31 | 10:57p  04:34a |      Set  11:11p    3%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset

Generated using my LookingUp for DOS program.

05/30/2022 – Ephemeris – There might be a spectacular meteor shower/storm tonight after midnight!

This is Ephemeris for Memorial Day, Monday, May 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 18 minutes, setting at 9:19, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:00. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, SW3 for short began to breakup in 1995, 27 years ago. Two large chunks of the comet’s nucleus and dozens of smaller pieces have been seen. We expect a vast debris field to be expanding from the remnants of the comet, unseen. Astronomers, calculating what happened to that unseen debris cloud, expect the Earth to run into a part of it around 1 am (EDT, 5 hours UT), give or take, tomorrow morning. Causing, if we’re lucky, a meteor shower or meteor storm. The radiant point from which the meteors seem to come is from between the Big Dipper’s handle and the bright star Arcturus. They will appear all over the sky. I’m crossing my fingers on this one, it could be great, or it could be nothing.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Position of the Tau Herculid radiant at 1 am, May 31, 2022. However, meteors will appear all over the sky, but could be traced back to the radiant. These meteors will appear to travel a lot slower than the Perseid meteors of August. Created using Stellarium for the star field and LibreOffice for annotations.

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 Hubble Space Telescope images from 2006 showing the breakup of the comet. Credit: NASA.

05/27/2022 – Ephemeris – There could be a spectacular meteor display Tuesday early morning, or nothing!

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, May 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 9:16, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:02. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 5:03 tomorrow morning.

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, SW3 for short began to breakup in 1995, 27 years ago. Two large chunks of the comet’s nucleus and dozens of smaller pieces have been seen. A vast, unseen debris field is expected to be expanding from the remnants of the comet. Astronomers, calculating what happened to that unseen debris cloud, expect the Earth to run into a part of it around 1 am (EDT, 5 hours UT), give or take, on Tuesday, May 31st (That’s late Memorial Day night). Causing, if we’re lucky, a meteor shower or meteor storm. The radiant point from which the meteors seem to come is from between the Big Dipper’s handle and the bright star Arcturus. They will appear all over the sky. I’m crossing my fingers on this one, it could be great, or it could be nothing.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Position of the Tau Herculid radiant at 1 am, May 31, 2022. However, meteors will appear all over the sky, but could be traced back to the radiant. These meteors will appear to travel a lot slower than the Perseid meteors of August. Created using Stellarium for the star field and LibreOffice for annotations.

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 Hubble Space Telescope images from 2006 showing the breakup of the comet. Credit: NASA.

05/26/2022 – Ephemeris – There may be a spectacular meteor storm Tuesday am or nothing!

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, May 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 9:16, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:03. The Moon, halfway from last quarter to new, will rise at 4:42 tomorrow morning.

Early risers tomorrow morning should be able to see, if it’s clear, the planet Venus just above and right of the waning crescent Moon. The last of the visible Moon-planet encounters this month. Another event this month may be the Tau Herculid meteor shower. This may be a spectacular meteor shower, or nothing. It would be the result of the breakup of Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 that started back in 1995. SW3, as it’s known for short, has a 5.44 year orbit of the Sun, so we only get a good look at it about every 11 years currently. As the nucleus breaks up, the debris field widens, with time. The comet will pass close to the orbit of the Earth in a few months. The comet’s orbit comes closest to the Earth’s orbit on May 31st. If the debris cloud has widened enough by now, the Earth should intercept it around 1 am our time that morning.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Position of the Tau Herculid radiant at 1 am, May 31, 2022. However, meteors will appear all over the sky, but could be traced back to the radiant. These meteors will appear to travel a lot slower than the Perseid meteors of August. The meteor storm, if it occurs, should peak around 1 am. However, there is an uncertainty with the time or if the meteor will show up. Created using Stellarium for the star field and LibreOffice for annotations.

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 Hubble Space Telescope images from 2006 showing the breakup of the comet. Credit: NASA.

05/25/2022 – Ephemeris – Let’s search for the naked-eye planets for this week

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 9:15, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:04. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:22 tomorrow morning. | Let’s search for the naked-eye planets for this week. All the naked-eye planets are back in the morning sky, although the newcomer, Mercury, is too close to the Sun to be seen, and may stay that way for the rest of its morning appearance. That’s at least for those as far north as we are (45° N). At 5 am tomorrow the planets will be spread out from brilliant Venus low in the east to Saturn higher in the southeast. To the right of Venus, tomorrow morning, will be the thin crescent Moon. Farther right is the quite bright Jupiter. Just to the right of Jupiter will be the dimmest of the 4, Mars, which is closing on Jupiter. The two will seem to pass each other on Sunday. All will be in line sloping to the upper right with Saturn all by its lonesome in the southeast.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

All the morning planets except Mercury, which is too close to the Sun to be seen, will be visible at 5 am tomorrow morning, May 26, 2022. The labels for Mars and Jupiter are on top of each other. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.

The waning crescent moon as it might appear in binoculars tomorrow morning, May 26, 2022. Earth shine might also illuminate the Moon’s night side. Created using Stellarium.

Views of Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification, tomorrow morning at 5:00 am, May 26, 2022. I do not show planets less than 10 seconds of arc in diameter. Apparent diameters: Venus 14.13″, 76.1% illuminated; Saturn 17.20″, its rings 40.06″; Jupiter 36.80″. Mars is not shown, its apparent diameter is 6.30″ and is 87.7% illuminated. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on May 25, 2022. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 26th. Notice that all the naked-eye planets are in the morning sky now. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp program.

05/23/2022 – Ephemeris – the Moon and the morning planets plus the Big Dipper’s stars Mizar and Alcor

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Monday, May 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 9:13, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:05. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 3:44 tomorrow morning.

This week, the Moon is in the process of passing the morning planets. This morning it passed Saturn. Tomorrow afternoon and evening it will pass Mars, then Jupiter. By Thursday morning, the Moon will be below and left of Jupiter. Thursday evening, it will pass Venus.

Back to tonight’s sky, the Big Dipper is nearly overhead. In its handle is a star or two that are interesting. It’s the star at the bend in the handle. It’s called Mizar. Next to it, for those with good eyesight, is a dimmer star, called Alcor. The name Mizar is from the Arabic, meaning apron or cover, while Alcor means the forgotten one. Before optometrists, the ability to actually see both stars was a test for good eyesight, especially for Arabic warriors. The pair is also known as the “Horse and the Rider”.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The Moon passing the morning planets at 5 am 5/23/2022 to 5/27/2022. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

Mizar and Alcor in the Big Dipper as it is nearly overhead towards the north. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.

Alcor seems to be a true companion to Mizar, since they are at the same distance of 81.7 light years. Alcor also has an unseen companion star. Mizar also has a much closer companion star that can be seen in a telescope. On top of that, each of them has another unseen companion star. Six stars for the price of two. What a deal.

How can you detect a companion star that can’t be seen? When analyzing a star’s spectra, the companion star betrays it presence by its chemical absorption lines shifting with respect to its primary due to the Doppler effect of its motion.

05/20/2022 – Ephemeris – Spring constellations: Corvus the crow

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, May 20th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours even, setting at 9:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:08. The Moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 2:23 tomorrow morning.

The small constellation of Corvus the crow is located low in the south at 10:30 this evening. It’s made of 6 dim stars, but the pattern is a distinctive but distorted box with two stars at the upper left marking that corner, and another two marking the lower right corner. I usually don’t notice the extra star at these corners, which denote the wings of this crow in flight to the upper right. To me the box is distinctive enough. It’s pretty much alone below Virgo and its bright star Spica, left an above it. I don’t see a crow here, but the box is distinctive in that no two sides are parallel. In the US we call the shape a trapezium, the British call it a trapezoid. Anyway it is a very memorable shape, at least to me.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Corvus the crow finder animation for 10:30 pm, May 20th. My visualization of the crow flying to the upper right doesn’t match the one the artist drew in this depiction. There’s no right or wrong. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

05/19/2022 – Ephemeris – Spring constellations: Virgo

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, May 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 58 minutes, setting at 9:08, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:09. The Moon, halfway from full to last quarter, will rise at 1:40 tomorrow morning.

Tonight at 11 p.m. in the south is the constellation and member of the zodiac: Virgo the virgin. Virgo is a large constellation of a reclining woman holding a stalk of wheat. Spica, the bluest of the first magnitude stars, is the head of that spike of wheat; and as such it ruled over the harvest in two of Virgo’s guises as the goddesses Persephone and Ceres. Virgo is also identified as Astraea the goddess of justice. The constellation of Libra, the scales, which she is associated with, is found just east of her low in the southeast. Early Christians who sought to de-paganize the heavens saw Virgo as the Virgin Mary. Virgo is the host to a great cluster of galaxies seen far beyond its stars, which belong to our galaxy.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Virgo finder animation with Libra added for 11 p.m. tonight, May 19th. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

Virgo as depicted in Urania’s Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London c.1825. From the Library of Congress. H/T Wikipedia.

Brighter members of the Virgo Cluster. Created using Stellarium. Open circles are galaxies, circles with crosses are globular star clusters, outlying members of our Milky Way galaxy.

05/18/2022 – Ephemeris – Let’s search for the naked-eye planets for this week

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 18th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 56 minutes, setting at 9:07, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:10. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 12:43 tomorrow morning.

Let’s search for the naked-eye planets for this week. The one bright planet in the evening sky, Mercury, will pass between us and the Sun this Saturday to join the rest of the naked-eye planets in the morning sky. So that’s where the planet action is. At 5:15 am tomorrow, the planets will be spread out from brilliant Venus low in the east to Saturn higher in the southeast. Venus may be missed at that time, but may be up sufficiently by 5:30. To the right of Venus is the quite bright Jupiter. Farther right will be the dimmest of the 4, Mars, which is closing on Jupiter. The two will seem to pass each other on the 29th of this month. All will be in line, sloping to the upper right. They are still quite a sight to behold in the morning twilight.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The Moon as it might appear in binoculars or a small telescope tomorrow morning at 1:30 May 19, 2022. Created using Stellarium, GIMP and LibreOffice.

The morning planet parade is widening as Venus is moving away from Jupiter and toward the Sun. Mars is approaching Jupiter and will catch up to it on the 29th. These are shown at 5:15 am, or about an hour before sunrise tomorrow morning, May 19, 2022. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.

Views of Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification, tomorrow morning at 5:15 am, May 19, 2022. I do not show planets less than 10 seconds of arc in diameter. Apparent diameters: Venus 14.73″, 73.9% illuminated; Saturn 16.99″, its rings 39.59″; Jupiter 36.17″. Mars is not shown, its apparent diameter is 6.14″ and is 88.1% illuminated. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on May 18, 2022. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 19th. Notice that all the naked-eye planets except Mercury are in the morning sky now. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp program.

05/16/2022 – Ephemeris – A peek at the monster at the center of the Milky Way

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, May 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 54 minutes, setting at 9:06, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:11. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 11:33 this evening.

This past Thursday the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration released an image of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, 27,000 light years away In the direction of the constellation of Sagittarius, which is currently visible low in the south in the morning hours. How they got the image is too complex to explain here, not that I know how they did it. It appears as a fuzzy donut with three bright areas around the edges. The dark center is the shadow of the black hole, because no light can escape it, plus it severely bends any light that comes near it. The light we’re seeing it is in millimeter microwaves, rather than the nanometer wavelengths of visible light. Part of the fuzziness of the image is due to the motion of the material surrounding it.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

This is the image released May 12, 2022 by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration.

M87* size compared to Sagittarius A*. The size of a black hole is directly related to its mass. The asterisk * is pronounced “Star”. Credit: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration.

It looks like I’ll have to update my presentation, What Lurks in the Center of the Milky Way? Astronomers were already sure it was a black hole, but the donut appearance of Sagittarius A* clinched it.

Off topic

Last night’s (May 15/16) lunar eclipse, shortly after the partial eclipse began behind clouds. I often checked until totality, but it seems to get worse. I may have missed brief clearings. When I got up, it was clear… Figures.