Ephemeris: 11/08/2023 – Where have the naked-eye planets wandered off to this week?

This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 52 minutes, setting at 5:22, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:31. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:26 tomorrow morning.

Let’s find out where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week. Three of those five planets are now visible but both Mars and Mercury set too close to sunset to be seen. So, Saturn and Jupiter are the only evening planets visible. Saturn, seen against the stars of Aquarius, can be seen in the south in the evening. Saturn will be visible till almost 1 am. Jupiter is seen rising in the eastern sky in the evening, the brightest object in the sky. In Aries this year, Jupiter will be up all night. Venus, the brilliant morning star, will rise in the east-northeast at 3:29 am. It will be seen above the waning crescent Moon. In the southeast at 7 am in the bright morning twilight.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The only planets visible in the evening are Jupiter and Saturn and facing southeast one can see Jupiter to the left and Saturn way off to the right just west of south. Also showing are the constellations of the Zodiac that they are in or near. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.

Here are Venus and the Moon at 6:45 am, when most people are up early enough to see them. It got me to thinking that maybe there may be an occultation (hiding) of Venus behind the Moon earlier in the morning, so I cranked it back three hours to just after Venus and the Moon rose. No occultation here (see below). Doing further checking I found out there is an area on the world that the occultation will be visible. Created using Stellarium.

Here are the moon and Venus at 3:45 AM about 15 minutes after they will rise tomorrow morning showing that we in Michigan are still too far south to see the occultation. Created using Stellarium.

This is a map of where the occultation will be visible on the Earth. It will be seen on the northern part of this map. The left loop is where the occultation will occur around moonrise and the right loop is where the occultation will occur near moonset. The southern boundary of the occultation is the line between the loops. On the left it is a solid white line. North of that the occultation will be seen at night. There’s a little portion of blue in which the occultation will be seen during twilight and the red dots, which above that is where the occultation will be visible during the daytime. Europe will be able to see the occultation during the daytime, Greenland mostly at night and the occultation will be visible also from the very northern islands of Canada. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. The map was created using Occult version 4.

Telescopic Saturn, Jupiter and Venus (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification. At 8 pm November 8, 2023, for Saturn and Jupiter, and 6:45 am on the 9th, for Venus. Apparent diameters: Saturn 17.56″, its rings 40.92″; Jupiter 49.33″; and Venus 20.42″ and is 58.7% illuminated. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts) and GIMP.

The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on November 8, 2023. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 9th. Note that the labels for Venus and the Moon overlap each other. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.

Ephemeris: 08/24/2023 – The Moon will pass in front of the star Antares tonight

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, August 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 38 minutes, setting at 8:33, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:56. The Moon, at first quarter today, will set at 12:11 tomorrow morning. | Tonight the Moon is going to pass in front of the bright reddish star in Antares in Scorpius scorpion. The event is called an occultation, and it is the only one of the monthly occultations which we’re going to be able to see in this series that began last month and will extend to August 2028. Antares will disappear at the lower left edge of the dark or night part of the Moon at approximately 10:28 pm* this evening, and it’ll stay hidden until 11:32 pm* when it will pop out on the lower right edge of the bright part of the Moon. Start looking for Antares early, probably with binoculars, because the Moon will be quite bright and might overpower Antares when viewed by the naked eye. Hoping for clear skies tonight.

*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. For other locations a planetarium computer app like Stellarium can be used to graphically predict occultation timings within a few minutes. Check your planetarium app, and set it to use Topocentric coordinates. In Stellarium, the selection is in the Configuration window, Tools tab. Check everything under Topocentric coordinates. That way the position of the Moon in the sky will be based on the chosen location, rather than the center of the Earth.

Addendum

A time-lapse prediction of the occultation of Antares by the Moon based on Stellarium imagery. In the actual occultation Antares will wink out and on suddenly. Antares is a double star, with a 5th magnitude companion. It should wink out and in 9 seconds before the main first magnitude star.

World map showing the area where the occultation of Antares can be visible. It is the area bounded by the white line, the red dotted line and the floppy figure 8 is the area where the occultation is visible. The red line shows that the area near that part of the line is where the occultation occurs during daylight the solid white line on the bottom encloses there is where the occultation will be seen at night. Michigan is close to that cyan line and so the occultation will occur near moonset. Credit: Occult 4 app.

12/07/2022 – Ephemeris – An occultation of Mars and a look at the other naked eye planets.

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 55 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:07. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 4:31 this evening.

Let’s see where the naked-eye planets have wandered off to this week. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible this evening, in the southeastern sky by 6 pm. At that time, Mars will be below, left of the bright full Moon. Jupiter is the brightest of the three in the southeast, while dimmer Saturn is in the south-southeast at that hour. Mars will be hidden behind the Moon from about 10:15 to 11:15 pm tonight for the IPR area. Being a full moon, Mars might be difficult to spot. It may take binoculars to spot it below, left of the Moon by 9:30, and a small telescope when Mars is near the edge of the Moon. The disappearance of Mars will be at the Moon’s 7 o’clock position, and reappearance at the 4 o’clock position. Bobmoler.wordpress.com (you are already here) has more information.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Panoramic view of planets and Moon this evening at 7 pm tonight, December 7, 2022. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium.

Mars occultation animation in half hour steps for 9:15 pm, 9:45 pm, 10:15 pm (Ingress), 10:45 pm (mid-occultation), 11:15 pm (egress), 11:45 pm. The Moon and the apparent path of Mars rotates as they cross the sky from east to west. In actuality, the Moon is much brighter than Mars, so picking the planet out tonight will be a challenge. It will take the Moon almost a minute to completely cover Mars, and nearly another minute to uncover it. The plot is centered on the Moon here, but the Moon provides most of the motion here. On average, the Moon moves 12 degrees a day, while Mars moves less than a degree against the starry background. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.

Telescopic views of Saturn Jupiter and Mars (north up) as they would be seen in a small telescope, with the same magnification. The image of Mars doesn’t show it, but the white north polar cap will appear at the top or north limb of Mars. The planets are shown at 8 pm tonight, December 7, 2022. Apparent diameters: Saturn 16.25″, its rings 37.86″; Jupiter 42.55″. Mars 17.05″. Mars’ distance is 51.0 million miles (82.1 million kilometers). This is the closest it comes to the Earth this orbit. The ” symbol means seconds of arc (1/3600th of a degree.) Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

The naked-eye planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise on a single night, starting with sunset on the right on December 7, 2022. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 8th. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using my LookingUp app and GIMP.

World map showing the area that the occultation of Mars will be visible. Occultation visibility will move from west to east. Credit: Occult version 4. This evening in the EST zone is the 8th for Universal Time (UT), or GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) if you’re older.

 

12/06/2022 – Ephemeris – The Moon will pass in front of Mars tomorrow night

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, December 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:06. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 7:45 tomorrow morning.

Late tomorrow evening we might get to view a really cool event, clouds permitting, when the full moon will cover or in astronomical lingo occult the planet Mars. In the Grand Traverse Region, this will occur for an hour between approximately 10:15 to 11:15 pm. The exact times depend on your location, and can vary by a minute or two over the IPR coverage area. Being a full moon, Mars might be difficult to spot. It may take binoculars to spot it below, left of the Moon by 9:30, and a small telescope when Mars is near the edge of the Moon. The disappearance of Mars will be at the Moon’s 7 o’clock position, and reappearance at the 4 o’clock position.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Mars ingress and egress chart and times for Traverse City, MI. The times will vary by a minute or two in the IPR listening area, ingress being earlier to the west and north and later east and south. Egress times will be earlier west and later east of Traverse City. Mars takes about a minute to completely disappear and reappear again because it’s not an unresolvable point like stars.

Occultation of Mars map. The occultation of Mars by the Moon will be visible from within the bounded area. For Traverse City, MI, Mars will disappear around 10:15 pm, December 7, 2022, and reappear around 11:15 pm.

In astronomical events of solar eclipses and occultations YOU are part of the event. No, not you, but your location. Whether you see the event or not or what time the contacts (ingress, egress) happen depends on your location. And will happen for that location whether you are there, or it’s clear, or not.

12/05/2022 – Ephemeris – Mars will hide behind the full Moon Wednesday night

This is Ephemeris for Monday, December 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 58 minutes, setting at 5:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:05. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 6:36 tomorrow morning.

Late Wednesday night we might get to view a really cool event when the full moon will cover or in astronomical lingo occult the planet Mars. In the Grand Traverse Region, this will occur for an hour between approximately 10:15 to 11:15 pm. The exact times depend on your location, and can vary by several minutes or more. Being a full moon, Mars might be difficult to spot. I’ll have more and hopefully more accurate information tomorrow. When astronomical objects line up like this, it’s called a syzygy. This time it’s a lineup of the Sun, Earth Moon and Mars in nearly a straight line, with both the Moon and Mars in opposition from the Sun on the same night. When the Moon is in opposition, we call it a full moon instead.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EST, UT –5 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Mars ingress and egress chart and times for Traverse City, MI. The times will vary by a minute or two in the IPR listening area, ingress being earlier to the west and north and later east and south. Egress times will be earlier west and later east of Traverse City.

World map showing the area that the occultation of Mars will be visible. Occultation visibility will move from west to east. Credit: Occult version 4.

 

12/11/2020 – Ephemeris Extra – Venus will hide behind the Moon for W US, Canada and N Pacific Tomorrow

Tomorrow Saturday, December 12, 2020 Venus will be occulted, or covered, by the thin crescent Moon for the area bounded in the map below. The southern boundary is a thin red line denoting that the event will take place in daylight.  For safety sake observe the event from the shadow of a building open to the sky west of the Sun to not inadvertently point binoculars or telescope toward the Sun and cause permanent damage to your eyes. Venus is visible in the daytime. A program like Stellarium will help in locating Venus and determination of the time of the event for your location. Also, for Stellarium, in the configuration window’s Tool tab make sure “Topocentric coordinates” is checked.

The event will NOT be visible from Michigan.

Occultation of Venus World map 12/12/2020. The occultation will be visible within the bounded area. For the area that looks like a lazy figure 8 the occultation will start (on the left) or end as Venus and the Moon rises or sets. For most areas within the bounded area the occultation is a daytime event. Credit Occult4.

 

02/17/2020 – Ephemeris Extra – The Moon will cover the planet Mars in morning twilight tomorrow, Tuesday the 18th.

Sorry, I missed this until now. Tomorrow morning the 18th Mars will be occulted by the Moon. For Northern Lower Michigan Mars will disappear shortly after 7:10 a.m. The exact time depends on your location, so I can’t be more specific.  At that time the Moon and Mars will be in the southeastern sky. Mars is now first magnitude, but will fare poorly in the morning twilight, so I’d suggest finding the Moon and Mars at least 15 minutes earlier with binoculars or telescope. Mars will reappear at the Moon’s unlit side around 8:37 a.m. This is after sunrise, so a telescope will be required to spot it.  Hoping for clear skies, though the weather forecast isn’t promising.

A map of where the occultation of Mars will be visible. Created using Occult4.

Where Mars will disappear at the Moon’s sunlit edge. Created using Stellarium.

Mars will reappear at the Moon’s unlit edge around 8:36 a.m. give or take. Created using Stellarium.

11/23/2018 – Ephemeris – The Moon and Aldebaran

Ephemeris for Friday, November 23rd. The Sun will rise at 7:50. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 17 minutes, setting at 5:07. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 5:55 this evening.

Tonight’s full Moon will be accompanied by the bright star Aldebaran, the angry red eye of the constellation Taurus the Bull. Earlier this year we had the last of nearly two years of the Moon every month passing in front of Aldebaran. The tilt of the Moon’s orbit with respect to the Earth’s own orbit of the Sun slides slowly westward with time, so The Moon won’t pass in front of Aldebaran for those of us on Earth again until 2033. This sliding of the Moon’s orbit is called regression of the nodes. A node is where the Moon’s orbital plane crosses the Earth’s. These are places eclipses of the Sun and Moon occur if lined up with the full or new moons. Why regression? The nodal points are moving westward, backward of most motions in the solar system.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Tonight’s full moon with Aldebaran in the face of Taurus the bull (8 p.m. November 23, 2018). Created using Stellarium.

Ephemeris Extra – Occultation of Aldebaran visible from the Upper Peninsula and the tip of northern lower Michigan

In the early morning hours of July 10th the very northern part of the IPR listening area will have a chance to see the last occultation of the bright star Aldebaran for at last 15 years. An occultation is where the Moon in this case passes in front of or occults a planet or a star. In astronomy occult means to hide. The event is an occultation. There is no black magic involved. It will be a grazing event, with Aldebaran popping in and out of view at the mountains and valleys at the southern edge of the Moon along a line running south of Mackinaw City and across the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula.

The Straits of Mackinac area showing the green southern graze line of the Occultation of Aldebaran. Credit Map Google Earth, Graze line by Occult 4.

It’s a clear miss for the Interlochen area, with the star skirting the Moon at it’s 5 o’clock position. The time of the event will be near 4:38 a.m. with the maximum time of the event increasing from west to east at nearly 2,000 miles an hour. At that time the Moon and Aldebaran will be low in the east-northeast and only 7 degrees above the horizon.

Location of the Moon and Aldebaran in the sky at 4:38 a.m. July 10, 2018 from the Interlochen/Traverse City area.

More information on this occultation from Sky and Telescope is here.
This will be the last occultation of Aldebaran visible from around here for the next 15 years. However starting in 5 years there will be a monthly series of occultations of the bright star Regulus, and the next year a series of occultations of the star Spica will begin. That’s just for the Moon with bright stars. The Moon occults many dimmer stars a month. A very important field of occultations is the observation of occultations of asteroids and Kuiper belt objects to discover their size, shape, any satellites and whether they have rings. Go to the International Occultation Timing Association https://occultations.org for more information.

Hat tip to Jerry Dobek, Director of the Joseph H. Rogers Observatory

12/29/2017 – Ephemeris – Last occultation of the star Aldebaran by the Moon is tomorrow night

Ephemeris for Friday, December 29th. The Sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:10. The Moon, half way from first quarter to full, will set at 5:08 tomorrow morning.

We have one last cool astronomical event that can be seen from here in 2017. Of course, weather permitting. Tomorrow night the Moon will occult the bright star Aldebaran in Taurus the bull from 6:17 to 7:17 p.m. I’m not dabbling with the black arts here, even though I’m using the Occult 4 program to find it. In astronomy occult is a verb meaning to hide, and the event is called an occultation. The Moon will appear to move in front of, or hide the star Aldebaran. At 6:17 p.m. Aldebaran will disappear at the dark edge of the Moon at its 8 o’clock position. Binoculars will be needed to spot the star against the glare of the bright Moon before the event. Aldebaran will pop out from behind the Moon at a bit above the 3 o’clock position at 7:17 p.m.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Occultation visibility map for the occultation of Aldebaran by the Moon for us in the Unites States, the early evening of December 30, 2017. Created using Occult 4 by IOTA.

Occultation start 6:17 p.m. December 30, 2017. as seen from the Grand Traverse area of Michigan. Actual times may vary depending on your location. Created using Stellarium.

Occultation end 7:17 p.m. December 30, 2017. as seen from the Grand Traverse area of Michigan. Actual times may vary depending on your location. Created using Stellarium.

Note the times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area. It will vary by a few minutes for northern lower Michigan.  The position angles of the entrance and exit points of Aldebaran will also be different.

Otherwise use a planetarium program like Stellarium to preview the event. However, set the program for topocentric coordinates. In Stellarium that’s in the Configuration window, Tools Tab and check the Topocentric coordinates box. Topocentric coordinates are the apparent positions for your location on the Earth. So also make sure your location is correct. The geocentric conjunction of the two bodies will be December, 31, 0:49.2 UT, so it will occur after midnight on the morning of December 31st for locations in northern Europe and Asia.

Program Note

The January preview will be an Ephemeris Extra post on December 31st.