05/26/2023 – Ephemeris – Sun & Star Party tomorrow at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, May 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 9:15, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:03. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 2:48 tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will host a Sun and Star Party at the Dune Climb area of the park. There will be a solar viewing period from 5 pm to about 7 pm. The society has two hydrogen alpha solar telescopes to view the Sun’s chromosphere and prominences. Plus, some members also have solar scopes and white light filtered telescopes to view sunspots on the face of the Sun. Night viewing will start at 9 pm, with the Moon and Venus featured, along with the brighter telescopic wonders of late spring. There will be a pass of the International Space Station from 10:11 to 10:18 pm. The rangers will have an alternate program if it’s cloudy.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT –4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

A Sun Party at the Dune Climb. Credit: Eileen Carlisle.

Preparing to start the May star party, several years ago at the Dune Climb. A few of the telescopes are visible, including the GTAS 25″ “Emmettron” telescope at the far right background. Credit: Eileen Carlisle.

 

09/13/2022 – Ephemeris – SpaceX Crew-5 flight to the ISS will be commanded by first Native American female astronaut

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, September 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 37 minutes, setting at 7:57, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:20. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 9:38 this evening.

On or around October 3rd a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule will be launched to the International Space Station with an international crew of four with the first female Native American astronaut Nicole Mann as commander, pilot Josh Cassada, both NASA astronauts, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina. Nicole Mann, a member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of northern California, is also the first female commander of a Commercial Crew spacecraft. She was originally assigned to the Boeing CST-100 Starliner, but was transferred to the SpaceX Dragon due to the prolonged problems with the former vehicle. Crew 5 will be a part of Expeditions 67 and 68 on the International Space Station.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

SpaceX Crew-5 Official Crew Portrait – Left to right: Anna Kikina, Josh Cassada, Nicole Mann and Koichi Wakata.

04/05/2022 – Ephemeris – The first Axiom Space mission to the ISS amid a busy April

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 8:15, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:14. The Moon, halfway from new to first quarter, will set at 1:15 tomorrow morning.

One of the commercial entities working to launch their own space station is Axiom Space, founded in 2016. The first Axiom mission is Ax-1, an 8-day mission to the International Space Station that, as of when I am recording this last Sunday night, is scheduled for tomorrow on a SpaceX Falcon 9/Crew Dragon from launch pad 39A at Cape Canaveral. The Artemis-1 wet dress rehearsal was halted earlier Sunday due to a pressurization problem with the mobile launch tower. That’s on pad 39B, a bit over a mile and a half away. I’m assuming that Artemis-1 has priority over the Axiom mission. Plus, there’s the SpaceX Crew-5 launch later this month to the space station, which also has president. It could be an interesting time at the Cape.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

April 4, 2022: The SpaceX Axiom-1 launch is now scheduled for no earlier than Friday, April 8, for an 8-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The SpaceX Crew-4 launch had previously been pushed back to April 20. The Crew-3 return from the ISS was to be 5 days later.

The Artemis-1 Wet Dress Rehearsal was scrubbed April 4th with a malfunctioning vent valve. A successful test will have fuel and oxidizer loaded and all prelaunch functions completed, and counted down to a bit over 9 seconds to launch.

Axiom Space: space station plan

The planned evolution of the Axiom commercial space station. It will start being a module attached to the ISS starting in 2024, according to the current plan. Various modules will be attached. After the power tower containing solar panels is attached, it can be detached from the ISS to fly free. Click on the image to enlarge. Credit: Axiom Space.

09/28/2017 – Ephemeris – View the Moon and Saturn tonight at the library

Ephemeris for Thursday, September 28th. The Sun will rise at 7:37. It’ll be up for 11 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 7:28. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 1:05 tomorrow morning.

Tonight the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will set up their telescopes at the Traverse Area District Library Central Library on Woodmere Avenue in Traverse City from 7 to 9 p.m. weather permitting for a star party, though it won’t actually feature stars. It will feature the Moon in its gibbous phase and the planet Saturn probably after 8 p.m. We might also catch a glimpse of the Sun, since the event starts before sunset. The Sun’s sunspot activity has picked up a bit in the last month or so, since just before August’s solar eclipse. We’ve had a pretty sunspot-less early summer.

There will be a visible pass of the International Space Station, which will be high in the south at 8:30 p.m.  It will rise above the southwestern horizon at 8:25, and disappear into earth’s shadow at 8:33 p.m. in the south-southeast.  It will be visible from anywhere in Michigan, though the times may vary by a minute or so.  It’s traveling at 5 miles per second (8 km/s).

The library has a telescope, donated by the society and Enerdyne that they lend out, which has been in heavy demand. See the library for details.

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

 

04/21/2016 – Ephemeris – Up up and a way my beautiful balloon*

Ephemeris for Thursday, April 21st.  The Sun rises at 6:47.  It’ll be up for 13 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 8:36.   The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 7:16 tomorrow morning.

The successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 spacecraft and the Dragon module marked the returned SpaceX to supplying the International Space Station after its failure last June.  Besides the great achievement of landing the first stage of the Falcon on a barge, it delivered the Bigelow Aerospace BEAM inflatable module to the ISS.  It’s already been attached to the station and will be inflated next month.  Bigelow already has two inflatable satellites in orbit:  Genesis I and II launched in 2006 and 2007 and though retired, are still in orbit.  Inflatable spacecraft offer maximum volume for minimum weight.  If the tests on the space station prove the concept, the Mars manned spacecraft may feature an inflatable living module.

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

*Apologies to the 5th Dimension and Bigelow Aerospace.

Addendum

The BEAM module being loaded in the Dragon Trunk. Credit NASA / SpaceX.

Dragon separating from the Falcon second stage with the BEAM module seen in the Dragon trunk. From a SpaceX/NASA video.

What the BEAM module will look like when attached to the ISS and inflated. Credit NASA.

Cutaway view of the Bigelow Aerospace B330 Expandable Space Habitat. They are contracting with United Launch Alliance to send it into orbit. It will have 330 cubic meters of volume. Credit Bigelow Aerospace.