02/06/2023 – Ephemeris – The Persephone Period is ending

This is Ephemeris for Monday, February 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 2 minutes, setting at 5:58, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:54. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 6:53 this evening.

All over the Interlochen Public Radio broadcasting region, the Persephone period is ending. What’s the Persephone period? The Persephone period is a time when the daylight hours drop below 10 hours a day. Around here, this would affect natural lighted greenhouses, since our world is still covered in snow. This is because plants don’t grow very well with less than 10 hours of sunlight. It is named for the Greek goddess Persephone, who is goddess of crops that are sewn. She was kidnapped by her uncle Hades, the god of the Underworld, and was made his bride and became Queen of the Underworld. However, every time she went down to the underworld all the plants on the surface of the earth died, so Zeus made an arrangement with Hades that she could only be in the underworld for part of the year.

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

Statue of Persephone-Isis at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete. Credit: Wolfgang Sauber.

In the Interlochen/ Traverse City area, the Persephone period runs from about November 5th to about February 6th. Of course, we make up for it in late spring and early summer with up to 15 1/2 hours of daylight near the summer solstice.