12/26/2018 – Ephemeris – Looking at the bright planets for the last time in 2018
Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 26th. The Sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:08. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:05 this evening.
Let’s look at the bright planets for the last time in 2018. In the evening sky we have Mars still visible, but Saturn is lost in the bright twilight. It will pass conjunction with the Sun on New Years day. Mars will be due south at 6:09 p.m., and it will set at 12:05 a.m. Mars is moving eastward, crossing the constellation of Pisces. Comet Wirtanen is moving northward and to the lower left of Capella, in dark skies again in the early evening, but is fading as it moves away from both the Earth and Sun. It should be visible in binoculars as a faint fuzzy spot. Venus, our brilliant morning star, will rise at 4:24 a.m. in the east-southeast. Jupiter will rise at 6:24 a.m. also in the east-southeast.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
Planets and the Moon
Comet Wirtanen
12/19/2018 -Ephemeris – The Bright planets and a departing comet for this week
Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 19th. The Sun will rise at 8:15. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:04. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 5:34 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the bright planets for tonight. In the evening sky we have Mars still visible, but Saturn is lost in the bright twilight. It will pass conjunction with the Sun on New Years day. Mars will be due south at 6:19 p.m., and it will set at 12:08 a.m. Mars is moving eastward, crossing the constellation of Aquarius until the 21st, when it enters Pisces. Comet Wirtanen is moving northward, to the left of the Pleiades and fading as the moonlight gets brighter. On the 23rd at 9 p.m. it will be a degree and a half, that’s 3 moon widths below and a bit left of the star Capella. Venus, our brilliant morning star, will rise at 4:20 a.m. in the east-southeast. The planets Jupiter and Mercury will be low on the southeastern horizon by 7 a.m. tomorrow..
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
Bright planets and the Moon
Comets
12/18/2018 – Ephemeris – My observations and what to expect from Comet Wirtanen
Ephemeris for Tuesday, December 18th. The Sun will rise at 8:15. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 5:03. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 4:23 tomorrow morning.
This past weekend the skies finally cleared so I could see and photograph Comet Wirtanen at its brightest and closest to the Earth. The Moon was interfering and will be making the sky brighter until this next weekend. Also the Moon will be moving toward the comet, coming closest to it on the 20th. The comet is rapidly moving away from the Earth, so its brightness is dropping as the skies brighten. Last weekend I could not say that I saw it with the naked eye. It was visible in my 10X50 binoculars as a faint smudge. The comet had no discernible tail. Even though it’s living up to its magnitude estimates, the problem is that the comet’s brightness is spread over a large area, making its surface brightness so much less than a star of the same magnitude.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
For more comet photographs go to http://spaceweather.com/.
12/15/2018 – Ephemeris Extra – Finally the skies cleared and I got a photograph of Comet Wirtanen
Finally, the skies cleared. The last time we had clear skies was early in the evening on the 8th. Our family went to the Ballet that evening at Interlochen Center for the Arts, and by the time I got back and dressed to go outside and observe the comet, it had clouded up. The Ballet was wonderful, by the way.
Anyway, Comet 46P/Wirtanen as a few hours ago was greatly hampered by the nearly first quarter Moon. And it’s going to get worse as the moon’s phase gets fuller. I thought I could see it in with the naked eye. It was visible in binoculars. As you can see it did photograph well. I processed the image with GIMP to increase contrast, and reduce the background moonlight. There is no discernible tail visually or in this photograph. Longer exposures in a dark sky do show a faint ion tail. Remember this is a short period comet, and has been around the Horn (perihelion) innumerable times. It orbits the Sun from just inside Jupiter’s orbit to just outside Earth’s orbit every 5.4 years.
Happy comet hunting!
12/14/2018 – Ephemeris – Bright Comet Wirtanen will be easy to find this weekend
Ephemeris for Friday, December 14th. The Sun will rise at 8:12. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 5:02. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 12:06 tomorrow morning.
This weekend is the best time to spot Comet Wirtanen. Not only is near its brightest, but it will be passing just to the left of the beautiful star cluster the Pleiades from below. Comet Wirtanen will appear as a fuzzy spot, possibly to the naked eye, but is best seen in binoculars. The near first quarter Moon will be a bother, and make the comet harder to spot. On the 12th the comet passed its closest to the Sun, called perihelion, about 4.6 million miles outside the Earth’s orbit. On the 16th, Sunday, it will pass closest to the Earth at 7.2 million miles, as the 10th closest comet passage in modern times. Wirtanen is a member of the Jupiter family of comets captured by and orbit maintained by the planet Jupiter.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
12/12/2018 – Ephemeris – The bright planets and a comet this week
Ephemeris for Wednesday, December 12th. The Sun will rise at 8:10. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:02. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 10:05 this evening.
Let’s look at the bright planets for tonight. In the evening sky we have Mars still visible, but Saturn is all but lost in the bright twilight, setting at 6:22 p.m. It will pass conjunction with the Sun on New Years day. Mars will be due south at 6:30 p.m., and it will set at 12:10 a.m. Mars is moving eastward, crossing the constellation of Aquarius until the 21st, when it enters Pisces. Comet Wirtanen is moving northward, to the right of the V of stars that’s the head of Taurus the bull, and should be an excellent binocular object. On the 15th and 16th it will pass to the left of the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. Venus, our brilliant morning star, will rise at 4:19 a.m. in the east-southeast. The elusive planet Mercury will be seen below and left of Venus after it rises at 6:20 a.m.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
Planets and the Moon
Two comets
11/21/2018 – Ephemeris – The bright planets and two comets for this week
Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 21st. The Sun will rise at 7:47. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 5:09. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 6:47 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the bright planets for tonight. Two of them are visible in the evening sky. Jupiter is 5 days from passing behind the Sun, and will officially be a morning planet next Monday. Saturn, the ringed planet, will start the evening low in the southwestern sky and will set at 7:35 p.m. Mars will be in the south as the skies darken tonight. Mars will be due south at 7:03 p.m., and it will set at 12:20 a.m. Mars is moving eastward, crossing the constellation of Aquarius this month. It’s currently about midway through Aquarius, moving eastward and northward, so its setting time won’t change much over this month. Venus, our brilliant morning star, will rise at 4:50 a.m. in the east southeast. The blue-white star Spica is to the right and a bit above it.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
Planets and the Moon
Click on images to enlarge
Current relatively bright comets
The new magnitude estimates are from Seiichi Yoshida’s website and his Weekly Information about Bright Comets: http://www.aerith.net/comet/weekly/current.html
11/14/2018 – Ephemeris – The bright planets this week
Ephemeris for Wednesday, November 14th. The Sun will rise at 7:38. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 37 minutes, setting at 5:15. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 11:18 this evening.
Let’s look at the bright planets for tonight. Two of them are visible in the evening sky. Jupiter will set too soon after sunset to be seen. It will set only 29 minutes after the Sun. Saturn, the ringed planet, will start the evening low in the southwestern sky and will set at 7:59 p.m. Mars will be low in the south as the skies darken tonight. Mars will be due south at 7:15 p.m., and it will set at 12:24 a.m. Mars is moving eastward, crossing the constellation of Aquarius this month. It’s currently at the western edge of Aquarius, moving eastward and northward, so its setting time won’t change much over this month. Venus, our brilliant morning star, will rise at 5:15 a.m. in the east southeast. The blue-white star Spica is just above and right of it now.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
Comet Notes
Two comets will be flirting with naked eye visibility later this month and next month. Newly discovered C/2018 V1 Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto. It will be a morning object in mid-December and be its brightest at the end of this month or early December when it will be cruising through Ophiuchus.
Periodic comet 46P/Wirtanen is moving up from the south and is an evening object. It will pass close to the Pleiades in mid-December and will appear near the bright star Capella around Christmas time.