Ephemeris: 04/30/2024 – Previewing May Skies

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 8:47, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:31. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 3:34 tomorrow morning.

The merry month of May starts tomorrow. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area will increase from 14 hours and 16 minutes tomorrow to 15 hours 20 minutes on the 31st. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will ascend from 60 degrees tomorrow to 67 degrees at month’s end. The altitude of the Sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower than that, but the daylight hours will be a few minutes longer. The evening sky in May is devoid of the Milky Way which nearly rings the horizon, so during this time we are looking out the thin side of the Milky Way towards intergalactic space. There is the Virgo cluster of galaxies, some of which are visible in decent size amateur telescopes.

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

May Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for May 2024 (11 p.m. EDT, May 15, 2023). Click or tap on image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp program.

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 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.

May Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for May mornings, 2024 (4 a.m. EDT, May 15, 2024). Click or tap on image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp program.

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,
• EaqR is the radiant of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower that peaks on the 5th.

Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical

			EDT
	Morning	Twilight	Evening	Twilight	Dark	Night	Moon
Date	Astro.	Nautical	Nautical	Astro.	Start	End	Illum.
2024-05-01	4h36m	5h20m	22h03m	22h47m	22h47m	3h34m	0.42
2024-05-02	4h34m	5h19m	22h04m	22h49m	22h49m	4h03m	0.31
2024-05-03	4h32m	5h17m	22h06m	22h51m	22h51m	4h27m	0.21
2024-05-04	4h29m	5h15m	22h08m	22h53m	22h53m	4h29m	0.12
2024-05-05	4h27m	5h13m	22h09m	22h55m	22h55m	4h27m	0.05
2024-05-06	4h25m	5h12m	22h11m	22h57m	22h57m	4h25m	0.01
2024-05-07	4h23m	5h10m	22h12m	22h59m	22h59m	4h23m	0.00
2024-05-08	4h21m	5h08m	22h14m	23h01m	23h01m	4h21m	0.02
2024-05-09	4h19m	5h07m	22h15m	23h03m	23h30m	4h19m	0.06
2024-05-10	4h17m	5h05m	22h17m	23h05m	–	4h17m	0.12
2024-05-11	4h15m	5h04m	22h18m	23h07m	0h38m	4h15m	0.20
2024-05-12	4h13m	5h02m	22h20m	23h09m	1h32m	4h13m	0.28
2024-05-13	4h11m	5h01m	22h21m	23h11m	2h13m	4h11m	0.38
2024-05-14	4h09m	4h59m	22h23m	23h13m	2h44m	4h09m	0.47
2024-05-15	4h07m	4h58m	22h24m	23h15m	3h09m	4h07m	0.57
2024-05-16	4h05m	4h56m	22h26m	23h17m	3h28m	4h05m	0.66
2024-05-17	4h03m	4h55m	22h27m	23h19m	3h46m	4h03m	0.75
2024-05-18	4h01m	4h53m	22h29m	23h21m	–	–	0.82
2024-05-19	3h59m	4h52m	22h30m	23h23m	–	–	0.89
2024-05-20	3h58m	4h51m	22h32m	23h25m	–	–	0.94
2024-05-21	3h56m	4h49m	22h33m	23h27m	–	–	0.98
2024-05-22	3h54m	4h48m	22h35m	23h29m	–	–	1.00
2024-05-23	3h52m	4h47m	22h36m	23h31m	–	–	1.00
2024-05-24	3h51m	4h46m	22h37m	23h32m	–	–	0.97
2024-05-25	3h49m	4h45m	22h39m	23h34m	23h34m	–	0.92
2024-05-26	3h47m	4h44m	22h40m	23h36m	23h36m	0h07m	0.86
2024-05-27	3h46m	4h43m	22h41m	23h38m	23h38m	0h57m	0.77
2024-05-28	3h44m	4h42m	22h43m	23h40m	23h40m	1h36m	0.67
2024-05-29	3h43m	4h41m	22h44m	23h41m	23h41m	2h07m	0.56
2024-05-30	3h42m	4h40m	22h45m	23h43m	23h43m	2h31m	0.45
2024-05-31	3h40m	4h39m	22h46m	23h45m	23h45m	2h53m	0.33

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

May  1  We    Venus: 9.2° W
     1  We   7:27 am  Last Quarter
     3  Fr   6:26 pm  Moon-Saturn:  .8° N
     4  Sa   3:58 pm  Eta Aquarid Shower: ZHR = 60
     4  Sa  10:26 pm  Moon-Mars:  .2° S
     5  Su   5:54 pm  Moon Ascending Node
     5  Su   6:11 pm  Moon Perigee: 363200 km
     6  Mo   4:25 am  Moon-Mercury: 3.8° S
     7  Tu  11:22 pm  New Moon
     9  Th   4:59 pm  Mercury Elongation: 26.4° W
    11  Sa   3:45 am  Moon North Dec.: 28.5° N
    12  Su   6:17 pm  Moon-Pollux: 1.7° N
    13  Mo   6:45 am  Uranus Conjunction
    13  Mo   6:47 pm  Moon-Beehive: 3.7° S
    15  We   7:48 am  First Quarter
    17  Fr   3:00 pm  Moon Apogee: 404600 km
    18  Sa   2:02 pm  Jupiter Conjunction
    19  Su  12:35 pm  Moon Descending Node
    20  Mo   5:20 am  Moon-Spica: 1.5° S
    23  Th   9:53 am  Full Moon
    23  Th  10:31 pm  Moon-Antares:  .4° S
    25  Sa   3:58 pm  Moon South Dec.: 28.4° S
    30  Th   1:13 pm  Last Quarter
    31  Fr   4:01 am  Moon-Saturn:  .4° N
Jun  1  Sa            Venus:  .9° 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
May, 2024    Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
|      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Wed  1| 06:31a  08:48p  14:16 | 10:00p  05:19a |L Qtr Rise 04:03a   44%|
|Thu  2| 06:30a  08:49p  14:19 | 10:02p  05:18a |      Rise 04:27a   33%|
|Fri  3| 06:29a  08:50p  14:21 | 10:04p  05:16a |      Rise 04:48a   22%|
|Sat  4| 06:27a  08:52p  14:24 | 10:05p  05:14a |      Rise 05:08a   13%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun  5| 06:26a  08:53p  14:27 | 10:07p  05:12a |      Rise 05:29a    6%|
|Mon  6| 06:24a  08:54p  14:29 | 10:08p  05:11a |      Rise 05:53a    2%|
|Tue  7| 06:23a  08:55p  14:32 | 10:10p  05:09a |New   Set  08:50p    0%|
|Wed  8| 06:22a  08:56p  14:34 | 10:11p  05:07a |      Set  10:12p    1%|
|Thu  9| 06:21a  08:58p  14:37 | 10:13p  05:06a |      Set  11:30p    5%|
|Fri 10| 06:19a  08:59p  14:39 | 10:15p  05:04a |      Set  12:37a   10%|
|Sat 11| 06:18a  09:00p  14:41 | 10:16p  05:02a |      Set  01:31a   18%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 12| 06:17a  09:01p  14:44 | 10:18p  05:01a |      Set  02:12a   26%|
|Mon 13| 06:16a  09:02p  14:46 | 10:19p  04:59a |      Set  02:44a   36%|
|Tue 14| 06:15a  09:03p  14:48 | 10:21p  04:58a |      Set  03:08a   45%|
|Wed 15| 06:13a  09:05p  14:51 | 10:22p  04:56a |F Qtr Set  03:28a   55%|
|Thu 16| 06:12a  09:06p  14:53 | 10:24p  04:55a |      Set  03:45a   64%|
|Fri 17| 06:11a  09:07p  14:55 | 10:25p  04:53a |      Set  04:01a   73%|
|Sat 18| 06:10a  09:08p  14:57 | 10:27p  04:52a |      Set  04:17a   81%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 19| 06:09a  09:09p  14:59 | 10:28p  04:51a |      Set  04:33a   88%|
|Mon 20| 06:08a  09:10p  15:01 | 10:29p  04:49a |      Set  04:52a   93%|
|Tue 21| 06:07a  09:11p  15:03 | 10:31p  04:48a |      Set  05:14a   97%|
|Wed 22| 06:07a  09:12p  15:05 | 10:32p  04:47a |      Set  05:42a  100%|
|Thu 23| 06:06a  09:13p  15:07 | 10:34p  04:46a |Full  Rise 09:58p  100%|
|Fri 24| 06:05a  09:14p  15:09 | 10:35p  04:44a |      Rise 11:06p   98%|
|Sat 25| 06:04a  09:15p  15:10 | 10:36p  04:43a |      Rise 12:07a   93%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 26| 06:03a  09:16p  15:12 | 10:38p  04:42a |      Rise 12:57a   87%|
|Mon 27| 06:03a  09:17p  15:14 | 10:39p  04:41a |      Rise 01:36a   79%|
|Tue 28| 06:02a  09:18p  15:15 | 10:40p  04:40a |      Rise 02:06a   69%|
|Wed 29| 06:01a  09:19p  15:17 | 10:41p  04:39a |      Rise 02:31a   58%|
|Thu 30| 06:01a  09:20p  15:18 | 10:43p  04:38a |L Qtr Rise 02:52a   47%|
|Fri 31| 06:00a  09:21p  15:20 | 10:44p  04:37a |      Rise 03:12a   35%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

Ephemeris: 04/29/2024 – Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown

This is Ephemeris for Monday, April 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 8:46, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:33. The Moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 2:58 tomorrow morning.

About a third of the way up the sky in the east at 10 p.m. can be found a small but easily spotted constellation of Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown. It is located just below the kite shaped constellation of Boötes, with its bright star Arcturus at the right. The Northern Crown is a three-quarter circle of stars, like a tiara, with a brighter star Alphecca at the bottom. Alphecca in Arabic means “The bright star of the broken ring of stars”, which is an accurate description of it. Check it out now for later this year we expect to have a bright star appear just below it. That star is T Coronae Borealis a recurrent Nova or exploding star. They occur when a white dwarf star is orbiting with a large red giant star and accumulating gas from that red giant star until it explodes.

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

Finding Corona Borealis at 10 pm tonight, April 29th. The circle marks the spot in which Nova T Coronae Borealis will appear. Created using Stellarium and LibreOffice Draw.

Ephemeris: 04/25/2024 – Finding Hydra, the longest constellation

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, April 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours exactly, setting at 8:41, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:39. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 11:00 this evening.

Stretching from midway up the sky in the southwest to low in the southeast at 10 p.m. can be found the constellation of Hydra the water snake, the longest constellation of all. Unlike the monster of the same name that Hercules slew, this Hydra has but one head, which is its most distinctive part. The head of Hydra is located between the bright stars Procyon in the southwest. Which is above the brighter star Sirius low in the sky, and Regulus in Leo the lion, higher in the south. Hydra’s head is a small but distinctive group of 6 stars that make a drooping loop to the right. The rest of Hydra wends its way in a reasonably straight line down to the southeastern horizon.

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

Finding the constellation of Hydra the water snake. It’s in the southern sky. Its head can be found between the stars Procyon and Regulus in the southwest. Its body stretches down to the horizon in the southeast. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

Ephemeris: 04/24/2024 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 8:39, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:41. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 9:49 this evening.

Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week, and see what planets are left. Jupiter, looking not-so bright in twilight is very low and in the west. It will set at 10:23 pm. I’m giving Jupiter another week of evening visibility. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks now only visible to observers south of the equator. In the morning, Mars and Saturn will be close together in the east southeastern sky at 6 am. They will be fighting the bright morning twilight and low altitude then. Saturn will be difficult to see right now in the twilight. Mars will be harder to spot. Saturn will look fairly different this year and next with its rings nearly edge on to us. They will look more like a line through the planet.

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

Jupiter appears very low in the West northwest at 9:30 PM which is about 50 minutes after sunset. Created using Stellarium.

The Moon a day after full at 10:30 PM tonight, April 24th 2024. At this time it’s still low in the sky showing its coloring. Selected features are labeled. Created with Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw and GIMP.

Saturn and Mars is they might appear tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM, April 25th 2024. They might be difficult or impossible to pick out low in the east southeast because they are much dimmer than Jupiter. In fact Saturn is dimmer than it normally is because its rings are nearly edge on and will be edge on to us in 11 months, before opening up again. The rings, when they’re open, contribute a great deal to Saturn’s brightness. Created using Stellarium , LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

This is Saturn as it might appear in a telescope at 6:00 AM tomorrow, April 25th 2024. It is larger than I usually present it, to show off it’s rings or nearly lack thereof. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

The naked-eye planets, Comet Pons-Brooks, and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right tonight, April 24th 2024. The night ends on the left with sunrise tomorrow morning on the 25th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.

Ephemeris: 04/23/2024 – We are awaiting a bright nova

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 54 minutes, setting at 8:38, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:42. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 8:40 this evening.

There is an event rarer than the appearance of Halley’s Comet. It’s an explosion of a star called T Coronae Borealis which means it’s in the constellation of the Northern Crown. Corona is a semicircle of stars located left of the bright star Arcturus, pointed to by the handle of the Big Dipper. The letter T means that it’s a variable star. It is something called a cataclysmic variable, or recurrent nova, and it blows up about every 80 years. The last time it did this was in 1946. Its brightness dips about 11 months before it goes kablooey. That dip has already happened. The star doesn’t destroy itself. It’s actually a white dwarf that’s siphoning off gases from a red giant star that it’s orbiting. When enough hydrogen gets accumulated, it ignites.

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 T Coronae Borealis finder animation for 10 pm tonight, in four frames. The 1st shows constellation outlines and labels. The 2nd frame shows the stars as they would appear in the sky without labels or lines. The 3rd frame shows the sky with the Nova T Corona Borealis. The 4th frame labels T Corona Borealis as T CrB. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

Ephemeris: 04/22/2024 – Earth Day, support your local planet!

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Earth Day, Monday, April 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 8:37, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:44. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 6:28 tomorrow morning.

Earth Day was established in 1970, 2 years after William Anders in Apollo 8 took a picture of the Earth rising over the desolate moon, the Earth, a blue white oasis, in a hostile universe. I say support your local planet, there is no Planet B in case you messed this one up. Elon Musk wants to make the human race multi-planetary, which is a fine idea over time. It may take over a century to make any kind of Mars Base self-sustaining, if ever. I can’t see how we can terraform Mars, that is make Mars earth-like, because of lack of material. Mars probably was earth-like in its early days, but it has no magnetic field. Any large atmosphere it had when it had oceans has long been stripped away by the solar wind. It is here that we must make our stand!*

* Paraphrasing Carl Sagan “Pale Blue Dot”.

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

Earthrise photographed by William Anders from Apollo 8 on December 24th 1968 as they were moving, in orbit, around from the far side of the Moon. Credit: NASA, William Anders.

Ephemeris: 04/19/2024 – Moon bases

This is Ephemeris for Friday, April 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 8:33, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:49. The Moon, halfway from first quarter to full, will set at 5:39 tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow night’s gibbous moon will reveal perhaps the brightest spot on the Moon, the crater Aristarchus. It is left the center of the Moon near the terminator which is the sunrise line. It now doesn’t look so bright, but when the Moon becomes full it will be the brightest spot visible. The problem that astronauts will face in making a Moon base will be to survive the two week long days and two week long nights, because the Moon rotates once in its orbit of the Earth. Perhaps the best way to insulate from the very extremes of temperature, of maybe 200°F in the daytime and minus 200° at night, is to bury the Moon Base structures. The regolith should make a very good insulator and keep the base at a fairly constant temperature.

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 tomorrow night April four featuring the crater Aristarchus, the brightest spot on the Moon when it is full. But tonight it’s near the terminator. Created using Stellarium and LibreOffice Draw.

A regolith sheltered moonbase designed for ESA the European Space Agency. I’m not sure what the skylights are for because on the Moon the sky is always black day or night.

Ephemeris: 04/18/2024 – Looking at the gibbous Moon tonight

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, April 18th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 39 minutes, setting at 8:32, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:50. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 5:23 tomorrow morning.

At 10 tonight the gibbous moon will be bright. At the moon’s left edge, just coming into sunlight will be what looks like a large half crater at the edge of the lunar sea called Mare Imbrium, the Sea of Showers. That feature is Sinus Iridium, or Bay of Rainbows. The arc of its mountainous edge is rainbow shaped, but it is as colorless as the rest of the Moon. The crater Copernicus, left of the Moon’s center sports few shadows and appears mostly as a bright spot surrounded by its ray system of ejecta craters that appear bright when the sun is high in their sky. At the south end of the Moon are the lunar highlands, bright, rugged and covered by large, mostly very old craters. The largest of these craters is Clavius, named for Christophorus Clavius who helped establish our Gregorian Calendar.

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 tonight, April 18 2024. Selected features are labeled. Created using Stellarium , LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

Translations of some lunar feature names according to Virtual Moon Atlas

Lacus Somniorum – Lake of Dreams
Mare Crisium – Sea of Crises
Mare Fecunditatis – Sea of Fertility
Mare Frigoris – Sea of Cold
Mare Imbrium – Sea of Showers
Mare Nectaris – Sea of Nectar
Mare Nubium – Sea of Clouds
Mare Serenitatis – Sea of Serenity
Mare Tranquillitatis – Sea of Tranquility
Mare Vaporum – Sea of Vapors
Montes Alpes – Alps Mountains
Montes Apenninus – Apennines Mountains
Sinus Asperitatis – Bay of Roughness
Sinus Iridium – Bay of Rainbows
Sinus Medii – Bay of the Center

Craters are generally named after astronomers, people of science, or explorers and are often Latinized.

Note that Mare is pronounced Mar-é.

Ephemeris: 04/17/2024 – Where have all the planets gone?

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, April 17th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 36 minutes, setting at 8:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:52. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 5:04 tomorrow morning.

Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week, and see what planets are left. Bright Jupiter is very low and in the west. It will set at 10:23 pm. We are getting close to losing Jupiter in the evening sky. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is just below-left of it. Observers in the Southern Hemisphere might now get a chance to spot it, but I believe it’s too far gone for us. In the morning, Mars and Saturn will be very close together in the east southeastern sky at 6:30. They will be fighting the bright morning twilight and low altitude then. Saturn will be difficult to see right now in the twilight . It will look fairly different this year and next with its rings nearly edge on to us. They will look more like a line through the planet.
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 five naked eye planets and Comet Pons-Brooks are located near the Sun . This image you see the Sun if the Earth had no atmosphere, at solar noon which is about 1:41 PM. Saturn is the farthest planet from the Sun at about 42°. Anything to the right of the Sun is a morning planet, anything to the left is an evening planet. And since Jupiter is above the Sun it can be seen more easily in the evening than can Saturn in he morning, which is below the Sun. Created using Stellarium.

Jupiter and Venus found in a photograph of the total solar eclipse of April 8th 2024 with a smartphone camera by one in our party. Credit Jeff Busch.

The planet Jupiter shown here much brighter than it will actually appear tonight at 9:30 PM, or about an hour after sunset. It’s altitude will be about 9° above the horizon. Observers south of us will see Jupiter a little bit higher in the sky at the same time period after sunset. Created using Stellarium.

The Moon is a might be seen in binoculars or a small telescope this evening, April 17th 2024. Select features are labeled. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

Saturn and Mars as they might be glimpsed early in the morning at 6:00 AM, about an hour before sunrise. Saturn is brighter than Mars, however Saturn is dimmer than it normally is mainly because it’s rings are closing and nearly edge on. When the rings are at their most open they contribute more to the brightness of Saturn than the planet does. Created using Stellarium.

None of the planets are good telescopic objects now, due to their low position in the sky, and twilight.

The naked-eye planets, Comet Pons-Brooks, and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right tonight, April 17th 2024. The night ends on the left with sunrise tomorrow morning on the 18th. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.

Ephemeris: 04/16/2024 – A quick look at the April 8th 2024, total solar eclipse

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 16th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 34 minutes, setting at 8:29, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:54. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 4:42 tomorrow morning.

I saw the total solar eclipse last week Monday. This is the first chance I have to report on it. My target area ran from southwestern Indiana to Northern Ohio and decided early to stay in Lafayette IN overnight to give us a shot at going in either direction. We ended up going to southwestern Indiana to a little town called Linton, about 7 miles from the center line of the eclipse. There was relatively mild traffic going down and relatively few folks there at Humphrey’s park. Totality was glorious and the Sun’s corona was silvery and there was a red prominence sticking out of the bottom of the dark moon’s silhouette. Venus and Jupiter were also visible in the dark blue sky. I’ll have a fuller account on my blog in a few days.

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 following are three frames from the video I made with a GoPro-like camera around totality to get a view of the sky conditions. In 61 years and six total solar eclipses I spent the first four just looking at the Sun. The latter two I’ve tried to soak in the ambiance of the world around me during totality. I’ve been extremely lucky in total solar eclipses in that I was never completely clouded out. The main reason for that is mobility, and not going where everyone else is going. With these six 6 eclipses I have accumulated a total of 15 minutes basking in the shade of the Moon.

Looking at the Sun and looking up the path of totality about a minute before totality starts. The Moon’s shadow is coming from that direction, as can be seen that the sky is rather dark in that direction. At the lower left is the edge of the shadow and the pinkish glow that is associated with the edge of the Moon’s shadow. The light at the upper left turn on shortly just before totality. The multi colored spot way below the Sun is the lens flare from the Sun.

We are in totality. The Sun is still overexposed with its corona. The light bar running through it is simply in the camera. The light pole lamp that the camera is parked under is lit. Since we’re looking up the eclipse path, the trailing edge of the Moon’s shadow is now visible approaching with its twilight colors at the edge. Venus can be spotted at about 5 o’clock from the Sun, just under the power line. Jupiter is out of the frame to the upper left.

A couple of minutes after totality ended and the world is coming back to normal. The sky is lightening up, the twilight colors are disappearing and the birds are beginning to chirp.