Ephemeris Star Charts – February 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.

February Evening Star Chart

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

February Morning Star Chart

For early birds I’m including a morning star chart too, which shows the stars we’ll see in the evening 3 months from now.

Date	Grand Traverse region, Michigan - Eastern Time
1st.	8:00 a.m. EST
8th.	6:30 a.m. EDT
15th.	6:00 a.m. EDT
22nd.	5:30 a.m. EDT
29th.	5:00 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.
Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to Arcturus.
Follow the spike to Spica.
The Summer Triangle is in red.

Twilight

Traverse City	Morning twilight		Evening twilight		Dark night		Moon
Date	Astro.	Nautical	Nautical	Astro.	Start	End	Illum.
2019-02-01	6h22m	6h56m	18h55m	19h30m	19h30m	5h51m	0.09
2019-02-02	6h21m	6h55m	18h57m	19h31m	19h31m	6h21m	0.04
2019-02-03	6h20m	6h54m	18h58m	19h32m	19h32m	6h20m	0.01
2019-02-04	6h19m	6h53m	18h59m	19h33m	19h33m	6h19m	0
2019-02-05	6h18m	6h52m	19h01m	19h35m	19h35m	6h18m	0.01
2019-02-06	6h17m	6h51m	19h02m	19h36m	19h48m	6h17m	0.03
2019-02-07	6h16m	6h50m	19h03m	19h37m	20h48m	6h16m	0.08
2019-02-08	6h15m	6h49m	19h04m	19h38m	21h49m	6h15m	0.14
2019-02-09	6h14m	6h47m	19h06m	19h40m	22h50m	6h14m	0.21
2019-02-10	6h12m	6h46m	19h07m	19h41m	23h53m	6h12m	0.3
2019-02-11	6h11m	6h45m	19h08m	19h42m	-	6h11m	0.4
2019-02-12	6h10m	6h44m	19h10m	19h43m	0h57m	6h10m	0.51
2019-02-13	6h08m	6h42m	19h11m	19h45m	2h03m	6h08m	0.62
2019-02-14	6h07m	6h41m	19h12m	19h46m	3h11m	6h07m	0.73
2019-02-15	6h06m	6h40m	19h13m	19h47m	4h18m	6h06m	0.83
2019-02-16	6h04m	6h38m	19h15m	19h48m	5h22m	6h04m	0.91
2019-02-17	6h03m	6h37m	19h16m	19h50m	-	-	0.97
2019-02-18	6h02m	6h35m	19h17m	19h51m	-	-	0.97
2019-02-19	6h00m	6h34m	19h19m	19h52m	-	-	1
2019-02-20	5h59m	6h32m	19h20m	19h54m	-	-	0.99
2019-02-21	5h57m	6h31m	19h21m	19h55m	19h55m	21h05m	0.96
2019-02-22	5h55m	6h29m	19h22m	19h56m	19h56m	22h19m	0.9
2019-02-23	5h54m	6h28m	19h24m	19h57m	19h57m	23h31m	0.81
2019-02-24	5h52m	6h26m	19h25m	19h59m	19h59m	-	0.71
2019-02-25	5h51m	6h24m	19h26m	20h00m	20h00m	0h41m	0.61
2019-02-26	5h49m	6h23m	19h28m	20h01m	20h01m	1h47m	0.5
2019-02-27	5h47m	6h21m	19h29m	20h03m	20h03m	2h49m	0.4
2019-02-28	5h46m	6h20m	19h30m	20h04m	20h04m	3h46m	0.3

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 02/02/19