Archive
04/30/2019 – Ephemeris – Previewing May skies
Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 30th. 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, half way from last quarter to new, will rise at 5:30 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look ahead at the month of May, the month when the promise of spring is finally fulfilled. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area will increase from 14 hours and 14 minutes Tomorrow to 15 hours 19 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. Local apparent noon this month, when the sun passes due south, will be about 1:38 p.m. Early this month we’ll have The Eta Aquariid meteor shower early in the morning. Mars is our only evening planet, falling way behind the Earth 217 million miles (349 million km) away at mid-month.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
May Evening Star Chart
Star Chart for May 2019 (11 p.m. EDT May 15, 2019). 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 5 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 10 p.m. and 5 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. 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.
May Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for May mornings 2019 (5 a.m. EDT May 15, 2019). 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,
- The Summer Triangle is in red.
- EaqR is the radiant of the Aquariid meteor shower that peaks on the 5th-6th. See Ephemeris Extra Saturday the 4th.
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| EDT | |||||||
| Traverse City |
Morning twilight | Evening twilight | Dark night | Moon | |||
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2019-05-01 | 4h41m | 5h25m | 22h02m | 22h46m | 22h46m | 4h41m | 0.11 |
| 2019-05-02 | 4h39m | 5h24m | 22h03m | 22h48m | 22h48m | 4h39m | 0.05 |
| 2019-05-03 | 4h37m | 5h22m | 22h05m | 22h50m | 22h50m | 4h37m | 0.02 |
| 2019-05-04 | 4h34m | 5h20m | 22h06m | 22h52m | 22h52m | 4h34m | 0 |
| 2019-05-05 | 4h32m | 5h18m | 22h08m | 22h54m | 22h54m | 4h32m | 0.01 |
| 2019-05-06 | 4h30m | 5h17m | 22h09m | 22h56m | 22h56m | 4h30m | 0.04 |
| 2019-05-07 | 4h28m | 5h15m | 22h11m | 22h58m | 23h58m | 4h28m | 0.09 |
| 2019-05-08 | 4h26m | 5h13m | 22h13m | 23h00m | – | 4h26m | 0.17 |
| 2019-05-09 | 4h24m | 5h12m | 22h14m | 23h02m | 1h00m | 4h24m | 0.27 |
| 2019-05-10 | 4h22m | 5h10m | 22h16m | 23h04m | 1h54m | 4h22m | 0.38 |
| 2019-05-11 | 4h20m | 5h08m | 22h17m | 23h06m | 2h41m | 4h20m | 0.5 |
| 2019-05-12 | 4h18m | 5h07m | 22h19m | 23h08m | 3h21m | 4h18m | 0.61 |
| 2019-05-13 | 4h16m | 5h05m | 22h20m | 23h10m | 3h55m | 4h16m | 0.73 |
| 2019-05-14 | 4h14m | 5h04m | 22h22m | 23h12m | – | – | 0.83 |
| 2019-05-15 | 4h12m | 5h02m | 22h23m | 23h14m | – | – | 0.91 |
| 2019-05-16 | 4h10m | 5h01m | 22h25m | 23h16m | – | – | 0.91 |
| 2019-05-17 | 4h08m | 4h59m | 22h26m | 23h18m | – | – | 0.96 |
| 2019-05-18 | 4h06m | 4h58m | 22h28m | 23h20m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2019-05-19 | 4h04m | 4h56m | 22h29m | 23h22m | – | – | 1 |
| 2019-05-20 | 4h02m | 4h55m | 22h31m | 23h23m | – | – | 0.98 |
| 2019-05-21 | 4h00m | 4h54m | 22h32m | 23h25m | 23h25m | – | 0.93 |
| 2019-05-22 | 3h59m | 4h53m | 22h33m | 23h27m | 23h27m | 0h07m | 0.87 |
| 2019-05-23 | 3h57m | 4h51m | 22h35m | 23h29m | 23h29m | 0h56m | 0.8 |
| 2019-05-24 | 3h55m | 4h50m | 22h36m | 23h31m | 23h31m | 1h38m | 0.71 |
| 2019-05-25 | 3h54m | 4h49m | 22h38m | 23h33m | 23h33m | 2h13m | 0.62 |
| 2019-05-26 | 3h52m | 4h48m | 22h39m | 23h35m | 23h35m | 2h43m | 0.52 |
| 2019-05-27 | 3h50m | 4h47m | 22h40m | 23h37m | 23h37m | 3h10m | 0.42 |
| 2019-05-28 | 3h49m | 4h46m | 22h42m | 23h38m | 23h38m | 3h34m | 0.33 |
| 2019-05-29 | 3h47m | 4h45m | 22h43m | 23h40m | 23h40m | 3h47m | 0.24 |
| 2019-05-30 | 3h46m | 4h44m | 22h44m | 23h42m | 23h42m | 3h46m | 0.16 |
| 2019-05-31 | 3h44m | 4h43m | 22h45m | 23h44m | 23h44m | 3h44m | 0.09 |
Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
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: 27.8° W
2 Th 7:39 am Moon-Venus: 3.9° N
4 Sa 6:45 pm New Moon
5 Su 9:12 am Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 60
6 Mo 5:52 pm Moon-Aldebaran: 2.4° S
7 Tu 7:36 pm Moon-Mars: 3.3° N
9 Th 1:46 am Moon North Dec.: 22.2° N
9 Th 2:50 pm Moon Ascending Node
10 Fr 9:35 pm Moon-Beehive: 0°
11 Sa 9:12 pm First Quarter
13 Mo 5:53 pm Moon Perigee: 369000 km
18 Sa 5:11 pm Full Moon
20 Mo 12:54 pm Moon-Jupiter: 1.8° S
21 Tu 8:59 am Mercury Superior Conj.
22 We 2:41 am Moon South Dec.: 22.3° S
22 We 3:12 pm Moon Descending Node
22 We 6:25 pm Moon-Saturn: 0.6° N
26 Su 9:27 am Moon Apogee: 404100 km
26 Su 12:33 pm Last Quarter
Jun 1 Sa Venus: 20° W
All event times are given for UTC-5 hr: Eastern Standard or UTC-4 hr: Daylight Saving Time starting May 10th.
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html.
If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
May, 2019 Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM |
| | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Wed 1| 06:33a 08:47p 14:14 | 09:59p 05:21a | Rise 05:54a 9%|
|Thu 2| 06:31a 08:48p 14:17 | 10:01p 05:19a | Rise 06:18a 4%|
|Fri 3| 06:30a 08:49p 14:19 | 10:02p 05:17a | Rise 06:44a 1%|
|Sat 4| 06:28a 08:51p 14:22 | 10:04p 05:15a |New Set 08:36p 0%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 5| 06:27a 08:52p 14:24 | 10:06p 05:14a | Set 09:44p 1%|
|Mon 6| 06:26a 08:53p 14:27 | 10:07p 05:12a | Set 10:52p 5%|
|Tue 7| 06:24a 08:54p 14:30 | 10:09p 05:10a | Set 11:58p 10%|
|Wed 8| 06:23a 08:55p 14:32 | 10:10p 05:09a | Set 12:59a 18%|
|Thu 9| 06:22a 08:57p 14:35 | 10:12p 05:07a | Set 01:54a 28%|
|Fri 10| 06:20a 08:58p 14:37 | 10:13p 05:05a | Set 02:41a 38%|
|Sat 11| 06:19a 08:59p 14:39 | 10:15p 05:04a |F Qtr Set 03:21a 49%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 12| 06:18a 09:00p 14:42 | 10:16p 05:02a | Set 03:55a 61%|
|Mon 13| 06:17a 09:01p 14:44 | 10:18p 05:00a | Set 04:26a 72%|
|Tue 14| 06:15a 09:03p 14:47 | 10:19p 04:59a | Set 04:54a 81%|
|Wed 15| 06:14a 09:04p 14:49 | 10:21p 04:57a | Set 05:22a 89%|
|Thu 16| 06:13a 09:05p 14:51 | 10:22p 04:56a | Set 05:51a 95%|
|Fri 17| 06:12a 09:06p 14:53 | 10:24p 04:55a | Set 06:22a 99%|
|Sat 18| 06:11a 09:07p 14:55 | 10:25p 04:53a |Full Rise 08:59p 100%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 19| 06:10a 09:08p 14:57 | 10:27p 04:52a | Rise 10:07p 98%|
|Mon 20| 06:09a 09:09p 15:00 | 10:28p 04:50a | Rise 11:10p 95%|
|Tue 21| 06:08a 09:10p 15:02 | 10:30p 04:49a | Rise 12:07a 89%|
|Wed 22| 06:07a 09:11p 15:03 | 10:31p 04:48a | Rise 12:56a 83%|
|Thu 23| 06:06a 09:12p 15:05 | 10:33p 04:47a | Rise 01:37a 75%|
|Fri 24| 06:06a 09:13p 15:07 | 10:34p 04:45a | Rise 02:13a 66%|
|Sat 25| 06:05a 09:14p 15:09 | 10:35p 04:44a | Rise 02:43a 57%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 26| 06:04a 09:15p 15:11 | 10:37p 04:43a |L Qtr Rise 03:09a 47%|
|Mon 27| 06:03a 09:16p 15:13 | 10:38p 04:42a | Rise 03:34a 38%|
|Tue 28| 06:03a 09:17p 15:14 | 10:39p 04:41a | Rise 03:57a 29%|
|Wed 29| 06:02a 09:18p 15:16 | 10:40p 04:40a | Rise 04:21a 20%|
|Thu 30| 06:01a 09:19p 15:17 | 10:42p 04:39a | Rise 04:46a 13%|
|Fri 31| 06:01a 09:20p 15:19 | 10:43p 04:38a | Rise 05:13a 7%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunrise and sunset
04/01/2019 – Ephemeris – Previewing April skies
Ephemeris for April Fools Day, Monday, April 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 8:10, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:22. The Moon, half way from last quarter to new, will rise at 6:37 tomorrow morning.
Last year we were fooled by an abundance of snow in April. Hopefully we won’t be tricked again. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will increase from 12 hours and 46 minutes today to 14 hours 11 minutes on the 30th. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will ascend from 50 degrees today to 60 degrees on the 30th. The altitude of the Sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower, but their daylight hours will be a bit longer. The actual time of local apparent noon this month for the Interlochen/Traverse City area, when the Sun passes due south, will be about 1:43 p.m. This month Mars will be our only evening planet.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
April Evening Star Chart
Star Chart for April 2019 (10 p.m. EDT April 15, 2019). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EST in the evening and 6 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 10 p.m. and 5 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. 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.
April Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for April mornings 2019 (5 a.m. EST April 15, 2019). 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,
- The Summer Triangle is in red.
- LyrR is the radiant of the Lyrid meteor shower that peaks on the 22nd.
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| EDT | |||||||
| Traverse City |
Morning twilight | Evening twilight | Dark night | Moon | |||
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2019-04-01 | 5h47m | 6h24m | 21h17m | 21h53m | 21h53m | 5h47m | 0.13 |
| 2019-04-02 | 5h45m | 6h22m | 21h18m | 21h55m | 21h55m | 5h45m | 0.07 |
| 2019-04-03 | 5h43m | 6h20m | 21h20m | 21h57m | 21h57m | 5h43m | 0.03 |
| 2019-04-04 | 5h41m | 6h18m | 21h21m | 21h58m | 21h58m | 5h41m | 0 |
| 2019-04-05 | 5h38m | 6h16m | 21h22m | 22h00m | 22h00m | 5h38m | 0 |
| 2019-04-06 | 5h36m | 6h14m | 21h24m | 22h01m | 22h01m | 5h36m | 0.02 |
| 2019-04-07 | 5h34m | 6h12m | 21h25m | 22h03m | 22h48m | 5h34m | 0.06 |
| 2019-04-08 | 5h32m | 6h10m | 21h27m | 22h05m | 23h54m | 5h32m | 0.12 |
| 2019-04-09 | 5h30m | 6h08m | 21h28m | 22h06m | – | 5h30m | 0.2 |
| 2019-04-10 | 5h27m | 6h06m | 21h30m | 22h08m | 1h00m | 5h27m | 0.3 |
| 2019-04-11 | 5h25m | 6h04m | 21h31m | 22h10m | 2h04m | 5h25m | 0.41 |
| 2019-04-12 | 5h23m | 6h02m | 21h33m | 22h11m | 3h03m | 5h23m | 0.53 |
| 2019-04-13 | 5h21m | 6h00m | 21h34m | 22h13m | 3h55m | 5h21m | 0.64 |
| 2019-04-14 | 5h19m | 5h58m | 21h36m | 22h15m | 4h40m | 5h19m | 0.75 |
| 2019-04-15 | 5h16m | 5h56m | 21h37m | 22h16m | – | – | 0.85 |
| 2019-04-16 | 5h14m | 5h54m | 21h39m | 22h18m | – | – | 0.93 |
| 2019-04-17 | 5h12m | 5h52m | 21h40m | 22h20m | – | – | 0.93 |
| 2019-04-18 | 5h10m | 5h50m | 21h42m | 22h22m | – | – | 0.98 |
| 2019-04-19 | 5h07m | 5h48m | 21h43m | 22h24m | – | – | 1 |
| 2019-04-20 | 5h05m | 5h46m | 21h45m | 22h25m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2019-04-21 | 5h03m | 5h44m | 21h46m | 22h27m | 22h27m | 23h19m | 0.96 |
| 2019-04-22 | 5h01m | 5h42m | 21h48m | 22h29m | 22h29m | – | 0.9 |
| 2019-04-23 | 4h59m | 5h40m | 21h49m | 22h31m | 22h31m | 0h24m | 0.82 |
| 2019-04-24 | 4h56m | 5h38m | 21h51m | 22h33m | 22h33m | 1h24m | 0.74 |
| 2019-04-25 | 4h54m | 5h36m | 21h52m | 22h34m | 22h34m | 2h16m | 0.64 |
| 2019-04-26 | 4h52m | 5h35m | 21h54m | 22h36m | 22h36m | 3h01m | 0.54 |
| 2019-04-27 | 4h50m | 5h33m | 21h55m | 22h38m | 22h38m | 3h39m | 0.45 |
| 2019-04-28 | 4h48m | 5h31m | 21h57m | 22h40m | 22h40m | 4h12m | 0.35 |
| 2019-04-29 | 4h45m | 5h29m | 21h58m | 22h42m | 22h42m | 4h41m | 0.26 |
| 2019-04-30 | 4h43m | 5h27m | 22h00m | 22h44m | 22h44m | 4h43m |
0.18 |
Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
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
Date Local Time Event Apr 1 Mo Venus: 34.6° W 2 Tu 12:17 AM Moon-Venus: 3° N 2 Tu 07:01 PM Moon-Mercury: 4° N 5 Fr 04:50 AM New Moon 9 Tu 02:40 AM Moon-Mars: 5° N 9 Tu 11:43 AM Moon-Aldebaran: 2.2° S 11 Th 02:59 PM Mercury Elongation: 27.7° W 11 Th 07:59 PM Moon North Dec.: 22° N 12 Fr 02:08 PM Moon Ascending Node 12 Fr 03:06 PM First Quarter 13 Sa 04:12 PM Moon-Beehive: 0.2° N 14 Su 08:08 PM Mars-Aldebaran: 6.5° N 15 Mo 04:22 AM Moon-Regulus: 2.7° S 16 Tu 02:03 PM Mercury-Venus: 4.3° N 16 Tu 06:02 PM Moon Perigee: 364200 km 19 Fr 07:12 AM Full Moon 22 Mo 07:58 PM Lyrid Shower: ZHR = 20 22 Mo 08:06 PM Uranus Conjunction 23 Tu 07:36 AM Moon-Jupiter: 1.8° S 24 We 05:22 PM Moon South Dec.: 22.1° S 25 Th 10:38 AM Moon-Saturn: 0.4° N 25 Th 11:02 AM Moon Descending Node 26 Fr 06:18 PM Last Quarter 28 Su 02:20 PM Moon Apogee: 404600 km May 1 We Venus: 27.8° W All event times are given for UTC-5 hr: Eastern Standard or UTC-4 hr: Daylight Saving Time starting April 10th. Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC), http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html. If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
Ephemeris of Sky Events for NMC Observatory |
||||||||||
|
April, 2019 – Local time zone: EDT |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Date |
Sun |
Twilight* |
Moon |
Illum |
||||||
|
Rise |
Set |
Hours |
End |
Start |
Phase |
R/S** |
Time |
Fractn |
||
|
Mon |
1 |
07:23a |
08:09p |
12:45 |
09:14p |
06:19a |
Rise |
06:37a |
10% |
|
|
Tue |
2 |
07:21a |
08:10p |
12:49 |
09:15p |
06:17a |
Rise |
07:02a |
5% |
|
|
Wed |
3 |
07:20a |
08:12p |
12:52 |
09:17p |
06:15a |
Rise |
07:26a |
2% |
|
|
Thu |
4 |
07:18a |
08:13p |
12:55 |
09:18p |
06:13a |
Rise |
07:50a |
0% |
|
|
Fri |
5 |
07:16a |
08:14p |
12:58 |
09:19p |
06:11a |
New |
Set |
08:37p |
1% |
|
Sat |
6 |
07:14a |
08:15p |
13:01 |
09:21p |
06:09a |
Set |
09:41p |
3% |
|
|
Sun |
7 |
07:12a |
08:17p |
13:04 |
09:22p |
06:07a |
Set |
10:47p |
7% |
|
|
Mon |
8 |
07:11a |
08:18p |
13:07 |
09:24p |
06:05a |
Set |
11:53p |
13% |
|
|
Tue |
9 |
07:09a |
08:19p |
13:10 |
09:25p |
06:03a |
Set |
12:59a |
21% |
|
|
Wed |
10 |
07:07a |
08:20p |
13:13 |
09:27p |
06:01a |
Set |
02:03a |
31% |
|
|
Thu |
11 |
07:05a |
08:22p |
13:16 |
09:28p |
05:59a |
Set |
03:02a |
41% |
|
|
Fri |
12 |
07:03a |
08:23p |
13:19 |
09:30p |
05:57a |
F Qtr |
Set |
03:54a |
52% |
|
Sat |
13 |
07:02a |
08:24p |
13:22 |
09:31p |
05:55a |
Set |
04:39a |
64% |
|
|
Sun |
14 |
07:00a |
08:25p |
13:25 |
09:33p |
05:53a |
Set |
05:18a |
74% |
|
|
Mon |
15 |
06:58a |
08:27p |
13:28 |
09:34p |
05:51a |
Set |
05:52a |
84% |
|
|
Tue |
16 |
06:57a |
08:28p |
13:31 |
09:35p |
05:49a |
Set |
06:23a |
91% |
|
|
Wed |
17 |
06:55a |
08:29p |
13:34 |
09:37p |
05:47a |
Set |
06:52a |
97% |
|
|
Thu |
18 |
06:53a |
08:30p |
13:37 |
09:38p |
05:45a |
Set |
07:22a |
100% |
|
|
Fri |
19 |
06:51a |
08:32p |
13:40 |
09:40p |
05:43a |
Full |
Rise |
08:55p |
99% |
|
Sat |
20 |
06:50a |
08:33p |
13:43 |
09:42p |
05:41a |
Rise |
10:08p |
97% |
|
|
Sun |
21 |
06:48a |
08:34p |
13:45 |
09:43p |
05:39a |
Rise |
11:18p |
92% |
|
|
Mon |
22 |
06:46a |
08:35p |
13:48 |
09:45p |
05:38a |
Rise |
12:24a |
85% |
|
|
Tue |
23 |
06:45a |
08:37p |
13:51 |
09:46p |
05:36a |
Rise |
01:23a |
77% |
|
|
Wed |
24 |
06:43a |
08:38p |
13:54 |
09:48p |
05:34a |
Rise |
02:15a |
68% |
|
|
Thu |
25 |
06:42a |
08:39p |
13:57 |
09:49p |
05:32a |
Rise |
03:00a |
59% |
|
|
Fri |
26 |
06:40a |
08:40p |
14:00 |
09:51p |
05:30a |
L Qtr |
Rise |
03:38a |
49% |
|
Sat |
27 |
06:39a |
08:41p |
14:02 |
09:52p |
05:28a |
Rise |
04:11a |
40% |
|
|
Sun |
28 |
06:37a |
08:43p |
14:05 |
09:54p |
05:26a |
Rise |
04:40a |
31% |
|
|
Mon |
29 |
06:36a |
08:44p |
14:08 |
09:55p |
05:24a |
Rise |
05:06a |
23% |
|
|
Tue |
30 |
06:34a |
08:45p |
14:11 |
09:57p |
05:23a |
Rise |
05:30a |
15% |
|
|
* Nautical Twilight |
||||||||||
|
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise |
||||||||||
02/28/2019 – Ephemeris – Looking ahead at March skies
Ephemeris for Thursday, February 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 6:28, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:20. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:38 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the skies of March, which will start tomorrow. During March the increase in daylight hours are at its greatest, with spring 3 weeks away. Daylight hours will increase from 11 hours and 9 minutes tomorrow to 12 hours and 42 minutes on the 31st. Along with that, the altitude of the Sun at noon will increase from 38 degrees tomorrow to 49 ½ degrees at month’s end. Local noon, by the way for Interlochen and Traverse City, is about 12:50 p.m, which is mainly due to the fact that our standard time meridian happens to run through Philadelphia. That’s before daylight time starts in eleven days. Winter ends and spring will begin at 5:58 p.m. on the 20th.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
March Evening Star Chart
Star Chart for March 2019 (10 p.m. EDT March 15, 2019). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EST in the evening and 6 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 10 p.m. and 6 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. 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.
March Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for March mornings 2019 (6 a.m. EST March 15, 2019). 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.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, and
- Extend like a spike to Spica,
- The Summer Triangle is in red.
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| EST/EDT | |||||||
| Morning twilight | Evening twilight | Dark night | Moon | ||||
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2018-03-01 | 5h44m | 6h17m | 19h32m | 20h06m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2018-03-02 | 5h42m | 6h16m | 19h33m | 20h07m | – | – | 1.00 |
| 2018-03-03 | 5h40m | 6h14m | 19h34m | 20h08m | 20h08m | 20h40m | 0.98 |
| 2018-03-04 | 5h38m | 6h12m | 19h36m | 20h10m | 20h10m | 21h48m | 0.93 |
| 2018-03-05 | 5h37m | 6h11m | 19h37m | 20h11m | 20h11m | 22h54m | 0.87 |
| 2018-03-06 | 5h35m | 6h09m | 19h38m | 20h12m | 20h12m | 23h57m | 0.79 |
| 2018-03-07 | 5h33m | 6h07m | 19h40m | 20h14m | 20h14m | – | 0.70 |
| 2018-03-08 | 5h31m | 6h05m | 19h41m | 20h15m | 20h15m | 0h58m | 0.60 |
| 2018-03-09 | 5h29m | 6h03m | 19h42m | 20h16m | 20h16m | 1h56m | 0.50 |
| 2018-03-10 | 5h27m | 6h02m | 19h44m | 20h18m | 20h18m | 2h50m | 0.40 |
| 2018-03-11 | 6h26m | 7h00m | 20h45m | 21h19m | 21h19m | 4h40m | 0.31 |
| 2018-03-12 | 6h24m | 6h58m | 20h46m | 21h20m | 21h20m | 5h25m | 0.22 |
| 2018-03-13 | 6h22m | 6h56m | 20h47m | 21h22m | 21h22m | 6h06m | 0.15 |
| 2018-03-14 | 6h20m | 6h54m | 20h49m | 21h23m | 21h23m | 6h20m | 0.08 |
| 2018-03-15 | 6h18m | 6h52m | 20h50m | 21h25m | 21h25m | 6h18m | 0.04 |
| 2018-03-16 | 6h16m | 6h50m | 20h51m | 21h26m | 21h26m | 6h16m | 0.01 |
| 2018-03-17 | 6h14m | 6h49m | 20h53m | 21h27m | 21h27m | 6h14m | 0.00 |
| 2018-03-18 | 6h12m | 6h47m | 20h54m | 21h29m | 21h29m | 6h12m | 0.02 |
| 2018-03-19 | 6h10m | 6h45m | 20h55m | 21h30m | 22h21m | 6h10m | 0.06 |
| 2018-03-20 | 6h12m | 6h47m | 21h01m | 21h36m | 23h30m | 6h12m | 0.12 |
| 2018-03-21 | 6h10m | 6h45m | 21h02m | 21h37m | – | 6h10m | 0.21 |
| 2018-03-22 | 6h08m | 6h43m | 21h03m | 21h39m | 0h39m | 6h08m | 0.31 |
| 2018-03-23 | 6h06m | 6h41m | 21h05m | 21h40m | 1h48m | 6h06m | 0.42 |
| 2018-03-24 | 6h03m | 6h39m | 21h06m | 21h42m | 2h54m | 6h03m | 0.54 |
| 2018-03-25 | 6h01m | 6h37m | 21h07m | 21h43m | 3h54m | 6h01m | 0.66 |
| 2018-03-26 | 5h59m | 6h35m | 21h09m | 21h45m | 4h48m | 5h59m | 0.77 |
| 2018-03-27 | 5h57m | 6h33m | 21h10m | 21h46m | 5h34m | 5h57m | 0.86 |
| 2018-03-28 | 5h55m | 6h31m | 21h12m | 21h48m | – | – | 0.93 |
| 2018-03-29 | 5h53m | 6h29m | 21h13m | 21h49m | – | – | 0.93 |
| 2018-03-30 | 5h51m | 6h27m | 21h14m | 21h51m | – | – | 0.98 |
| 2018-03-31 | 5h49m | 6h25m | 21h16m | 21h52m | – | – | 1.00 |
Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2019/09/27/.
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
| Date | Local Time | Event | ||
| Mar | 1 | Fr | 01:23 AM | Moon South Dec.: 21.6° S |
| 1 | Fr | Venus: 40.8° W | ||
| 1 | Fr | 01:40 PM | Moon-Saturn: 0.3° S | |
| 2 | Sa | 06:03 AM | Moon Descending Node | |
| 2 | Sa | 04:28 PM | Moon-Venus: 1.3° N | |
| 4 | Mo | 06:25 AM | Moon Apogee: 406400 km | |
| 6 | We | 11:04 AM | New Moon | |
| 6 | We | 07:48 PM | Neptune Conjunction | |
| 13 | We | 06:13 AM | Moon-Aldebaran: 2° S | |
| 14 | Th | 06:27 AM | First Quarter | |
| 14 | Th | 09:43 PM | Mercury Inferior Conj. | |
| 15 | Fr | 01:59 PM | Moon North Dec.: 21.8° N | |
| 16 | Sa | 12:22 PM | Moon Ascending Node | |
| 17 | Su | 09:01 AM | Moon-Beehive: 0.5° N | |
| 18 | Mo | 07:59 PM | Moon-Regulus: 2.5° S | |
| 19 | Tu | 03:47 PM | Moon Perigee: 359400 km | |
| 20 | We | 05:58 PM | Vernal Equinox | |
| 20 | We | 09:43 PM | Full Moon | |
| 26 | Tu | 10:28 PM | Moon-Jupiter: 2° S | |
| 28 | Th | 12:10 AM | Last Quarter | |
| 28 | Th | 09:02 AM | Moon South Dec.: 21.9° S | |
| 29 | Fr | 01:11 AM | Moon-Saturn: 0.1° N | |
| 29 | Fr | 09:08 AM | Moon Descending Node | |
| 30 | Sa | 11:08 PM | Mars-Pleiades: 3.2° S | |
| 31 | Su | 08:14 PM | Moon Apogee: 405600 km | |
| Apr | 1 | Mo | Venus: 34.6° W | |
All event times are given for UTC-5 hr: Eastern Standard or UTC-4 hr: Daylight Saving Time starting March 10th.
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html.
If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
| Ephemeris of Sky Events for NMC Observatory | ||||||||||
| March, 2019 – Local time zone: EST | ||||||||||
| Sun | Twilight* | Moon | Illum | |||||||
| Date | Rise | Set | Hours | End | Start | Phase | R/S** | Time | Fractn | |
| Fri | 1 | 07:20a | 06:30a | 11:09 | 07:33p | 06:17a | Rise | 05:22a | 18 | |
| Sat | 2 | 07:18a | 06:31p | 11:12 | 07:34p | 06:15a | Rise | 06:02a | 12 | |
| Sun | 3 | 07:16a | 06:32p | 11:15 | 07:35p | 06:13a | Rise | 06:36a | 6 | |
| Mon | 4 | 07:15a | 06:34p | 11:18 | 07:36p | 06:12a | Rise | 07:06a | 3 | |
| Tue | 5 | 07:13a | 06:35p | 11:22 | 07:38p | 06:10a | Rise | 07:33a | 0 | |
| Wed | 6 | 07:11a | 06:36p | 11:25 | 07:39p | 06:08a | New | Set | 06:41p | 0 |
| Thu | 7 | 07:09a | 06:37p | 11:28 | 07:40p | 06:06a | Set | 07:41p | 2 | |
| Fri | 8 | 07:07a | 06:39p | 11:31 | 07:42p | 06:05a | Set | 08:43p | 5 | |
| Sat | 9 | 07:06a | 06:40p | 11:34 | 07:43p | 06:03a | Set | 09:45p | 10 | |
| *** Start EDT *** | ||||||||||
| Sun | 10 | 08:04a | 07:41p | 11:37 | 08:44p | 07:01a | Set | 11:49p | 17 | |
| Mon | 11 | 08:02a | 07:43p | 11:40 | 08:46p | 06:59a | Set | 12:54a | 25 | |
| Tue | 12 | 08:00a | 07:44p | 11:43 | 08:47p | 06:57a | Set | 02:00a | 35 | |
| Wed | 13 | 07:58a | 07:45p | 11:46 | 08:48p | 06:56a | Set | 03:05a | 45 | |
| Thu | 14 | 07:57a | 07:47p | 11:49 | 08:50p | 06:54a | F Qtr | Set | 04:08a | 56 |
| Fri | 15 | 07:55a | 07:48p | 11:53 | 08:51p | 06:52a | Set | 05:06a | 67 | |
| Sat | 16 | 07:53a | 07:49p | 11:56 | 08:52p | 06:50a | Set | 05:58a | 77 | |
| Sun | 17 | 07:51a | 07:50p | 11:59 | 08:53p | 06:48a | Set | 06:42a | 87 | |
| Mon | 18 | 07:49a | 07:52p | 12:02 | 08:55p | 06:46a | Set | 07:21a | 94 | |
| Tue | 19 | 07:47a | 07:53p | 12:05 | 08:56p | 06:44a | Set | 07:54a | 98 | |
| Wed | 20 | 07:46a | 07:54p | 12:08 | 08:57p | 06:42a | Full | Rise | 07:35p | 100 |
| Thu | 21 | 07:44a | 07:55p | 12:11 | 08:59p | 06:40a | Rise | 08:52p | 99 | |
| Fri | 22 | 07:42a | 07:57p | 12:14 | 09:00p | 06:39a | Rise | 10:07p | 95 | |
| Sat | 23 | 07:40a | 07:58p | 12:18 | 09:02p | 06:37a | Rise | 11:20p | 88 | |
| Sun | 24 | 07:38a | 07:59p | 12:21 | 09:03p | 06:35a | Rise | 12:30a | 80 | |
| Mon | 25 | 07:36a | 08:00p | 12:24 | 09:04p | 06:33a | Rise | 01:36a | 71 | |
| Tue | 26 | 07:34a | 08:02p | 12:27 | 09:06p | 06:31a | Rise | 02:37a | 62 | |
| Wed | 27 | 07:33a | 08:03p | 12:30 | 09:07p | 06:29a | Rise | 03:32a | 52 | |
| Thu | 28 | 07:31a | 08:04p | 12:33 | 09:08p | 06:27a | L Qtr | Rise | 04:20a | 42 |
| Fri | 29 | 07:29a | 08:05p | 12:36 | 09:10p | 06:25a | Rise | 05:02a | 33 | |
| Sat | 30 | 07:27a | 08:07p | 12:39 | 09:11p | 06:23a | Rise | 05:38a | 24 | |
| Sun | 31 | 07:25a | 08:08p | 12:42 | 09:12p | 06:21a | Rise | 06:09a | 17 | |
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise
Created using my LookingUp for DOS output as CSV.
01/31/2019 – Ephemeris – Previewing February’s skies
Ephemeris for Thursday, January 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 5:49, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:02. The Moon, half way from last quarter to new, will rise at 5:50 tomorrow morning.
February is the shortest month, even so the daylight hours throughout the month will be getting longer. Daylight hours will increase from 9 hours and 49 minutes tomorrow the first to 11 hours and 6 minutes on the 28th. The sunrise time will decrease from 8:02 tomorrow to 7:22 at month’s end. The sunset times will increase from 5:51 tomorrow to 6:28 on the 28th. Along with that the altitude of the sun at noon will increase from 28 degrees tomorrow to nearly 38 degrees at month’s end. Local noon, by the way for Interlochen and Traverse City is about 12:55 p.m. Mercury has just entered the evening sky and will be visible in twilight after sunset later this month.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
February Evening Star Chart
Star Chart for February 2019 (9 p.m. EST February 15, 2019). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST in the evening and 6 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian. (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 9 p.m. and 6 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. 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.
February Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for February mornings 2019 (6 a.m. EST February 15, 2019). 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.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, and
- Extend like a spike to Spica,
- The Summer Triangle is in red.
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| Traverse City | Morning twilight | Evening twilight | Dark night | Moon | |||
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2019-02-01 | 6h22m | 6h56m | 18h55m | 19h30m | 19h30m | 5h51m | 0.09 |
| 2019-02-02 | 6h21m | 6h55m | 18h57m | 19h31m | 19h31m | 6h21m | 0.04 |
| 2019-02-03 | 6h20m | 6h54m | 18h58m | 19h32m | 19h32m | 6h20m | 0.01 |
| 2019-02-04 | 6h19m | 6h53m | 18h59m | 19h33m | 19h33m | 6h19m | 0 |
| 2019-02-05 | 6h18m | 6h52m | 19h01m | 19h35m | 19h35m | 6h18m | 0.01 |
| 2019-02-06 | 6h17m | 6h51m | 19h02m | 19h36m | 19h48m | 6h17m | 0.03 |
| 2019-02-07 | 6h16m | 6h50m | 19h03m | 19h37m | 20h48m | 6h16m | 0.08 |
| 2019-02-08 | 6h15m | 6h49m | 19h04m | 19h38m | 21h49m | 6h15m | 0.14 |
| 2019-02-09 | 6h14m | 6h47m | 19h06m | 19h40m | 22h50m | 6h14m | 0.21 |
| 2019-02-10 | 6h12m | 6h46m | 19h07m | 19h41m | 23h53m | 6h12m | 0.3 |
| 2019-02-11 | 6h11m | 6h45m | 19h08m | 19h42m | – | 6h11m | 0.4 |
| 2019-02-12 | 6h10m | 6h44m | 19h10m | 19h43m | 0h57m | 6h10m | 0.51 |
| 2019-02-13 | 6h08m | 6h42m | 19h11m | 19h45m | 2h03m | 6h08m | 0.62 |
| 2019-02-14 | 6h07m | 6h41m | 19h12m | 19h46m | 3h11m | 6h07m | 0.73 |
| 2019-02-15 | 6h06m | 6h40m | 19h13m | 19h47m | 4h18m | 6h06m | 0.83 |
| 2019-02-16 | 6h04m | 6h38m | 19h15m | 19h48m | 5h22m | 6h04m | 0.91 |
| 2019-02-17 | 6h03m | 6h37m | 19h16m | 19h50m | – | – | 0.97 |
| 2019-02-18 | 6h02m | 6h35m | 19h17m | 19h51m | – | – | 0.97 |
| 2019-02-19 | 6h00m | 6h34m | 19h19m | 19h52m | – | – | 1 |
| 2019-02-20 | 5h59m | 6h32m | 19h20m | 19h54m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2019-02-21 | 5h57m | 6h31m | 19h21m | 19h55m | 19h55m | 21h05m | 0.96 |
| 2019-02-22 | 5h55m | 6h29m | 19h22m | 19h56m | 19h56m | 22h19m | 0.9 |
| 2019-02-23 | 5h54m | 6h28m | 19h24m | 19h57m | 19h57m | 23h31m | 0.81 |
| 2019-02-24 | 5h52m | 6h26m | 19h25m | 19h59m | 19h59m | – | 0.71 |
| 2019-02-25 | 5h51m | 6h24m | 19h26m | 20h00m | 20h00m | 0h41m | 0.61 |
| 2019-02-26 | 5h49m | 6h23m | 19h28m | 20h01m | 20h01m | 1h47m | 0.5 |
| 2019-02-27 | 5h47m | 6h21m | 19h29m | 20h03m | 20h03m | 2h49m | 0.4 |
| 2019-02-28 | 5h46m | 6h20m | 19h30m | 20h04m | 20h04m | 3h46m | 0.3 |
Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2019/09/27/
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
| Date | Local Time | Event | ||
| Feb | 1 | Fr | Venus: 45.1° W | |
| 1 | Fr | 7:48 PM | Moon South Dec.: 21.5° S | |
| 2 | Sa | 2:18 AM | Moon-Saturn: 0.7° S | |
| 3 | Su | 1:35 AM | Moon Descending Node | |
| 4 | Mo | 4:04 PM | New Moon | |
| 5 | Tu | 4:26 AM | Moon Apogee: 406600 km | |
| 12 | Tu | 5:26 PM | First Quarter | |
| 13 | We | 10:29 PM | Moon-Aldebaran: 1.7° S | |
| 16 | Sa | 4:56 AM | Moon North Dec.: 21.6° N | |
| 17 | Su | 4:42 AM | Moon Ascending Node | |
| 17 | Su | 10:05 PM | Moon-Beehive: 0.6° N | |
| 18 | Mo | 9:16 AM | Venus-Saturn: 1.1° N | |
| 19 | Tu | 4:06 AM | Moon Perigee: 356800 km | |
| 19 | Tu | 8:08 AM | Moon-Regulus: 2.4° S | |
| 19 | Tu | 10:53 AM | Full Moon | |
| 26 | Tu | 6:28 AM | Last Quarter | |
| 26 | Tu | 7:59 PM | Mercury Greatest Elongation: 18.1° E | |
| 27 | We | 9:17 AM | Moon-Jupiter: 2.5° S | |
| Mar | 1 | Fr | Venus 40.8° W |
All event times are given for UTC-5:00: Eastern Standard or Daylight Time
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html
If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC |
||||||||||
| February, 2019 – Local time zone: EST | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Sun | Twilight* | Moon | Illum | ||||||
| Rise | Set | Hours | End | Start | Phase | R/S** | Time | Fractn | ||
| Fri | 1 | 08:02a | 05:51p | 09:49 | 06:57p | 06:56a | Rise | 06:40a | 7% | |
| Sat | 2 | 08:00a | 05:52p | 09:51 | 06:58p | 06:55a | Rise | 07:24a | 3% | |
| Sun | 3 | 07:59a | 05:54p | 09:54 | 06:59p | 06:53a | Rise | 08:01a | 1% | |
| Mon | 4 | 07:58a | 05:55p | 09:56 | 07:01p | 06:52a | New | Set | 05:48p | 0% |
| Tue | 5 | 07:57a | 05:56p | 09:59 | 07:02p | 06:51a | Set | 06:47p | 1% | |
| Wed | 6 | 07:56a | 05:58p | 10:02 | 07:03p | 06:50a | Set | 07:47p | 4% | |
| Thu | 7 | 07:54a | 05:59p | 10:04 | 07:04p | 06:49a | Set | 08:48p | 9% | |
| Fri | 8 | 07:53a | 06:01p | 10:07 | 07:06p | 06:48a | Set | 09:48p | 15% | |
| Sat | 9 | 07:52a | 06:02p | 10:10 | 07:07p | 06:47a | Set | 10:50p | 22% | |
| Sun | 10 | 07:50a | 06:03p | 10:13 | 07:08p | 06:45a | Set | 11:52p | 31% | |
| Mon | 11 | 07:49a | 06:05p | 10:16 | 07:10p | 06:44a | Set | 12:57a | 40% | |
| Tue | 12 | 07:47a | 06:06p | 10:18 | 07:11p | 06:43a | F Qtr | Set | 02:03a | 51% |
| Wed | 13 | 07:46a | 06:08p | 10:21 | 07:12p | 06:41a | Set | 03:10a | 61% | |
| Thu | 14 | 07:44a | 06:09p | 10:24 | 07:14p | 06:40a | Set | 04:18a | 72% | |
| Fri | 15 | 07:43a | 06:11p | 10:27 | 07:15p | 06:39a | Set | 05:21a | 81% | |
| Sat | 16 | 07:41a | 06:12p | 10:30 | 07:16p | 06:37a | Set | 06:19a | 90% | |
| Sun | 17 | 07:40a | 06:13p | 10:33 | 07:17p | 06:36a | Set | 07:09a | 96% | |
| Mon | 18 | 07:38a | 06:15p | 10:36 | 07:19p | 06:34a | Set | 07:52a | 99% | |
| Tue | 19 | 07:37a | 06:16p | 10:39 | 07:20p | 06:33a | Full | Rise | 06:28p | 100% |
| Wed | 20 | 07:35a | 06:18p | 10:42 | 07:21p | 06:32a | Rise | 07:47p | 97% | |
| Thu | 21 | 07:34a | 06:19p | 10:45 | 07:23p | 06:30a | Rise | 09:05p | 92% | |
| Fri | 22 | 07:32a | 06:20p | 10:48 | 07:24p | 06:28a | Rise | 10:19p | 84% | |
| Sat | 23 | 07:30a | 06:22p | 10:51 | 07:25p | 06:27a | Rise | 11:31p | 75% | |
| Sun | 24 | 07:29a | 06:23p | 10:54 | 07:26p | 06:25a | Rise | 12:40a | 65% | |
| Mon | 25 | 07:27a | 06:24p | 10:57 | 07:28p | 06:24a | Rise | 01:46a | 55% | |
| Tue | 26 | 07:25a | 06:26p | 11:00 | 07:29p | 06:22a | L Qtr | Rise | 02:49a | 45% |
| Wed | 27 | 07:24a | 06:27p | 11:03 | 07:30p | 06:20a | Rise | 03:46a | 35% | |
| Thu | 28 | 07:22a | 06:28p | 11:06 | 07:32p | 06:19a | Rise | 04:38a | 26% | |
| * Nautical Twilight | ||||||||||
| ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise | ||||||||||
Created using my LookingUp for DOS output as HTML.
01/01/2019 – Ephemeris – Previewing the month of January 2019
Ephemeris for New Years Day, Tuesday, January 1st. The Sun will rise at 8:20. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 52 minutes, setting at 5:12. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:59 tomorrow morning. | Happy New Year. Let’s preview the month of January. We’re a day from the latest sunrise at about the same time as today, 8:20 a.m. and will back down to 8:03 by the 31st. Sunset times are currently increasing by a minute a day from 5:12 p.m. today to 5:49 at month’s end. Listeners will have about the same sunrise time in Ludington, Interlochen/Traverse City, Petoskey and Mackinaw City, but the sunset times will vary markedly with the sunset times earlier in the north than the south. The Quadrantid meteor shower will reach peak on the 3rd in the evening. Also on the 3rd the Earth will be its closest to the Sun for the entire year. And on the 20th there will be a total lunar eclipse in the evening.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
January Evening Star Chart
Star Chart for January 2019 (9 p.m. EST January 15, 2019). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST in the evening and 6 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian. (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 9 p.m. and 6 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. 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.
January Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for January mornings 2019 (6 a.m. EST January 15, 2019). 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.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, and
- Extend like a spike to Spica,
- The Summer Triangle is in red.
- Quadr on the evening and morning star charts is the radiant of the Quadrantid meteor shower which peaks at 9:20 p.m. on the evening of the 3rd.
Twilight
| Traverse City | EST | ||||||
| Morning twilight | Evening twilight | Dark night | Moon | ||||
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2019-01-01 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h21m | 18h57m | 18h57m | 3h54m | 0.19 |
| 2019-01-02 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h22m | 18h58m | 18h58m | 4h59m | 0.11 |
| 2019-01-03 | 6h35m | 7h11m | 18h23m | 18h58m | 18h58m | 6h02m | 0.05 |
| 2019-01-04 | 6h35m | 7h11m | 18h24m | 18h59m | 18h59m | 6h35m | 0.02 |
| 2019-01-05 | 6h35m | 7h11m | 18h25m | 19h00m | 19h00m | 6h35m | 0 |
| 2019-01-06 | 6h35m | 7h11m | 18h26m | 19h01m | 19h01m | 6h35m | 0 |
| 2019-01-07 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h27m | 19h02m | 19h02m | 6h35m | 0.03 |
| 2019-01-08 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h28m | 19h03m | 19h56m | 6h35m | 0.07 |
| 2019-01-09 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h29m | 19h04m | 20h55m | 6h35m | 0.12 |
| 2019-01-10 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h30m | 19h05m | 21h55m | 6h35m | 0.2 |
| 2019-01-11 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h31m | 19h06m | 22h56m | 6h35m | 0.28 |
| 2019-01-12 | 6h34m | 7h09m | 18h32m | 19h07m | 23h57m | 6h34m | 0.37 |
| 2019-01-13 | 6h34m | 7h09m | 18h33m | 19h08m | – | 6h34m | 0.47 |
| 2019-01-14 | 6h34m | 7h09m | 18h34m | 19h09m | 0h59m | 6h34m | 0.57 |
| 2019-01-15 | 6h34m | 7h08m | 18h35m | 19h10m | 2h04m | 6h34m | 0.68 |
| 2019-01-16 | 6h33m | 7h08m | 18h36m | 19h11m | 3h11m | 6h33m | 0.78 |
| 2019-01-17 | 6h33m | 7h08m | 18h37m | 19h12m | 4h21m | 6h33m | 0.87 |
| 2019-01-18 | 6h32m | 7h07m | 18h38m | 19h13m | 5h31m | 6h32m | 0.94 |
| 2019-01-19 | 6h32m | 7h07m | 18h40m | 19h14m | – | – | 0.98 |
| 2019-01-20 | 6h31m | 7h06m | 18h41m | 19h15m | – | – | 0.98 |
| 2019-01-21 | 6h31m | 7h05m | 18h42m | 19h17m | – | – | 1 |
| 2019-01-22 | 6h30m | 7h05m | 18h43m | 19h18m | 19h18m | 19h41m | 0.98 |
| 2019-01-23 | 6h29m | 7h04m | 18h44m | 19h19m | 19h19m | 20h59m | 0.93 |
| 2019-01-24 | 6h29m | 7h03m | 18h46m | 19h20m | 19h20m | 22h15m | 0.86 |
| 2019-01-25 | 6h28m | 7h03m | 18h47m | 19h21m | 19h21m | 23h28m | 0.76 |
| 2019-01-26 | 6h27m | 7h02m | 18h48m | 19h22m | 19h22m | – | 0.66 |
| 2019-01-27 | 6h27m | 7h01m | 18h49m | 19h24m | 19h24m | 0h38m | 0.55 |
| 2019-01-28 | 6h26m | 7h00m | 18h50m | 19h25m | 19h25m | 1h46m | 0.44 |
| 2019-01-29 | 6h25m | 6h59m | 18h52m | 19h26m | 19h26m | 2h52m | 0.33 |
| 2019-01-30 | 6h24m | 6h58m | 18h53m | 19h27m | 19h27m | 3h56m | 0.24 |
| 2019-01-31 | 6h23m | 6h57m | 18h54m | 19h28m | 19h28m | 4h55m | 0.16 |
Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2019/09/27/
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
| Date | Time | Event | ||
| Jan | 1 | Tu | Venus: 46.9° W | |
| 1 | Tu | 04:50:00 PM | Moon-Venus: 1.4° S | |
| 1 | Tu | 11:53:00 PM | Saturn Conjunction | |
| 3 | Th | 02:37:00 AM | Moon-Jupiter: 3.4° S | |
| 3 | Th | 04:59:00 AM | Perihelion: 0.9833 AU | |
| 3 | Th | 09:28:00 PM | Quadrantid Shower: ZHR = 120 | |
| 5 | Sa | 01:46:00 PM | Moon South Dec.: 21.6° S | |
| 5 | Sa | 08:28:00 PM | New Moon | |
| 5 | Sa | 08:41:00 PM | Partial Solar Eclipse* | |
| 5 | Sa | 11:59:00 PM | Venus Elongation: 47° W | |
| 6 | Su | 07:08:00 PM | Moon Descending Node | |
| 8 | Tu | 11:29:00 PM | Moon Apogee: 406100 km | |
| 14 | Mo | 01:46:00 AM | First Quarter | |
| 17 | Th | 01:20:00 PM | Moon-Aldebaran: 1.6° S | |
| 19 | Sa | 06:20:00 PM | Moon North Dec.: 21.5° N | |
| 20 | Su | 05:48:00 PM | Moon Ascending Node | |
| 21 | Mo | 12:12:00 AM | Total Lunar Eclipse | |
| 21 | Mo | 12:16:00 AM | Full Moon | |
| 21 | Mo | 10:32:00 AM | Moon-Beehive: 0.6° N | |
| 21 | Mo | 02:58:00 PM | Moon Perigee: 357300 km | |
| 22 | Tu | 10:10:00 AM | Venus-Jupiter: 2.4° N | |
| 22 | Tu | 08:41:00 PM | Moon-Regulus: 2.5° S | |
| 27 | Su | 04:11:00 PM | Last Quarter | |
| 29 | Tu | 09:46:00 PM | Mercury Superior Conj. | |
| 30 | We | 06:54:00 PM | Moon-Jupiter: 3° S | |
| 31 | Th | 12:36:00 PM | Moon-Venus: 0.1° S | |
| Feb | 1 | Fr | Venus: 45.1° W | |
* Eclipse affects east Asia and the north Pacific
All event times are given for UTC-5:00: Eastern Standard or Daylight Time
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html
If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
| Ephemeris of Sky Events for NMC Observatory | ||||||||||
| January 2019 – Local time zone: EST | ||||||||||
| Date | Sun | Twilight* | Moon | Illum | ||||||
| Rise | Set | Hours | End | Start | Phase | R/S** | Time | Fractn | ||
| Tue | 1 | 08:20a | 05:12p | 8:52 | 06:23p | 07:09a | Rise | 04:59a | 15 | |
| Wed | 2 | 08:20a | 05:13p | 8:53 | 06:23p | 07:09a | Rise | 06:02a | 9 | |
| Thu | 3 | 08:20a | 05:14p | 8:54 | 06:24p | 07:09a | Rise | 07:01a | 4 | |
| Fri | 4 | 08:20a | 05:15p | 8:55 | 06:25p | 07:10a | Rise | 07:55a | 1 | |
| Sat | 5 | 08:19a | 05:16p | 8:56 | 06:26p | 07:10a | New | Set | 05:08p | 0 |
| Sun | 6 | 08:19a | 05:17p | 8:57 | 06:27p | 07:09a | Set | 06:01p | 1 | |
| Mon | 7 | 08:19a | 05:18p | 8:59 | 06:28p | 07:09a | Set | 06:57p | 3 | |
| Tue | 8 | 08:19a | 05:19p | 9:00 | 06:29p | 07:09a | Set | 07:55p | 8 | |
| Wed | 9 | 08:19a | 05:20p | 9:01 | 06:30p | 07:09a | Set | 08:55p | 13 | |
| Thu | 10 | 08:18a | 05:22p | 9:03 | 06:31p | 07:09a | Set | 09:55p | 20 | |
| Fri | 11 | 08:18a | 05:23p | 9:04 | 06:32p | 07:09a | Set | 10:55p | 28 | |
| Sat | 12 | 08:18a | 05:24p | 9:06 | 06:33p | 07:08a | Set | 11:56p | 37 | |
| Sun | 13 | 08:17a | 05:25p | 9:08 | 06:34p | 07:08a | Set | 12:59a | 47 | |
| Mon | 14 | 08:17a | 05:26p | 9:09 | 06:35p | 07:08a | F Qtr | Set | 02:04a | 57 |
| Tue | 15 | 08:16a | 05:28p | 9:11 | 06:36p | 07:07a | Set | 03:11a | 67 | |
| Wed | 16 | 08:16a | 05:29p | 9:13 | 06:38p | 07:07a | Set | 04:20a | 77 | |
| Thu | 17 | 08:15a | 05:30p | 9:15 | 06:39p | 07:07a | Set | 05:31a | 86 | |
| Fri | 18 | 08:14a | 05:31p | 9:17 | 06:40p | 07:06a | Set | 06:39a | 93 | |
| Sat | 19 | 08:14a | 05:33p | 9:19 | 06:41p | 07:06a | Set | 07:41a | 98 | |
| Sun | 20 | 08:13a | 05:34p | 9:21 | 06:42p | 07:05a | Set | 08:36a | 100 | |
| Mon | 21 | 08:12a | 05:35p | 9:23 | 06:43p | 07:04a | Full | Rise | 06:23p | 99 |
| Tue | 22 | 08:11a | 05:37p | 9:25 | 06:44p | 07:04a | Rise | 07:41p | 95 | |
| Wed | 23 | 08:11a | 05:38p | 9:27 | 06:46p | 07:03a | Rise | 08:59p | 89 | |
| Thu | 24 | 08:10a | 05:40p | 9:29 | 06:47p | 07:02a | Rise | 10:14p | 80 | |
| Fri | 25 | 08:09a | 05:41p | 9:32 | 06:48p | 07:02a | Rise | 11:27p | 70 | |
| Sat | 26 | 08:08a | 05:42p | 9:34 | 06:49p | 07:01a | Rise | 12:38a | 60 | |
| Sun | 27 | 08:07a | 05:44p | 9:36 | 06:51p | 07:00a | L Qtr | Rise | 01:46a | 49 |
| Mon | 28 | 08:06a | 05:45p | 9:39 | 06:52p | 06:59a | Rise | 02:52a | 38 | |
| Tue | 29 | 08:05a | 05:46p | 9:41 | 06:53p | 06:58a | Rise | 03:55a | 29 | |
| Wed | 30 | 08:04a | 05:48p | 9:44 | 06:54p | 06:57a | Rise | 04:55a | 20 | |
| Thu | 31 | 08:03a | 05:49p | 9:46 | 06:56p | 06:56a | Rise | 05:50a | 13 | |
| * Nautical Twilight | ||||||||||
| * Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise | ||||||||||
11/30/2018 – Ephemeris – Previewing December skies
Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, November 30th. The Sun will rise at 7:58. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 5:04. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 1:29 tomorrow morning.
Let’s preview December’s skies. Winter will officially arrive on the 21st at 5:22 p.m., the winter solstice. The noontime sun will dip from 23 ½ degrees to a bit less than 22 degrees above the southern horizon on that day. There will be little movement in the sunset times: In the Traverse City/Interlochen area this will be from 5:03 tomorrow, down to 5:02 and then advancing to 5:11 at the end of the month. The sunrise times will advance from 7:58 tomorrow to 8:20 on the 31st. The big event in December will be the Geminid meteor shower whose maximum is on the morning of the 14th. An old comet will make a close pass of the Earth and may be quite bright by mid-month. Watch for Comet Wirtanen.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
December Evening Star Chart
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST in the evening and 6 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian. (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 9 p.m. and 6 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. 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.
December Morning Star Chart
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.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, and
- Extend like a spike to Spica,
- The Summer Triangle is in red.
- GemR on the evening and morning star charts is the radiant of the Geminid meteor shower which peaks on the morning of the 14th,
Twilight
| Time zone=EDT | |||||||
| Morning twilight | Evening twilight | Dark night | Moon | ||||
| Date | Astronomical | Nautical | Nautical | Astronomical | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2018-12-01 | 6h20m | 6h55m | 18h16m | 18h51m | 18h51m | 1h29m | 0.33 |
| 2018-12-02 | 6h21m | 6h56m | 18h15m | 18h50m | 18h50m | 2h39m | 0.23 |
| 2018-12-03 | 6h22m | 6h57m | 18h15m | 18h50m | 18h50m | 3h48m | 0.14 |
| 2018-12-04 | 6h23m | 6h58m | 18h15m | 18h50m | 18h50m | 4h56m | 0.07 |
| 2018-12-05 | 6h24m | 6h59m | 18h15m | 18h50m | 18h50m | 6h03m | 0.03 |
| 2018-12-06 | 6h25m | 7h00m | 18h15m | 18h50m | 18h50m | 6h25m | 0.00 |
| 2018-12-07 | 6h26m | 7h01m | 18h15m | 18h50m | 18h50m | 6h26m | 0.00 |
| 2018-12-08 | 6h26m | 7h02m | 18h15m | 18h50m | 18h50m | 6h26m | 0.02 |
| 2018-12-09 | 6h27m | 7h03m | 18h15m | 18h50m | 19h15m | 6h27m | 0.06 |
| 2018-12-10 | 6h28m | 7h04m | 18h15m | 18h50m | 20h09m | 6h28m | 0.12 |
| 2018-12-11 | 6h29m | 7h04m | 18h15m | 18h50m | 21h06m | 6h29m | 0.19 |
| 2018-12-12 | 6h30m | 7h05m | 18h15m | 18h51m | 22h05m | 6h30m | 0.27 |
| 2018-12-13 | 6h30m | 7h06m | 18h15m | 18h51m | 23h05m | 6h30m | 0.36 |
| 2018-12-14 | 6h31m | 7h07m | 18h16m | 18h51m | – | 6h31m | 0.45 |
| 2018-12-15 | 6h32m | 7h07m | 18h16m | 18h51m | 0h06m | 6h32m | 0.55 |
| 2018-12-16 | 6h32m | 7h08m | 18h16m | 18h52m | 1h07m | 6h32m | 0.65 |
| 2018-12-17 | 6h33m | 7h09m | 18h16m | 18h52m | 2h11m | 6h33m | 0.75 |
| 2018-12-18 | 6h30m | 7h05m | 18h13m | 18h48m | 3h16m | 6h30m | 0.84 |
| 2018-12-19 | 6h30m | 7h06m | 18h13m | 18h49m | 4h24m | 6h30m | 0.91 |
| 2018-12-20 | 6h31m | 7h06m | 18h14m | 18h49m | 5h34m | 6h31m | 0.97 |
| 2018-12-21 | 6h31m | 7h07m | 18h14m | 18h50m | – | – | 0.97 |
| 2018-12-22 | 6h32m | 7h07m | 18h15m | 18h50m | – | – | 1.00 |
| 2018-12-23 | 6h32m | 7h08m | 18h15m | 18h51m | – | – | 1.00 |
| 2018-12-24 | 6h33m | 7h08m | 18h16m | 18h51m | 18h51m | 19h35m | 0.97 |
| 2018-12-25 | 6h33m | 7h09m | 18h16m | 18h52m | 18h52m | 20h49m | 0.91 |
| 2018-12-26 | 6h34m | 7h09m | 18h17m | 18h53m | 18h53m | 22h05m | 0.82 |
| 2018-12-27 | 6h34m | 7h09m | 18h18m | 18h53m | 18h53m | 23h19m | 0.72 |
| 2018-12-28 | 6h34m | 7h10m | 18h18m | 18h54m | 18h54m | – | 0.61 |
| 2018-12-29 | 6h34m | 7h10m | 18h19m | 18h55m | 18h55m | 0h30m | 0.49 |
| 2018-12-30 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h20m | 18h55m | 18h55m | 1h40m | 0.38 |
| 2018-12-31 | 6h35m | 7h10m | 18h21m | 18h56m | 18h56m | 2h48m | 0.28 |
Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
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
| Date | Local | Event | ||
| Time | ||||
| Dec | 1 | Sa | Venus: 39.9° W | |
| 3 | Mo | 01:42:00 PM | Moon-Venus: 3.8° S | |
| 7 | Fr | 02:20:00 AM | New Moon | |
| 9 | Su | 12:30:00 AM | Moon-Saturn: 1.2° S | |
| 9 | Su | 06:12:00 AM | Moon South Dec.: 21.5° S | |
| 10 | Mo | 12:57:00 PM | Moon Descending Node | |
| 12 | We | 07:25:00 AM | Moon Apogee: 405200 km | |
| 14 | Fr | 07:16:00 AM | Geminid Shower: ZHR = 120 | |
| 14 | Fr | 06:21:00 PM | Moon-Mars: 3.9° N | |
| 15 | Sa | 05:59:00 AM | Mercury Elongation: 21.3° W | |
| 15 | Sa | 06:49:00 AM | First Quarter | |
| 21 | Fr | 02:31:00 AM | Moon-Aldebaran: 1.7° S | |
| 21 | Fr | 02:49:00 PM | Mercury-Jupiter: 0.8° N | |
| 21 | Fr | 05:22:00 PM | Winter Solstice | |
| 22 | Sa | 03:03:00 AM | Mercury-Antares: 6° N | |
| 22 | Sa | 10:08:00 AM | Jupiter-Antares: 5.2° N | |
| 22 | Sa | 12:49:00 PM | Full Moon | |
| 22 | Sa | 04:00:00 PM | Ursid Shower: ZHR = 10 | |
| 23 | Su | 06:48:00 AM | Moon North Dec.: 21.6° N | |
| 24 | Mo | 04:52:00 AM | Moon Perigee: 361100 km | |
| 24 | Mo | 06:54:00 AM | Moon Ascending Node | |
| 24 | Mo | 11:52:00 PM | Moon-Beehive: 0.6° N | |
| 26 | We | 11:06:00 AM | Moon-Regulus: 2.5° S | |
| 29 | Sa | 04:34:00 AM | Last Quarter | |
All event times are given for UTC-5:00: Eastern Standard or Daylight Time
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html
If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
| Ephemeris of Sky Events for NMC Observatory | ||||||||||
| December, 2018 – Local time zone: EST | ||||||||||
| Date | Sun | Twilight* | Moon | Illum | ||||||
| Rise | Set | Hours | End | Start | Phase | R/S** | Time | Fractn | ||
| Sat | 1 | 07:59a | 05:03p | 09:04 | 06:12p | 06:49a | Rise | 02:38a | 29.00% | |
| Sun | 2 | 08:00a | 05:03p | 09:03 | 06:12p | 06:50a | Rise | 03:47a | 19.00% | |
| Mon | 3 | 08:01a | 05:03p | 09:01 | 06:12p | 06:51a | Rise | 04:55a | 12.00% | |
| Tue | 4 | 08:02a | 05:02p | 09:00 | 06:12p | 06:52a | Rise | 06:02a | 6.00% | |
| Wed | 5 | 08:03a | 05:02p | 08:59 | 06:12p | 06:53a | Rise | 07:07a | 2.00% | |
| Thu | 6 | 08:04a | 05:02p | 08:57 | 06:12p | 06:54a | Rise | 08:10a | 0.00% | |
| Fri | 7 | 08:05a | 05:02p | 08:56 | 06:12p | 06:55a | New | Set | 05:40p | 1.00% |
| Sat | 8 | 08:06a | 05:02p | 08:55 | 06:12p | 06:56a | Set | 06:25p | 3.00% | |
| Sun | 9 | 08:07a | 05:02p | 08:54 | 06:12p | 06:57a | Set | 07:15p | 7.00% | |
| Mon | 10 | 08:08a | 05:02p | 08:53 | 06:12p | 06:58a | Set | 08:09p | 12.00% | |
| Tue | 11 | 08:09a | 05:02p | 08:52 | 06:12p | 06:59a | Set | 09:06p | 19.00% | |
| Wed | 12 | 08:10a | 05:02p | 08:52 | 06:12p | 06:59a | Set | 10:05p | 27.00% | |
| Thu | 13 | 08:10a | 05:02p | 08:51 | 06:12p | 07:00a | Set | 11:05p | 36.00% | |
| Fri | 14 | 08:11a | 05:02p | 08:50 | 06:13p | 07:01a | Set | 12:05a | 45.00% | |
| Sat | 15 | 08:12a | 05:02p | 08:50 | 06:13p | 07:02a | F Qtr | Set | 01:07a | 55.00% |
| Sun | 16 | 08:13a | 05:03p | 08:49 | 06:13p | 07:02a | Set | 02:10a | 65.00% | |
| Mon | 17 | 08:13a | 05:03p | 08:49 | 06:13p | 07:03a | Set | 03:15a | 74.00% | |
| Tue | 18 | 08:14a | 05:03p | 08:49 | 06:14p | 07:03a | Set | 04:23a | 83.00% | |
| Wed | 19 | 08:15a | 05:04p | 08:49 | 06:14p | 07:04a | Set | 05:33a | 90.00% | |
| Thu | 20 | 08:15a | 05:04p | 08:48 | 06:15p | 07:05a | Set | 06:45a | 96.00% | |
| Fri | 21 | 08:16a | 05:05p | 08:48 | 06:15p | 07:05a | Set | 07:56a | 99.00% | |
| Sat | 22 | 08:16a | 05:05p | 08:48 | 06:16p | 07:06a | Full | Rise | 05:22p | 100.00% |
| Sun | 23 | 08:17a | 05:06p | 08:49 | 06:16p | 07:06a | Rise | 06:25p | 98.00% | |
| Mon | 24 | 08:17a | 05:06p | 08:49 | 06:17p | 07:07a | Rise | 07:35p | 93.00% | |
| Tue | 25 | 08:17a | 05:07p | 08:49 | 06:17p | 07:07a | Rise | 08:49p | 85.00% | |
| Wed | 26 | 08:18a | 05:08p | 08:49 | 06:18p | 07:07a | Rise | 10:05p | 76.00% | |
| Thu | 27 | 08:18a | 05:08p | 08:50 | 06:19p | 07:08a | Rise | 11:18p | 66.00% | |
| Fri | 28 | 08:18a | 05:09p | 08:50 | 06:19p | 07:08a | Rise | 12:30a | 54.00% | |
| Sat | 29 | 08:19a | 05:10p | 08:51 | 06:20p | 07:08a | L Qtr | Rise | 01:39a | 43.00% |
| Sun | 30 | 08:19a | 05:11p | 08:51 | 06:21p | 07:08a | Rise | 02:47a | 33.00% | |
| Mon | 31 | 08:19a | 05:12p | 08:52 | 06:22p | 07:09a | Rise | 03:53a | 24.00% | |
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise
11/01/2018 – Ephemeris – November preview
Ephemeris for Thursday, November 1st. The Sun will rise at 8:20. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 6:31. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 2:14 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look ahead at the skies for the month of November. The Sun is still moving south rapidly. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will drop from 10 hours and 10 minutes today to 9 hours 5 minutes on the 30th. The altitude, or angle, of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be at 30 degrees today and will descend to 23 and a half degrees on the 30th. The altitude of the Sun in the Straits area will be a degree lower. Local noon, this month, will be about 12:30 p.m. once we’re on standard time. The Leonid meteor shower will reach multiple peaks from the 16th through the 21st and is expected to be lackluster and may only produce 10 to 15 meteors per hour. But the Leonids can be surprising.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
November Evening Star Chart
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST in the evening and 6 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian. (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 9 p.m. and 6 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. 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.
November Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for November moprnings 2018 (6 a.m. EST November 15, 2018). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge. The original morning chart uploaded November 1st was outdated. This corrected chart was uploaded November 6th.
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.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus
- The Summer Triangle is in red.
- TauR on the evening star chart can be used as the radiant for the North and South Taurid meteor showers.
- LeoR on the morning star chart is the radiant of the Leonid meteor shower which peaks between the 16th to 21st.
Twilight
| Time zone=EDT | |||||||
| Morning twilight | Evening twilight | Dark night | Moon | ||||
| Date | Astronomical | Nautical | Nautical | Astronomical | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2018-11-01 | 6h47m | 7h21m | 19h39m | 20h13m | 20h13m | 1h02m | 0.41 |
| 2018-11-02 | 6h48m | 7h22m | 19h38m | 20h12m | 20h12m | 2h14m | 0.29 |
| 2018-11-03 | 6h49m | 7h23m | 19h37m | 20h11m | 20h11m | 3h27m | 0.19 |
| 2018-11-04 | 5h50m | 6h24m | 18h36m | 19h10m | 19h10m | 3h39m | 0.11 |
| 2018-11-05 | 5h52m | 6h26m | 18h34m | 19h08m | 19h08m | 4h50m | 0.05 |
| 2018-11-06 | 5h53m | 6h27m | 18h33m | 19h07m | 19h07m | 5h53m | 0.01 |
| 2018-11-07 | 5h54m | 6h28m | 18h32m | 19h06m | 19h06m | 5h54m | 0.00 |
| 2018-11-08 | 5h55m | 6h29m | 18h31m | 19h05m | 19h05m | 5h55m | 0.01 |
| 2018-11-09 | 5h56m | 6h30m | 18h30m | 19h04m | 19h04m | 5h56m | 0.05 |
| 2018-11-10 | 5h57m | 6h32m | 18h29m | 19h03m | 19h46m | 5h57m | 0.10 |
| 2018-11-11 | 5h59m | 6h33m | 18h28m | 19h02m | 20h33m | 5h59m | 0.17 |
| 2018-11-12 | 6h00m | 6h34m | 18h27m | 19h01m | 21h25m | 6h00m | 0.26 |
| 2018-11-13 | 6h01m | 6h35m | 18h26m | 19h00m | 22h20m | 6h01m | 0.35 |
| 2018-11-14 | 6h02m | 6h36m | 18h25m | 19h00m | 23h18m | 6h02m | 0.44 |
| 2018-11-15 | 6h03m | 6h38m | 18h24m | 18h59m | – | 6h03m | 0.54 |
| 2018-11-16 | 6h04m | 6h39m | 18h24m | 18h58m | 0h18m | 6h04m | 0.63 |
| 2018-11-17 | 6h05m | 6h40m | 18h23m | 18h57m | 1h19m | 6h05m | 0.73 |
| 2018-11-18 | 6h07m | 6h41m | 18h22m | 18h57m | 2h21m | 6h07m | 0.81 |
| 2018-11-19 | 6h08m | 6h42m | 18h21m | 18h56m | 3h24m | 6h08m | 0.89 |
| 2018-11-20 | 6h09m | 6h43m | 18h21m | 18h55m | 4h30m | 6h09m | 0.95 |
| 2018-11-21 | 6h10m | 6h45m | 18h20m | 18h55m | 5h38m | 6h10m | 0.99 |
| 2018-11-22 | 6h11m | 6h46m | 18h19m | 18h54m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2018-11-23 | 6h12m | 6h47m | 18h19m | 18h54m | – | – | 1.00 |
| 2018-11-24 | 6h13m | 6h48m | 18h18m | 18h53m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2018-11-25 | 6h14m | 6h49m | 18h18m | 18h53m | 18h53m | 19h38m | 0.94 |
| 2018-11-26 | 6h15m | 6h50m | 18h17m | 18h52m | 18h52m | 20h43m | 0.88 |
| 2018-11-27 | 6h16m | 6h51m | 18h17m | 18h52m | 18h52m | 21h52m | 0.79 |
| 2018-11-28 | 6h17m | 6h52m | 18h16m | 18h51m | 18h51m | 23h05m | 0.68 |
| 2018-11-29 | 6h18m | 6h53m | 18h16m | 18h51m | 18h51m | – | 0.56 |
| 2018-11-30 | 6h19m | 6h54m | 18h16m | 18h51m | 18h51m | 0h17m | 0.44 |
| 2018-10-31 | 6h45m | 7h19m | 19h40m | 20h14m | 20h14m | – | 0.53 |
Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
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
| Time | ||||
| Nov | 1 | Th | Venus: 10.6° W | |
| 1 | Th | 11:16:00 PM | Moon-Regulus: 2.1° S | |
| 5 | Mo | 12:31:00 PM | South Taurid Shower: ZHR = 10 | |
| 6 | Tu | 09:59:00 AM | Mercury Elongation: 23.3° E | |
| 7 | We | 11:02:00 AM | New Moon | |
| 8 | Th | 11:56:00 PM | Mercury-Antares: 1.8° N | |
| 11 | Su | 10:46:00 AM | Moon-Saturn: 1.6° S | |
| 11 | Su | 09:21:00 PM | Moon South Dec.: 21.4° S | |
| 12 | Mo | 11:48:00 AM | North Taurid Shower: ZHR = 15 | |
| 13 | Tu | 09:04:00 AM | Moon Descending Node | |
| 14 | We | 10:57:00 AM | Moon Apogee: 404300 km | |
| 14 | We | 06:23:00 PM | Venus-Spica: 1.5° S | |
| 15 | Th | 09:54:00 AM | First Quarter | |
| 15 | Th | 11:16:00 PM | Moon-Mars: 1.1° N | |
| 17 | Sa | 06:05:00 PM | Leonid Shower: ZHR = 15 | |
| 23 | Fr | 12:39:00 AM | Full Moon | |
| 23 | Fr | 04:11:00 PM | Moon-Aldebaran: 1.7° S | |
| 25 | Su | 08:48:00 PM | Moon North Dec.: 21.5° N | |
| 26 | Mo | 01:25:00 AM | Jupiter Conjunction | |
| 26 | Mo | 07:10:00 AM | Moon Perigee: 366600 km | |
| 27 | Tu | 12:18:00 AM | Moon Ascending Node | |
| 27 | Tu | 04:10:00 AM | Mercury Inferior Conj. | |
| 27 | Tu | 03:57:00 PM | Moon-Beehive: 0.8° N | |
| 29 | Th | 04:27:00 AM | Moon-Regulus: 2.4° S | |
| 29 | Th | 07:19:00 PM | Last Quarter | |
| All event times are given for UTC-5:00: Eastern Standard or Daylight Time | ||||
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html
If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year
or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
| Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC | ||||||||||
| November 2018 – Local time zone: EDT/EST | ||||||||||
| Date | Sun | Twilight* | Moon | Illum | ||||||
| Rise | Set | Hours | End | Start | Phase | R/S** | Time | Fract | ||
| Thu | 1 | 08:20a | 06:31p | 10:11 | 07:36p | 07:15a | Rise | 02:14a | 35 | |
| Fri | 2 | 08:21a | 06:29p | 10:08 | 07:34p | 07:16a | Rise | 03:27a | 25 | |
| Sat | 3 | 08:22a | 06:28p | 10:05 | 07:33p | 07:17a | Rise | 04:39a | 16 | |
| *** Time Change – EST – Time Change *** | ||||||||||
| Sun | 4 | 07:24a | 05:27p | 10:02 | 06:32p | 06:19a | Rise | 04:50a | 9 | |
| Mon | 5 | 07:25a | 05:25p | 10:00 | 06:31p | 06:20a | Rise | 06:00a | 3 | |
| Tue | 6 | 07:27a | 05:24p | 09:57 | 06:30p | 06:21a | Rise | 07:09a | 1 | |
| Wed | 7 | 07:28a | 05:23p | 09:55 | 06:29p | 06:22a | New | Set | 05:52p | 0 |
| Thu | 8 | 07:29a | 05:22p | 09:52 | 06:28p | 06:23a | Set | 06:26p | 2 | |
| Fri | 9 | 07:31a | 05:21p | 09:49 | 06:26p | 06:25a | Set | 07:03p | 6 | |
| Sat | 10 | 07:32a | 05:19p | 09:47 | 06:25p | 06:26a | Set | 07:46p | 11 | |
| Sun | 11 | 07:33a | 05:18p | 09:44 | 06:25p | 06:27a | Set | 08:33p | 18 | |
| Mon | 12 | 07:35a | 05:17p | 09:42 | 06:24p | 06:28a | Set | 09:25p | 26 | |
| Tue | 13 | 07:36a | 05:16p | 09:40 | 06:23p | 06:29a | Set | 10:20p | 35 | |
| Wed | 14 | 07:37a | 05:15p | 09:37 | 06:22p | 06:31a | Set | 11:18p | 44 | |
| Thu | 15 | 07:39a | 05:14p | 09:35 | 06:21p | 06:32a | F Qtr | Set | 12:18a | 54 |
| Fri | 16 | 07:40a | 05:13p | 09:33 | 06:20p | 06:33a | Set | 01:18a | 63 | |
| Sat | 17 | 07:41a | 05:12p | 09:30 | 06:19p | 06:34a | Set | 02:20a | 72 | |
| Sun | 18 | 07:43a | 05:11p | 09:28 | 06:19p | 06:35a | Set | 03:24a | 80 | |
| Mon | 19 | 07:44a | 05:10p | 09:26 | 06:18p | 06:36a | Set | 04:29a | 88 | |
| Tue | 20 | 07:45a | 05:10p | 09:24 | 06:17p | 06:38a | Set | 05:37a | 94 | |
| Wed | 21 | 07:47a | 05:09p | 09:22 | 06:17p | 06:39a | Set | 06:47a | 98 | |
| Thu | 22 | 07:48a | 05:08p | 09:20 | 06:16p | 06:40a | Set | 07:58a | 100 | |
| Fri | 23 | 07:49a | 05:07p | 09:18 | 06:15p | 06:41a | Full | Rise | 05:55p | 99 |
| Sat | 24 | 07:50a | 05:07p | 09:16 | 06:15p | 06:42a | Rise | 06:42p | 96 | |
| Sun | 25 | 07:52a | 05:06p | 09:14 | 06:14p | 06:43a | Rise | 07:39p | 90 | |
| Mon | 26 | 07:53a | 05:06p | 09:12 | 06:14p | 06:44a | Rise | 08:43p | 82 | |
| Tue | 27 | 07:54a | 05:05p | 09:10 | 06:14p | 06:45a | Rise | 09:52p | 72 | |
| Wed | 28 | 07:55a | 05:04p | 09:09 | 06:13p | 06:46a | Rise | 11:05p | 61 | |
| Thu | 29 | 07:56a | 05:04p | 09:07 | 06:13p | 06:47a | L Qtr | Rise | 12:17a | 50 |
| Fri | 30 | 07:58a | 05:04p | 09:06 | 06:13p | 06:48a | Rise | 01:28a | 39 | |
| * Nautical Twilight | ||||||||||
| ** Rise or set whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise | ||||||||||
