Ephemeris Star Charts – September 2018

Contents:

• Monthly Star Charts 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.

September Evening Star Chart

September 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.

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.

• The Summer Triangle is shown in red. On the morning star chart.

Twilight

Traverse City	Long=85°37'14"West	Lat=+44°45'47"	Time zone=/EDT
	Morning twilight		Evening twilight		Dark night		Moon
Date	Astronomical	Nautical	Nautical	Astronomical	Start	End	Illum.
2018-09-01	5h26m	6h04m	21h29m	22h07m	22h07m	23h43m	0.68
2018-09-02	5h27m	6h05m	21h27m	22h05m	22h05m	-	0.57
2018-09-03	5h29m	6h07m	21h25m	22h03m	22h03m	0h21m	0.46
2018-09-04	5h30m	6h08m	21h23m	22h00m	22h00m	1h08m	0.34
2018-09-05	5h32m	6h09m	21h21m	21h58m	21h58m	2h03m	0.23
2018-09-06	5h33m	6h11m	21h19m	21h56m	21h56m	3h08m	0.14
2018-09-07	5h35m	6h12m	21h17m	21h54m	21h54m	4h19m	0.06
2018-09-08	5h36m	6h13m	21h15m	21h51m	21h51m	5h35m	0.02
2018-09-09	5h38m	6h15m	21h13m	21h49m	21h49m	5h38m	0.00
2018-09-10	5h39m	6h16m	21h10m	21h47m	21h47m	5h39m	0.01
2018-09-11	5h41m	6h17m	21h08m	21h45m	21h45m	5h41m	0.06
2018-09-12	5h42m	6h19m	21h06m	21h43m	21h57m	5h42m	0.12
2018-09-13	5h44m	6h20m	21h04m	21h41m	22h27m	5h44m	0.21
2018-09-14	5h45m	6h21m	21h02m	21h38m	23h00m	5h45m	0.30
2018-09-15	5h47m	6h23m	21h00m	21h36m	23h37m	5h47m	0.40
2018-09-16	5h48m	6h24m	20h58m	21h34m	-	5h48m	0.50
2018-09-17	5h50m	6h25m	20h56m	21h32m	0h18m	5h50m	0.60
2018-09-18	5h51m	6h26m	20h54m	21h30m	1h03m	5h51m	0.70
2018-09-19	5h52m	6h28m	20h52m	21h28m	1h53m	5h52m	0.78
2018-09-20	5h54m	6h29m	20h50m	21h26m	2h47m	5h54m	0.86
2018-09-21	5h55m	6h30m	20h48m	21h24m	3h44m	5h55m	0.92
2018-09-22	5h56m	6h31m	20h47m	21h22m	4h44m	5h56m	0.92
2018-09-23	5h58m	6h33m	20h45m	21h19m	5h45m	5h58m	0.96
2018-09-24	5h59m	6h34m	20h43m	21h17m	-	-	0.99
2018-09-25	6h00m	6h35m	20h41m	21h15m	-	-	1.00
2018-09-26	6h02m	6h36m	20h39m	21h13m	-	-	0.99
2018-09-27	6h03m	6h38m	20h37m	21h11m	21h11m	21h12m	0.95
2018-09-28	6h04m	6h39m	20h35m	21h09m	21h09m	21h44m	0.89
2018-09-29	6h06m	6h40m	20h33m	21h07m	21h07m	22h21m	0.81
2018-09-30	6h07m	6h41m	20h31m	21h05m	21h05m	23h04m	0.72

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 09/02/18