Ephemeris Star Charts – April 2019

Contents:

Monthly Star Chart s for Northern Michigan (about 45° North)
Twilight ranges for the Grand Traverse Area
Monthly star chart for the Southern Hemisphere

The charts contain the entire dome of the sky as seen from around 45 degrees north latitude and at the dates and times for the locations listed below.

Planet positions are plotted for the 15th of the month. The moon is not shown. To track the planet positions at weekly intervals go to my Ephemeris Blog for my Wednesday posting at bobmoler.wordpress.com.

The charts contain the entire dome of the sky as seen from around 45 degrees north latitude and at the dates and times for the locations listed below.

April Evening Star Chart

Date	Grand Traverse region, Michigan - Eastern Time
1st.	10:00 p.m. EST
8th.	9:30 p.m. EST
15th.	10:00 p.m. EDT
22nd.	9:30 p.m. EDT
29th.	9:00 p.m. EDT

April Morning Star Chart

For early birds I’m including a morning star chart too, which shows the stars we’ll see in the evening 4 months from now.

Date	Grand Traverse region, Michigan - Eastern Time
1st.	6:00 a.m. EST
8th.	5:30 a.m. EST
15th.	5:00 a.m. EDT
22nd.	4:30 a.m. EDT
29th.	4:00 a.m. EDT

If you want to convert the above times for your locality in North America click here.

The outer edge of the chart is the horizon with the compass points marked. The chart is oriented as one is looking south. The constellation outlines in magenta are those of the Zodiac. The magenta line is the ecliptic, the path of the sun. The white line that passes through the east and west compass points is the celestial equator, above the earth's equator. The white lines that cross in the north at the north celestial pole are major right ascension lines and are like meridians on the earth.

All constellations shown have the standard three letter abbreviation. Not all constellations are shown, faint and small ones were deleted for overall clarity. The constellation abbreviations, names and bright star names are found here.

Also on the sky dome are helps to locate other stars and constellations from the Big Dipper, and asterisms.

The arrow from the pointer stars of the Big Dipper to Polaris the North Star, near the north celestial pole.
A leaky dipper drips on Leo
Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to Arcturus.
Follow the spike to Spica.
The Summer Triangle is in red.
LyrR is the Lyrid meteor radiant. The shower reaches peak in the late afternoon of the 22^nd. Best viewing time is between the end of twilight and moonrise just after midnight.

Twilight, Astronomical and Nautical

Traverse City	Morning twilight		Evening twilight		Dark night		Moon
Date	Astro.	Nautical	Nautical	Astro.	Start	End	Illum.
2019-04-01	5h47m	6h24m	21h17m	21h53m	21h53m	5h47m	0.13
2019-04-02	5h45m	6h22m	21h18m	21h55m	21h55m	5h45m	0.07
2019-04-03	5h43m	6h20m	21h20m	21h57m	21h57m	5h43m	0.03
2019-04-04	5h41m	6h18m	21h21m	21h58m	21h58m	5h41m	0
2019-04-05	5h38m	6h16m	21h22m	22h00m	22h00m	5h38m	0
2019-04-06	5h36m	6h14m	21h24m	22h01m	22h01m	5h36m	0.02
2019-04-07	5h34m	6h12m	21h25m	22h03m	22h48m	5h34m	0.06
2019-04-08	5h32m	6h10m	21h27m	22h05m	23h54m	5h32m	0.12
2019-04-09	5h30m	6h08m	21h28m	22h06m	-	5h30m	0.2
2019-04-10	5h27m	6h06m	21h30m	22h08m	1h00m	5h27m	0.3
2019-04-11	5h25m	6h04m	21h31m	22h10m	2h04m	5h25m	0.41
2019-04-12	5h23m	6h02m	21h33m	22h11m	3h03m	5h23m	0.53
2019-04-13	5h21m	6h00m	21h34m	22h13m	3h55m	5h21m	0.64
2019-04-14	5h19m	5h58m	21h36m	22h15m	4h40m	5h19m	0.75
2019-04-15	5h16m	5h56m	21h37m	22h16m	-	-	0.85
2019-04-16	5h14m	5h54m	21h39m	22h18m	-	-	0.93
2019-04-17	5h12m	5h52m	21h40m	22h20m	-	-	0.93
2019-04-18	5h10m	5h50m	21h42m	22h22m	-	-	0.98
2019-04-19	5h07m	5h48m	21h43m	22h24m	-	-	1
2019-04-20	5h05m	5h46m	21h45m	22h25m	-	-	0.99
2019-04-21	5h03m	5h44m	21h46m	22h27m	22h27m	23h19m	0.96
2019-04-22	5h01m	5h42m	21h48m	22h29m	22h29m	-	0.9
2019-04-23	4h59m	5h40m	21h49m	22h31m	22h31m	0h24m	0.82
2019-04-24	4h56m	5h38m	21h51m	22h33m	22h33m	1h24m	0.74
2019-04-25	4h54m	5h36m	21h52m	22h34m	22h34m	2h16m	0.64
2019-04-26	4h52m	5h35m	21h54m	22h36m	22h36m	3h01m	0.54
2019-04-27	4h50m	5h33m	21h55m	22h38m	22h38m	3h39m	0.45
2019-04-28	4h48m	5h31m	21h57m	22h40m	22h40m	4h12m	0.35
2019-04-29	4h45m	5h29m	21h58m	22h42m	22h42m	4h41m	0.26
2019-04-30	4h43m	5h27m	22h00m	22h44m	22h44m	4h43m	0.18

The above times calculated by the calendar function of Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts)

Monthly Evening Star Chart for Observers in the Southern Hemisphere

The chart contains the entire dome of the sky as seen from around 26 degrees south latitude at 2 hours after sunset on the 15th of the month.

Planet positions are also plotted for the 15th of the month. The moon is not shown. The Magellanic Clouds, which are satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. The Large Magellanic Cloud is located in the constellation Dorado (Dor) the Flying Fish. The Small Magellanic Cloud is located in the constellation of Tucana (Tuc) the Toucan.

Quick jump to:

Top of this page
Ephemeris Home page
Ephemeris Calendar

Questions or comments, send an email to: bob@bjmoler.org

Updated 04/02/19