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This is the companion Web Site of Bob Moler's Ephemeris radio program, which is broadcast Monday Through Friday on Interlochen Public Radio Stations. Interlochen Public Radio serves northwestern lower Michigan. The first Ephemeris program was broadcast June 1, 1975.
Click on the above link for live streaming audio from IPR.
Click here for mp3 audio of the current batch of Ephemeris programs
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog contains transcripts and illustrations from the Ephemeris programs. They are generally released at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on the program play date.
NASA/JPL
Solar System Ambassador–-----
Contact me at the email address at the bottom of this page to discuss star parties and presentations for schools, scout groups, and non-profit organizations.
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That being said, opinions expressed on this website are my own and not that of NASA or JPL
Ephemeris Radio Schedule Monday - Friday
The Stations of Interlochen Public Radio
WIAA 88.7 FM Interlochen
94.7 FM Traverse CityWHBP 90.1 FM Harbor Springs, Petoskey
Observing Weather in Northwestern Lower Michigan
- Clear Sky Chart from Attilla Danko
- NWS Traverse City Forecast.
- Gaylord, MI Weather Radar.
- Satellite Infrared Loop.
- Canadian based Infrared Satellite (Michigan shows best in the Eastern Canada view)
On this site – articles of interest for this month
A Hairy Constellation or a Tale of Two Clusters
Exploring Spring Deep Sky Objects
April 2018
Interested in learning more? If you live in northwestern lower Michigan check out the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society.
More information on visible planetary and other events are available on Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog the day of the event. The blog contains Monday-Friday program transcripts, most with illustrations and additional information.
Extra! My report on the Great American Eclipse.
Highlights for April 2018 (ET)
Date Local Event Time Apr 01 Su Venus: 19.9° E 01 Su 1:47 pm Mercury Inferior Conj. 02 Mo 3:02 pm Mars-Saturn: 1.3° N 03 Tu 10:14 am Moon-Jupiter: 4.2° S 07 Sa 8:50 am Moon-Saturn: 2.1° S 07 Sa 10:37 am Moon South Dec.: 20.3° S 07 Sa 2:15 pm Moon-Mars: 3.5° S 08 Su 1:32 am Moon Apogee: 404100 km 08 Su 3:18 am Last Quarter 10 Tu 4:09 am Moon Descending Node 15 Su 9:57 pm New Moon 17 Tu 3:29 pm Moon-Venus: 5.5° N 18 We 10:35 am Uranus Conjunction 19 Th 12:45 am Moon-Aldebaran: 1.1° S 20 Fr 10:44 am Moon Perigee: 368700 km 21 Sa 3:38 am Moon North Dec.: 20.4° N 22 Su 1:49 pm Lyrid Meteor Shower: ZHR = 20 22 Su 5:46 pm First Quarter 23 Mo 2:17 am Moon-Beehive: 2° N 23 Mo 8:19 am Moon Ascending Node 24 Tu 12:47 pm Venus-Pleiades: 3.5° S 24 Tu 3:39 pm Moon-Regulus: 1.2° S 29 Su 1:59 pm Mercury Greatest Elongation: 27° W 29 Su 8:58 pm Full Moon 30 Mo 1:16 pm Moon-Jupiter: 4.1° S May 01 Tu Venus: 27.2° ENASA - SKYCAL - Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA's GSFC) (with occasional annotations)
Active Planetary Space Missions
We have a new location for information on planetary space missions. It's here at the Planetary Society. The chart is created by Olaf Frohn, and is updated every month.
Free Software
Stellarium is a fabulous planetarium program with a very realistic sky and simple controls.
If you have an older computer download 0.12.8, which may work better for you. They've added some features in the latest version (0.18) and and a new rendering engine that may not be compatible with computers more than a year or two old. http://stellarium.sourceforge.net/
Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts) is a great telescope companion. It can be downloaded it from http://astrosurf.com/astropc/.
Virtual Moon Atlas is a great tool for reference at the telescope or desk. http://www.astrosurf.com/avl/UK_index.html
Celestia is a great 3D simulator of solar system objects and beyond. http://www.shatters.net/celestia/
Hallo Northern Sky is an interesting planetarium program. It seems not as polished as Stellarium, but has some cool features. I use it when planning star parties as a quick way to see what would be visible because it loads quickly http://hnsky.org/
Years on the air: 42
Years on the Internet: 22
Email: bob@bjmoler.org
Updated:
03/31/18 