02/02/2023 – Ephemeris – It’s Groundhog Day again

This is Ephemeris for Groundhog Day, Thursday, February 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:52, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:59. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 7:16 tomorrow morning.

I’m not sure if Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow this morning or not, but February 2nd was a special day to the ancients. It is also Candlemas day for the Catholic Church. It is also celebrated as a cross-quarter day. The middle of the season of Winter, though the exact date of the middle of winter is the 4th. And if Phil sees his shadow, and we do get 6 more weeks of winter, that’s OK too. By the calendar, it’s actually more like 6 ½ weeks to the vernal or spring equinox and the official end of winter. Of the other cross-quarter days, only one stands out today. It’s May 1st, May Day. The way this year has been going, winter has had a hard time getting started. The temperatures are above normal and the snowfall below normal.

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

Poor Punxsutawney Phil, rousted out of his mid winter nap. They might be in the middle of a blizzard today. Credit: http://www.fuzzytoday.com

02/01/2023 – Ephemeris – Let’s find where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:51, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:00. The Moon, halfway from first quarter to full, will set at 6:31 tomorrow morning.

Let’s find where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week. Very early after sunset. Venus can be spotted low in the southwest by 6:30 pm. Mars, and Jupiter will be visible this evening by 7 pm. Mars will be above Orion in the southeast and is pulling away from the Pleiades. Jupiter will be in the southwest. Saturn is way below Venus now, so it’s gone until it reappears in the morning sky in a few months. It will make the crossing to the morning sky with its solar conjunction on the 16th. Mercury is now in the morning sky. It has a few more days visibility around 7 am in the southeastern sky after reaching greatest western elongation from the Sun last Sunday.

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

Venus low in the west-southwestern twilight at 6:30 pm tonight, February 1, 2023. Created using Stellarium.

Evening planets at 7 pm tonight, February 1, 2023. The orange line is the ecliptic, which is the plane of the Earth’s orbit. The sun appears on that line throughout the year. Notice that all the other planets are very close to that line. That is an artifact of the accretion disk from which the planets formed some 4 1/2 billion years ago. The planets still maintain the nearly same plane for their existence to this day. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.

The gibbous Moon tonight at 7:00 pm, labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

This is what Mercury might look like in the southeast around 7:20 tomorrow morning, February 2nd from Interlochen/Traverse City. At that time, it’ll be 5 degrees above a sea horizon, which is half the width of a fist held at arm’s length. Any trees of course will reduce it. Created using Stellarium.

The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on February 1, 2023. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 2nd. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.