Archive
04/23/2018 – Ephemeris – The Ursa Major Association
Ephemeris for Monday, April 23rd. The Sun rises at 6:45. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 52 minutes, setting at 8:37. The Moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 4:15 tomorrow morning.
The usual impression is to think that the stars of a constellation are actually located close together. This is usually not true. The stars of a constellation can be at vastly different distances. The Big Dipper is different. The five stars, excepting the two end stars of the dipper and 12 other dimmer stars in the general area are of similar distance and have the same motion through space. The group is called the Ursa Major Moving Cluster or Ursa Major Association, and is moving about 9 miles per second relative to the solar system to the east and south. An association is a rather loose, sparse star cluster. This association lies about 75 light years away. If it were five times farther away, it would be the same distance as the Pleiades.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Craig Brown’s drawing of where the stars of the Big Dipper are and are heading. Click on the image to go to Craig’s WordPress post.
04/10/2018 – Ephemeris – How Boötes and the Great Bear got into the sky
Ephemeris for Tuesday, April 10th. The Sun will rise at 7:07. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 14 minutes, setting at 8:21. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 5:14 tomorrow morning.
Appearing mid way up the sky in the east at 10 p.m. is the kite shaped constellation of Boötes the herdsman. The bright star Arcturus is at the bottom-right of the kite, pointed to by the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper, above it. In one Greek myth Boötes represents a young hunter named Arcas, son of Callisto, a beautiful young lady who had the misfortune of being loved by Zeus the chief of the Greek gods. Zeus’ wife Hera, found out about the affair, and since she couldn’t punish Zeus, turned the poor woman into an ugly bear. Arcas, unaware of the events surrounding his mother’s disappearance in his youth was about to kill the bear when Zeus intervened and placed them both in the sky to save her. To this day Boötes continues to chase the great bear Ursa Major around the pole of the sky each night.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Arcas about to slay the bear by the 17th century artist Baur. Source: University of Virginia Electronic Text Center
Bootes and Ursa Major aka Arcas chasing Callisto around the pole of the sky. Created using Stellarium.
10/17/2017 – Ephemeris – The Fisher paints the autumn leaves red
Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 17th. The Sun will rise at 8:00. It’ll be up for 10 hours and 53 minutes, setting at 6:54. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 6:35 tomorrow morning.
This morning, if it’s clear the red planet Mars will appear just to the right of the thin crescent Moon. Mars isn’t the only thing that’s red now. So are the maple leaves as we advance into autumn. The native Anishinaabek peoples have a story about how that came to be. Of how a magical weasel-like creature called the Fisher or Ojiig brought summer to the Earth from Skyland. For his trouble he was shot with an arrow in his only vulnerable spot, the tip of his tail. As he fell to Earth the Great Spirit, Manitou caught him and placed him in the sky where we see the Great Bear (Ursa Major) and the Big Dipper. Every autumn we see his tail swoop down to the ground where his tail paints the leaves red with his blood.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
The Moon and the morning planets this morning
The Moon and Mars at 6:30 this morning October 17, 2017. Click on image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
At 00:21 UTC on the 18th Venus will be south of the Moon. It will be visible from Asia.
The Fisher (Ojiig) paints the trees with the autumn colors
Autumn colors. My image.
An animation of Fisher brushing his tail along the horizon on autumn nights. Click on image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The constellation art is part of the latest versions of Stellarium. Ojibwe (Anishinaabek) constellation art by Annette S Lee and William Wilson from Ojibwe Sky Star Map Constellation Guide, ISBN 978-0-615-98678-4.
See the version of the story I learned: The story of the Fisher Star.
There are other variations of the story, and other adventures of the Fisher. Perform an Internet search for: Fisher or Fisher Star or Ojiig.
05/23/2017 – Ephemeris – The Big Dipper as seen in many lands
Ephemeris for Tuesday, May 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 9:12, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:05. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 5:38 tomorrow morning.
The Big Dipper is overhead at 10 in the evening, it’s seven stars shining brightly. The Big Dipper is not an actual constellation, recognized internationally. It’s part, the hind part, of Ursa Major, the great bear. The Big Dipper is an asterism or informal constellation. It is a distinctly North American constellation. For fugitive slaves, fleeing the southern states in the days before the Civil War, the Drinking Gourd, as they called it, showed the direction north to freedom. In England the dipper stars become the Plough, or Charles’ Wain (Charlemagne’s Wagon), In France, known for culinary delights it was the saucepan, or the cleaver. So many cultures saw what was familiar to them in these seven bright stars.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Big Dipper as I imagine it from some lands facing southwest and looking straight up. The X in the picture is the zenith point. We cycle through the stars only, the Big Dipper or the Saucepan, The Plough (plow in the U.S.), Charles Wain, and finally the Cleaver. Created using my LookingUp program.
Do you know any other asterisms or informal constellations assigned to these stars, add a comment.
05/22/2017 – Ephemeris – Why does the Great Bear have a long tail?
Ephemeris for Monday, May 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 4 minutes, setting at 9:11, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:06. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 5:01 tomorrow morning.
The Great Bear, or Ursa Major as the Greeks, Romans and others saw it, has been handed down to us to this day. We see the Great Bear as the Big Dipper overhead in the evening now, which is just his hind end, with a long very unbearlike tail. The ancient Greek story goes that a god, not wishing to grab the end with the teeth, grabbed instead her stubby tail and in hurling her into the sky, and stretched the tail. Native Americans who also saw a bear here, saw the three stars of the dipper handle as three hunters following the bear. The local Anishinaabek people saw here instead the Fisher, a magical weasel-like animal who had a long tail naturally. He brought summer to the Earth, and was killed for his efforts, but was placed in the sky to show us the seasons.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The Big Dipper/Great Bear/Fisher as seen by western and Anishinaabek people. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Western art is by Johan Meuris.
The source for the Ojibwe constellation art in Stellarium is from Ojibwe Sky Star Map Constellation Guide (An introduction to Ojibwe Star Knowledge) by Annette S. Lee, William Wilson, Jeffrey Tibbetts, and Carl Gawboy, ISBN 978-0-615-98678-4. The illustrations are by Annette S. Lee and William Wilson. There is also a poster sized star map available. It should be available in book stores locally, or on Amazon. I found my copy at Enerdyne in Suttons Bay.
My retelling of the Fisher or Fisher Star is here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/the-story-of-the-fisher-star/
04/24/2017 – Ephemeris – A story of the Great Bear, Ursa Major
Ephemeris for Monday, April 24th. The Sun rises at 6:42. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 55 minutes, setting at 8:38. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 6:32 tomorrow morning.
Appearing in the eastern sky at 10 p.m. tonight is the kite shaped constellation of Boötes the herdsman. The bright star Arcturus is at the bottom of the kite to the right, pointed to by the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper, higher in the east. In one story Boötes represents a young hunter named Arcas, son of Callisto, a beautiful young lady who had the misfortune of being loved by Zeus the chief of the Greek gods. Zeus’ wife Hera, found out about the affair, and since she couldn’t punish Zeus, turned the poor woman into an ugly bear. Arcas, many years later, unaware of the events surrounding his mother’s disappearance was about to kill the bear when Zeus intervened and placed them both in the sky to save her, as he continues to chase her across the sky nightly.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Bootes and Ursa Major aka Arcas chasing Callisto around the pole of the sky. Created using Stellarium.
Arcas about to slay the bear by the 17th century artist Baur. Source: University of Virginia Electronic Text Center
03/24/2017 – Ephemeris – Finding Leo
Ephemeris for Friday, March 24th. The Sun will rise at 7:37. It’ll be up for 12 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 8:00. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 6:24 tomorrow morning.
At 10 p.m. the spring constellation of Leo the lion will be high in the east-southeast. It can be found by locating the Big Dipper high in the northeast and imagining that a hole were drilled in 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 sparser than those in the winter sky.
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Add info on Mercury in the evening sky.
Addendum
Leaky Big Dipper drips on Leo. Created using mu LookingUp program.
Ursa Major with the Big Dipper in her hind end and Leo. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
