10/07/2022 – Ephemeris – Learn about the Sun tonight and view the Moon on Saturday

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, October 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 24 minutes, setting at 7:12, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:49. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 6:08 tomorrow morning.

Tonight at 8 pm, the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will have an in-person meeting at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory. The meeting will also be available via Zoom. The program will be presented by Mary Gribbin who has been observing the sun through her special solar telescope. She’ll describe the features visible with a solar telescope. If it’s clear, there will be a star party following the meeting. The observatory is located south of Traverse City off Birmley Road, between Garfield and Keystone roads. A Zoom link is available at gtastro.org. There will be a Moon and star party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes, Dune Climb tomorrow starting at 8 pm. That may be our last of the year out there. 2023 promises to have a full slate of star parties out there.

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

Excerpt from the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore calendar posting:

“These events will be cancelled if the sky is not visible due to weather conditions. The decision to cancel is usually made either three hours in advance or by 4:30 p.m. the day prior to the event. Please call park rangers at 231-326-4700, ext. 5005, for a voicemail message with the decision. For the early morning and late evening astronomy events, bring a flashlight for the walk to and from the event. Park rangers and GTAS staff will wear red glow bracelets at the events. For more information about the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society, go to http://www.gtastro.org/.“

 

01/08/2021 – Ephemeris – There will be a virtual star party tonight

This is Ephemeris for Friday, January 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 1 minute, setting at 5:20, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:19. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:31 tomorrow morning.

The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will host a virtual star party at 8 pm tonight. It is via the Zoom app for smartphones, tablets or computers. Instructions and a link can be found on the society’s website gtastro.org. It will be hosted by Dr. Jerry Dobek, astronomy professor at Northwestern Michigan College. During a virtual star party the images are produced real time or near real time using a telescope mounted CCD camera. That is if it’s clear. If cloudy we’ll have a virtual, virtual star party using recently acquired images captured for his astronomy students. A couple of months ago we got a tantalizing look at the Great Orion Nebula as it rose in moonlight. Now it’s higher in the sky with no Moon. It should be spectacular!

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

10/09/2020 – Ephemeris – There’s a virtual star party tonight via Zoom

This is Ephemeris for Friday, October 9th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 7:07, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:52. The Moon, at last quarter today, will rise at 12:03 tomorrow morning.

The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will host a virtual star party at 8 pm tonight. It is via the Zoom app for the smart phone, tablet or computer at zoom (dot) us. Instructions and a link can be found on the society’s website gtastro.org. It will be hosted by Dr. Jerry Dobek, astronomy professor at Northwestern Michigan College with commentary by yours truly and other society members. During a virtual star party the images are produced real time or near real time using a telescope mounted CCD camera. That is if it’s clear. Featured celestial objects will be Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars at its closest. Images of dimmer objects like star clusters or nebulae, what we call DSOs or deep sky objects may take exposures of several seconds or minutes to build up an image. But have the advantage of being in color. If cloudy we’ll have a virtual, virtual star party using recently acquired images. Dr. Dobek has used for his classes.

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

09/25/2020 – Ephemeris – The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Virtual Star Party is tonight

This is Ephemeris for Friday, September 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 7:33, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:35. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 1:51 tomorrow morning.

Tonight the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society may hold the park’s 50th anniversary online star party this evening starting around 8 pm via the Zoom app available for Android smart phones, iPhones and computers. Instructions for joining are on the society’s web site gtastro.org and the Sleeping Bear Dunes Facebook page. Images will be captured live, if it’s clear, from Northwestern Michigan College’s Joseph H Rogers Observatory. The images will be pretty much what is seen at the telescope eyepiece, and definitely not Hubble Space Telescope quality, which take days to process. Visible will be the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn and later on Mars plus some really neat objects beyond the solar system. it all begins at 9 pm.

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

Addendum

Preview of Saturn imaged by Professor Jerry Dobek at Northwestern Michigan College’s Joseph H. Rogers Observatory.

Preview of Mars imaged by Professor Jerry Dobek at Northwestern Michigan College’s Joseph H. Rogers Observatory. Notice at top the small whitish patch, it a polar cap at the south pole of Mars. There are also some darker patches on the upper half of the image.

08/07/2020 – Ephemeris – An online astronomy meeting and star party tonight

This is Ephemeris for Friday, August 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 8:59, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:37. The Moon, half way from full to last quarter, will rise at 11:16 this evening.

The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will host a virtual meeting tonight at 9 pm followed by a virtual star party at 10 pm. It is via the Zoom app a link can be found on the society’s website gtastro.org. It will be hosted by Dr. Jerry Dobek, astronomy professor at Northwestern Michigan College. During a virtual star party the images are produced real time or near real time using a telescope mounted CCD camera. That is if it’s clear. Images of dimmer objects like star clusters or nebulae, what we call DSOs or deep sky objects may take exposures of several seconds or minutes to build up an image. But have the advantage of being in color. We are quite color blind at low light levels.

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

12/06/2019 – Ephemeris – I’m giving a talk tonight: Cosmology and Astronomy in the Bible

Ephemeris for Friday, 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, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 3:02 tomorrow morning.

This evening yours truly will present one of his annual Christmas programs at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory starting at 8 p.m., the monthly meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society. The talk is Cosmology and Astronomy in the Bible. In Genesis and elsewhere we have descriptions of the earth and the heavens. We’ll look at what the ancient Hebrews thought of the structure of the universe from the Bible and other writings. Tomorrow evening we will also have a Star Party from 9 to 11 p.m. This will be the last viewing night of the year. If it’s clear we’ll look at the Moon and Great Orion Nebula. The observatory is located south of Traverse City on Birmley Road between Garfield and Keystone roads.

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

Addendum

Let there be light slide from the program

09/06/2019 – Ephemeris – GTAS meeting looks at autumn skies

Ephemeris for Friday, September 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 8:10, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:11. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 12:52 tomorrow morning.

I will be giving a presentation Autumn Stars, Galaxies Myths, and Stories tonight at this evening’s meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at 8 p.m. at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory. In the autumn season we lose the southern part of the Milky Way in the southwest, but there are number of of constellations that tell a famous story, that’s even made it to the cinema twice in recent years. There’s a star that evilly winks at us, and a huge galaxy the is visible to the naked eye that will crash into our Milky Way galaxy in the far future. After the meeting there will be a star party starting at 9 p.m. featuring, if it’s clear the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn and that nearby galaxy.

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

Addendum

The constellations as characters in the great star story of Autumn. Click on image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.

08/30/2019 – Ephemeris – Astronomy events at the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes tomorrow

Ephemeris for Friday, August 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 8:23, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:03. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.

The second Sun and star party in August at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will be held at the Dune Climb tomorrow if it is reasonably clear. The solar portion will start at 4 p.m., while dark sky viewing will start at 9 p.m.. It will be hosted by the Park Rangers and the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society. The society’s new solar telescope can generally tease out some interesting detail from the currently quiet Sun. Later on the wonders of the Milky Way, which will span the skies from horizon to horizon will be seen, along with the planets Jupiter and Saturn. The park has one of the darkest skies in the Lower Peninsula, and the Milky Way is especially impressive this time of year.

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

Addendum

The Milky Way from the Sleeping Bear Dunes four years ago by Mark Stewart.   This year Jupiter and Saturn would also be in this photograph.

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

This in the beginning of setup for the October 21, 2917 star party at the dune climb. Taken early while there was enough light. The dune blocks up to 12 degrees from the southwest to northwest, but the rest of the horizon is quite low.  Photo by the author.

The weather for this event is very iffy, so if it is cancelled members of the GTAS will have their telescopes at the Dune Climb Sunday night, if it is clear, to view the sky.  Though not an official star party, campers and the public to view the heavens.  For a voicemail on the status of the star party on Saturday please call 231-326-4700, ext. 5005.

06/07/2019 – Ephemeris – My presentation and viewing opportunities this weekend

Ephemeris for Friday, June 7th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 27 minutes, setting at 9:25, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:57. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 1:23 tomorrow morning.

I will be giving a presentation Apollo and the race to the Moon tonight at this evening’s meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at 8 p.m. at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory. The 1960’s were a heady time in the undeclared race with the Soviet Union for supremacy in space, where it seemed that the US was continually playing catch up. In 1968 spy satellites showed that the Soviets had a massive rocket ready to go. After the meeting there will be a star party starting at 9 p.m.

Tomorrow there will be weather permitting a Sun and Star Party at the Sleeping Bear Dunes Dune Climb from 4 to 6 p.m. and 9 to 11 p.m. Both nights feature the Moon and Jupiter.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. 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 3 years ago at the Dune Climb. A few of the telescopes are visible including the GTAS 25″ “Emmettron” telescope at the far right. Credit: Eileen Carlisle.

05/03/2019 – Ephemeris – How do you take a picture of a black hole? Find out tonight.

Ephemeris for Friday, May 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 19 minutes, setting at 8:49, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:28. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 6:44 tomorrow morning.

Nearly a month ago the world was presented with the news and the image that the Earth spanning Event Horizon Telescope captured a picture of a black hole 55 million light years away. Tonight NMC Professor Jerry Dobek will explain how it was done at tonight’s meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory starting at 8 p.m. He will explain how simultaneous observations of the black hole by 8 separate sub-millimeter radio telescopes that were separately recorded on disk.  The disks were brought and processed together to produce the image. Starting at 9 p.m. if it’s clear there will be a star party featuring the brighter wonders of the darkening sky.

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

Addendum

The first image of the black hole in M87. Credit Event Horizon Telescope.