Archive
05/16/2023 – Ephemeris – Regulus, the Little King Star
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, May 16th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 9:05, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:12. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 5:08 tomorrow morning.
Regulus is the brightest star in the constellation of Leo, the lion at the bottom of the backward question mark that is the head and mane of Leo. It’s in the southwest at 10 pm. Alluding to the lion’s status in the animal kingdom, Regulus is the little king star. It is dead last in order of brightness of the 21 brightest first magnitude stars, 1/13th the brightness of Sirius the brightest nighttime star, now lost in the evening twilight glow. To the Babylonians it was the king, the 15th of their constellations, that marked the passage of the Sun. Regulus is about 79 light years away, and 288 times the brightness of the sun. It is a rapidly spinning ellipsoid 3 times the sun’s diameter, rotating in just under 16 hours.
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
Regulus and Leo and the other stars and planets in the western sky at 11 pm, May 16, 2023. Created using Stellarium.
05/08/2023 – Ephemeris – How to find Leo the lion in the sky
This is Ephemeris for Monday, May 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 8:56, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:22. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 12:57 tomorrow morning.
At 10 p.m. the spring constellation of Leo the lion will be high in the south. It can be found by locating the Big Dipper high overhead and imagining that a hole were drilled in the bottom of the bowl to let the water leak out. It would drip on the back of this giant cat. The Lion is standing or lying facing westward. His head and mane are seen in the stars as a backwards question mark. This group of stars is also called the sickle. The bright star Regulus is at the bottom, the dot at the bottom of the question mark. A triangle of stars, to the left of Regulus, is the lion’s haunches. Leo contains some nice galaxies visible in moderate sized telescopes. The stars in Leo’s part of the sky are fewer than those in the winter sky.
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
Finding Leo the lion from the Big Dipper with no lines. The orientation is for 10 pm, May 8th. Can you find Leo? The Big Dipper? Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Using the Big Dipper to find Leo. The orientation is for 10 pm on May 8th. For any other time, the orientation would be different, as would the position of the zenith (overhead point). Created using my LookingUp app.
Leo, with drawing of a lion. Created using Stellarium.
Note the star at the left end of Leo is named Denebola. There are several stars that start with “Deneb”. Deneb must mean tail in Arabic because most star names are Arabic in origin. Denebola is the tail of the lion. Deneb Kaitos is the tail of the autumn constellation of Cetus the whale, and Deneb itself is the tail of the summer constellation of Cygnus the swan.
03/24/2022 – Ephemeris – A native constellation that’s a warning
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, March 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 8:00, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:36. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 3:59 tomorrow morning.
The Anishinaabe peoples of the Great Lakes Region, which include the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, have several constellations of spring. The first of them is Curly Tail, or the Great Underwater Panther, who lurks under the ice in lakes. It uses the stars of Leo the lion’s backward question mark, in the southeast at 9:30 in the evening, as its curved tail and the small knot of stars that are the head of Hydra the water snake as its head. The head of Hydra is below the constellation of Cancer, and in the south-southwest and to the right of the backwards question mark of Leo. The warning he gives is to keep off the thinning ice or break through and be snatched by the great panther that lives below.
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
An animation showing the stars centered in the southeastern skies, the “official” constellations and the Anishinaabe constellation of Curly Tail and the Great (Underwater) Panther. Approximate time is 9:30 pm March 24th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
03/03/2022 – Ephemeris – Finding Cancer the crab
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, March 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 6:33, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:15. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 7:46 this evening.
The constellation of Cancer the crab is made of dim stars, which are generally connected, in constellation charts, with lines that make either the letter K or an upside down Y, which lie directly between the star pair Castor and Pollux in Gemini and Regulus in Leo. In the center of the constellation is, what to the naked-eye is a fuzzy spot called Praesepe, or the manger. The two nearby stars, one to the northeast, and one to the southeast are Asellus Borealis, and Asellus Australis, the northern and southern donkey colts feeding out of the manger. Viewing that fuzzy spot with a pair of binoculars will reveal that it’s not fuzzy at all. It resolves into a cluster of stars, which astronomers, over the years, have called the Beehive cluster. Back in the first and second century CE, the Sun entered Cancer to begin the season of summer. It’s now just a transitional constellation between the winter and spring evening skies.
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
Cancer, the crab finder chart. Note the beehive cluster, also known to amateur astronomers as M44, along with other catalog names. Prior to the invention of the telescope this cluster was known as Praesepe which means “Manger”. Click on the image to enlarge it. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
A closer look at Cancer, noting the donkey stars Asellus Borealis and Australis feeding at the manger, Praesepe or M44, aka: the Beehive Cluster. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts) and LibreOffice for captions. Adapted from a chart I created for the March 2022 issue of the GTAS newsletter, the Stellar Sentinel.
04/13/2021 – Ephemeris – Hydra slithers across the southern sky
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 24 minutes, setting at 8:25, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:59. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 10:08 this evening.
In the southern evening sky can be found the constellation of Hydra the water snake. Unlike the monster of the same name this Hydra has but one head, which is its most distinctive part. At 10 p.m. look midway up the sky in the south-southwest. The head of Hydra is located below a line from the constellation Leo the Lion in the south and Gemini high in the west-southwest. Its head is directly below Cancer the crab in the southwest. Hydra’s head is a small but distinctive group of 6 stars that make a loop and the snake’s slightly drooping head. The rest of Hydra wends its way to the southeastern horizon, and eventually ends near the late spring constellation of Libra the scales. Over the next few hours Hydra will be seen slithering across the southern sky.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
04/06/2021 – Ephemeris – The spring constellation of Leo
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 3 minutes, setting at 8:17, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:12. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 5:48 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow morning early risers will see the Moon near the planets Saturn and Jupiter. Specifically Jupiter, left of Saturn will be right above the waning crescent Moon.
Tonight however, will be a good time to check out Leo the celestial lion high in the southeast. His distinctive pattern of stars is a backward question mark, with the bright star Regulus as the dot on the bottom of it. It delineates the male lion’s head and mane. That pattern is also called the Sickle. While Leo is one of the official 88 constellations, the Sickle is an asterism, or informal constellation. Completing Leo is a triangle of stars below left of Regulus, his rump ending with the star Denebola, at the root of Leo’s tail. Leo is rich in mythology.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
Jupiter and the Moon tomorrow morning
Leo tonight
03/09/2021 – Ephemeris – A celestial warning to keep off thin ice
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 9th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 35 minutes, setting at 6:41, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:03. The Moon, halfway from last quarter to new, will rise at 6:12 tomorrow morning.
The native Anishinaabe peoples of the Great Lakes Region, which includes the tribes of our area, have one constellation of winter I know of. It is The Wintermaker which uses many of Orion’s stars and whose arms stretch from Aldebaran in Taurus the bull to Procyon the Little Dog Star, embracing the whole of the winter sky. Now that spring is nearly here he is sinking into the west, losing to the heat of the Sun. The first constellation of spring is Curly Tail, or the Great Underwater Panther. It uses the stars of Leo the lion’s backward question mark as its curly tail and the small knot of stars that are the head of Hydra the water snake below Cancer the crab as its head. His warning: Keep off the thinning ice or break through and be snatched by the great panther that lives below.
The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Great Underwater Panther finder animation. Three frame animation of Unannotated sky, International Astronomical Union constellations, and Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) constellations of Curly Tail and Wintermaker. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium and GIMP. Additional credits below.
The time is set for the above image is 10 pm on March 9th.
The constellation art is part of the latest versions of Stellarium. Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) constellation art by Annette S Lee and William Wilson from Ojibwe Sky Star Map Constellation Guide, ISBN 978-0-615-98678-4. There is also an Ojibwe Sky Star Map poster suitable for framing.
04/24/2020 – Ephemeris – The Big Dipper can be used to point to other stars and constellations
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Arbor Day, Friday, April 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 8:39, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:41. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 10:21 this evening.
The Big Dipper can be used to point to other stars and constellations. Right now the Big Dipper is nearly overhead. The front bowl stars point to Polaris, the North Star which never seems to move in the sky. The handle can be used to find two stars. First follow the arc of the handle away from the bowl to find the fourth brightest night-time star Arcturus in the base of the kite shaped constellation of Boötes. Straighten the arc to a spike and continue to the south and you will come to the bright blue-white star Spica in Virgo the virgin. You can remember these stars with the phrase “Follow the arc of the handle to Arcturus and then spike to Spica” or if you prefer the alternate pronunciation of the latter star “Speak to Speeka”.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Finding stars and constellations using the Big Dipper. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program for Windows.
03/26/2020 – Ephemeris – A spring warning about thin ice in the sky
Ephemeris for Thursday, March 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 8:03, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:31. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 10:22 this evening.
The Anishinaabe peoples of the Great Lakes Region, which includes the Ottawa, Chippewa and Ojibwe Indians have one constellation of winter. It is The Winter Maker which uses many of Orion’s stars and whose arms stretch from Aldebaran in Taurus the bull to Procyon the Little Dog Star, embracing the whole of the winter sky. Now that spring is here he is sinking into the west. The first constellation of spring is Curly Tail, or the Great Underwater Panther. Which uses the stars of Leo the lion’s backward question mark as its tail and the small knot of stars that are the head of Hydra the water snake below Cancer the crab as its head. The warning: Keep off the thinning ice or break through and be snatched by the panther that lives below.
The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Great Underwater Panther finder animation relating western to Anishinaabe constellations for 9 p.m. in late March. Click on image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
04/02/2019 – Ephemeris – Hydra the longest constellation
Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 8:11, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:20. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 7:03 tomorrow morning.
In the south and southeastern sky at 10 p.m. can be found the constellation of Hydra the water snake. Unlike the monster of the same name this Hydra has but one head, which is its most distinctive part. At 10 p.m. look to the south. The head of Hydra is located below a line from the constellation Leo the Lion in the south and Gemini high in the west-southwest, and directly below Cancer the crab. Hydra’s head is a small but distinctive group of 6 stars that make a drooping loop to the right. The rest of Hydra wends its way diagonally to the southeastern horizon below the bright blue star Spica in Virgo. Some delineations of Hydra have the tail tickling the constellation Libra which is just about to rise at that time.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Hydra the water snake finder animation for 10 p.m. April 2nd.. Hydra is the longest of all the constellations. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 