Archive
01/20/2022 – Ephemeris – Taurus and the half sisters of the Pleiades
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, January 20th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 5:34, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:12. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 8:23 this evening.
High in the south-southeastern sky, and above-right of Orion, is the bright star Aldebaran. It’s at one tip of a letter V of fainter stars. The group of stars is the face of the constellation of Taurus the bull. Aldebaran is the angry bloodshot eye of the bull that’s charging Orion, whose defending himself with a lion skin shield and an upraised club. The stars in the V, and many more visible in binoculars, except for Aldebaran, belong to a star cluster called the Hyades. In Greek mythology, these are the half sisters of the Pleiades, visible as a tight group of stars above them. The V of stars is actually an upside down letter A, or Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew and Mesopotamian alphabets. This was invented when Taurus, not Aries, was host to the Sun at the spring equinox.
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
12/16/2019 – Ephemeris – Taurus Treasures
Ephemeris for Monday, December 16th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:14. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 9:59 this evening.
Rising in the east-southeast now is the bright star Aldebaran an orange star that’s at one end of the sideways letter V of stars that is the head of Taurus the bull. Above it is the jewel-like Pleiades or Seven Sisters star cluster. There’s more to Taurus, like it’s freakishly long horns and front part of its body. But you can say you’ve seem Taurus, if you can spot his face. That V of stars is actually a star cluster called the Hyades, the closest to the Earth, and in Greek Myth were the half-sisters of the Pleiades, also fathered by the god Atlas. Both the Hyades and Pleiades are being pursued by Orion, which is below it. He isn’t the only one following the Pleiades, the name Aldebaran means “The Follower”.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum

An animation showing the Hyades, Taurus, Orion and the Pleiades. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
10/29/2019 – Ephemeris – Finding the Pleiades or Seven Sisters
Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 19 minutes, setting at 6:36, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:17. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 7:57 this evening.
A marvelous member of the autumn skies can be found low in the east northeast after 9 in the evening. It is the famous star cluster called the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. I might also add the ‘Tiny Dipper’. Many people can spot a tiny dipper shape in its six or seven stars, and mistake it for the Little Dipper. When I was nearsighted, though corrected, I never had been able to see more than a few stars and a bit of fuzz. However with binoculars, even I can see over a hundred stars appear along with the dipper shape of the brightest. The fuzz I saw was unresolved stars, but in photographs the Pleiades actually contain wisps of the gas they are passing through currently. In Greek mythology the sisters were daughters of the god Atlas.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum

Finding the Pleiades animation for 9 p.m. October 29, 2019. The Pleiades is surrounded by constellations I’ve described earlier this year and one yet to be described, Taurus the bull of which the cluster is a part. The V of stars near the horizon is Taurus’ head and is another star cluster, the Hyades, the half sisters to the Pleiades. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
03/26/2019 – Ephemeris – Mars is approaching the Pleiades this week
Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 27 minutes, setting at 8:02, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:33. The Moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 2:38 tomorrow morning.
Daylight time and spring time are catching up with us with the Sun setting now just after 8 p.m. By 9 p.m. tonight the brighter stars appear and most of the well known constellations will be recognizable. Looking off to the west at that time the famous star group of the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters will appear. Folks with good eyesight can see six or maybe even seven of its stars. Tonight, right below the Pleiades is a bright reddish star. It would be the 22nd of the first magnitude stars, except it’s not a star. It’s a wanderer, according to the ancient Greeks, one of seven*. They called it Ares the god of war. The Romans turned it into Mars. Over the week Mars will be closing in and passing by the Pleiades this weekend.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum

The western sky at 10:22 last night March 25, 2019. Mars appears below the Pleiades in zodiacal light. Credit, mine – Canon EOS Rebel T5 18mm f.l., f/3.5, 8 sec. ISO 12,800.

Mars tiptoeing past the Pleiades nightly from March 26th to April 1st, 2019 at 9 p.m. Looking west. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
The letter V of stars to the left of the Pleiades is the Hyades, in mythology the half sisters to the Pleiades. It is also the face of Taurus the bull.
* We get the word planet from the Greek planētes meaning wander. Five are the classical planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The other two are the Sun and Moon. The other celestial objects were the fixed stars. Other things that appear in the sky, like comets, novae and meteors were thought to be in the Earth’s atmosphere.