Ephemeris: 06/03/2026 – Where are the naked-eye planets this week?
This is Ephemeris for Wednesday, June 3rd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 9:23, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:58. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 12:29 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. By 10:15 PM tonight, nearly an hour after sunset, Venus and Jupiter may be seen in the western sky. A telescope will show a very tiny disc on Venus, because it is still pretty much beyond the Sun, 115 million miles (186 million kilometers) away from us. Over the next 4½ months it will be moving closer to us and becoming much larger. Jupiter is to the upper left of Venus, and the second-brightest star-like object in the sky. Venus will set at 12:05 AM, while Jupiter will hold out ten minutes longer. Venus will pass Jupiter on the afternoon of the 9th. Saturn rises into the eastern sky at 3:27 AM, followed by dimmer Mars an hour later.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris:06/02/2026 – Mapping the Moon for Apollo
This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, June 2nd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 9:22, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:59. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 11:54 this evening.
The last unmanned missions to the moon before the Apollo landings was the Lunar Orbiter program. Five spacecraft were sent to the moon to photograph, in great detail, the proposed landing sites for Apollo, and then to map the moon completely. They had 100% coverage of the near side and 95% of the far side. Unmentioned at the time was that the spacecraft used the same camera that was used on the reconnaissance or spy satellites of the era. Five orbiters were launched between 1966 and 1967, and all 5 were able to complete their mission successfully, photographing on film, developing and scanning the images to be radioed back. They then were crashed onto to the moon, so their radio signals would not interfere with Apollo moon communications.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 06/01/2026 – Previewing June skies
This is Ephemeris’ 51st anniversary program, and starting orbit 52 for Monday, June 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 21 minutes, setting at 9:21, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:59. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 11:11 this evening.
Let’s preview June skies. There will be a lot of sun in June and very little night. The daylight hours will increase a bit from 15 hours and 21 minutes Today to 15 hours and 34 minutes on the 21st, retreating back to 15 hours 31 minutes at month’s end. The altitude of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will hover around 68 to 69 degrees. Local noon, when the Sun is actually due south, will occur at about 1:43 PM Summer begins on the 21st at 4:25 am, when the Sun reaches its farthest north. The actual amount of nighttime will be quite short, mostly due to the length of daylight, but also because twilight lasts much longer than average because the Sun sets at a shallow angle. On the 21st, there’s theoretically only 3 ½ hours of total darkness if the Moon wasn’t up.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
June Evening Star Chart
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 11 PM EDT in the evening and 4 AM. on the 15th.on the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Interlochen/Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian, West 75° longitude. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Note, the chart times of 11 PM and 4 AM are for the 15th & 16th. For each week before the 15th, add ½ hour (28 minutes if you’re picky). For each week after the 15th, subtract ½ hour, or 28 minutes. The planet positions are updated each Wednesday on this blog. For planet positions on dates other than the 15th, check the Wednesday planet posts on this blog for weekly positions.
June Morning Star Chart
Orbits of the naked-eye planets for seven 5-day intervals starting June 1, 2026.
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
Jun 1 Mo Venus: 35° E
1 Mo 12:32 AM Moon Apogee: 406400 km
1 Mo 12:59 PM Moon South Dec.: 28° S
7 Su 2:19 AM Moon Ascending Node
7 Su 12:15 PM Venus-Pollux: 4.7° S
8 Mo 6:00 AM Last Quarter
9 Tu 4:11 PM Venus-Jupiter: 1.6° N
13 Sa 9:15 AM Moon-Pleiades: 0.9° S
14 Su 7:18 PM Moon Perigee: 357200 km
14 Su 10:54 PM New Moon
15 Mo 1:29 AM Moon North Dec.: 28° N
15 Mo 3:59 PM Mercury Elongation: 24.5° E
16 Tu 3:32 PM Moon-Mercury: 2.6° S
17 We 2:54 AM Moon-Jupiter: 2.5° S
17 We 4:21 PM Moon-Venus: 0.3° S
17 We 7:40 PM Moon-Beehive: 0.6° S
18 Th 10:59 AM Mercury-Pollux: 6.4° S
19 Fr 10:31 AM Moon-Regulus: 0.3° N
19 Fr 11:44 AM Venus-Beehive: 0.4° N
19 Fr 1:57 PM Moon Descending Node
21 Su 4:25 AM Summer Solstice
21 Su 5:55 PM First Quarter
23 Tu 4:11 PM Moon-Spica: 2.3° N
25 Th 7:54 AM Mercury-Jupiter: 3.8° N
27 Sa 10:32 AM Moon-Antares: 0.5° N
28 Su 3:11 AM Moon Apogee: 406300 km
28 Su 2:30 PM Mars-Pleiades: 4.4° S
28 Su 6:06 PM Moon South Dec.: 28° S
29 Mo 7:57 PM Full Moon
Jul 1 We Venus: 41.1° E
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
LU Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
June, 2026 Local time zone: EDT
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATE | SUN SUN DAYLIGHT| TWILIGHT* |MOON RISE OR ILLUM |
| | RISE SET HOURS | END START |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
+=======================================================================+
|Mon 1| 06:00a 09:21p 15:21 | 10:44p 04:37a | Rise 11:11p 97%|
|Tue 2| 05:59a 09:22p 15:22 | 10:45p 04:36a | Rise 11:54p 94%|
|Wed 3| 05:59a 09:23p 15:23 | 10:46p 04:35a | Rise 12:29a 88%|
|Thu 4| 05:58a 09:23p 15:24 | 10:47p 04:35a | Rise 12:57a 82%|
|Fri 5| 05:58a 09:24p 15:26 | 10:48p 04:34a | Rise 01:21a 74%|
|Sat 6| 05:58a 09:25p 15:27 | 10:49p 04:33a | Rise 01:41a 64%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 7| 05:57a 09:25p 15:28 | 10:50p 04:33a | Rise 02:00a 54%|
|Mon 8| 05:57a 09:26p 15:29 | 10:51p 04:32a |L Qtr Rise 02:18a 44%|
|Tue 9| 05:57a 09:27p 15:29 | 10:52p 04:32a | Rise 02:38a 33%|
|Wed 10| 05:57a 09:27p 15:30 | 10:53p 04:31a | Rise 03:00a 23%|
|Thu 11| 05:56a 09:28p 15:31 | 10:53p 04:31a | Rise 03:28a 14%|
|Fri 12| 05:56a 09:28p 15:32 | 10:54p 04:31a | Rise 04:04a 7%|
|Sat 13| 05:56a 09:29p 15:32 | 10:55p 04:30a | Rise 04:52a 2%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 14| 05:56a 09:29p 15:33 | 10:55p 04:30a |New Set 09:44p 0%|
|Mon 15| 05:56a 09:30p 15:33 | 10:56p 04:30a | Set 10:47p 1%|
|Tue 16| 05:56a 09:30p 15:34 | 10:56p 04:30a | Set 11:34p 5%|
|Wed 17| 05:56a 09:31p 15:34 | 10:57p 04:30a | Set 12:09a 12%|
|Thu 18| 05:56a 09:31p 15:34 | 10:57p 04:30a | Set 12:36a 20%|
|Fri 19| 05:56a 09:31p 15:34 | 10:57p 04:30a | Set 12:58a 30%|
|Sat 20| 05:57a 09:31p 15:34 | 10:58p 04:30a | Set 01:17a 40%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 21| 05:57a 09:32p 15:34 | 10:58p 04:30a |F Qtr Set 01:35a 51%|
|Mon 22| 05:57a 09:32p 15:34 | 10:58p 04:31a | Set 01:53a 61%|
|Tue 23| 05:57a 09:32p 15:34 | 10:58p 04:31a | Set 02:13a 70%|
|Wed 24| 05:58a 09:32p 15:34 | 10:58p 04:31a | Set 02:36a 79%|
|Thu 25| 05:58a 09:32p 15:34 | 10:58p 04:32a | Set 03:03a 86%|
|Fri 26| 05:58a 09:32p 15:33 | 10:58p 04:32a | Set 03:37a 92%|
|Sat 27| 05:59a 09:32p 15:33 | 10:58p 04:33a | Set 04:19a 96%|
+------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
|Sun 28| 05:59a 09:32p 15:32 | 10:58p 04:33a | Set 05:10a 99%|
|Mon 29| 06:00a 09:32p 15:32 | 10:58p 04:34a |Full Rise 09:53p 100%|
|Tue 30| 06:00a 09:32p 15:31 | 10:57p 04:34a | Rise 10:31p 99%|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Nautical Twilight
** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise
Generated using my LookingUp for DOS app.
Ephemeris: 05/29/2026 – NASA’s second moon program – soft landers
This is Ephemeris for Friday, May 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 16 minutes, setting at 9:18, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:01. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 5:01 tomorrow morning.
The United States second unmanned moon program in the 1960s was the Surveyor program, to soft land spacecraft on the moon. This was the Surveyor program, which launched 5 Surveyor spacecraft to the moon from 1966 through 1968, three of which were successful, including the very first one. It showed that the moon’s surface was solid enough to support spacecraft landings. There was some speculation earlier that moon dust would be electrostatically charged and suspended above the solid surface of the moon preventing a landing on the surface. The moon’s surface proved to be solid enough, paving the way for the Apollo landings to come. Apollo 12 landed near Surveyor 3 and took a souvenir back to earth, the camera.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 05/28/2026 – NASA’s first Moon program
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, May 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 15 minutes, setting at 9:17, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:02. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 4:32 tomorrow morning.
The United States first lunar mission to the moon was the Ranger Program of moon impactors, to televise pictures all the way to impact to see what the moon looked like up close and personal, so to speak. The program actually started before President Kennedy announced plans to send humans to the moon, although the first launch was made several months after that announcement. The program consisted of nine launches of three different variations of the spacecraft. The first two launches failed Then in the next four launches, the spacecraft either missed the moon or were dead on arrival. However, the last three were successful, showing that the moon was indeed mostly smooth enough to land a spacecraft.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 05/27/2026 – Taking our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Wednesday, May 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 9:17, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:02. The Moon, halfway from first quarter to full, will set at 4:08 tomorrow morning.
Let’s take our weekly look at the whereabouts of the naked-eye planets. By 10 PM tonight, about 40 minutes after sunset, Venus may be seen in the western sky. A telescope will show a very tiny disc on Venus, because it is still pretty much beyond the Sun, 120 million miles (193 million km) away from us. Over the next 5 months it will be moving closer to us and becoming much larger. Jupiter is the second-brightest star-like object in the western sky seen before 10 PM. It is above and left of Venus tonight. Venus will set at 12:04 AM, while Jupiter will hold out until 12:41 AM. Saturn rises in the east at 3:52 AM, followed by dimmer Mars at 4:42 AM.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 05/26/2026 – The Soviet Union’s Luna 3 provided first look at the far side of the Moon
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Tuesday, May 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 11 minutes, setting at 9:16, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:03. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 3:48 tomorrow morning.
The space race with the Soviet Union started with the launch of Sputnik one in October 1957. The Soviets won the early milestones of the race, including less than two years after Sputnik 1, a flyby of Luna 3 around the moon, and taking the first photographs of the far side. Back then before CCDs, the best quality images from space were photographed onto film and then developed, then scanned on the satellite and the data is sent down to the earth. The images were rather crude and grainy. I was a senior in high school at the time and as interested in astronomy as I am today. We thought that the Far Side of the moon would be more of the same. The Far Side was completely different.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 05/25/2026 – Remembering the fallen astronauts also
This is Ephemeris for Memorial Day, Monday, May 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 10 minutes, setting at 9:15, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:04. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 3:30 tomorrow morning.
Today we pause to remember those who gave their lives for our country. For purposes of this program that includes those courageous enough to sit on top of or beside a million pounds of explosives to be launched into space. From the three astronauts who died in the Apollo one file in 1967, the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, to the disintegration of the Columbia in 2003, 17 Americans and other nationals have died in NASA space accidents. The Russians too have lost cosmonauts in the exploration of space. Brothers and sisters in the quest for knowledge and to expand the horizons of human habitation. Per aspera, ad astra, Through difficulties to the stars
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 05/22/2026 – Uranus has rings, like Saturn
This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, May 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 4 minutes, setting at 9:12, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:06. The Moon, 1 day before first quarter, will set at 2:35 tomorrow morning.
Today, the planet Uranus is in conjunction with the Sun. I don’t talk about Uranus that much, because it can’t be spotted in the sky with the naked eye. However, the James Webb Space Telescope observed it, and gave our clearest view of the planet since Voyager 2 flew past it in January 1986. Uranus has a system of rings, which were discovered in March 1977. Though not visible, they blocked the light of a star. Astronomers at the time were trying to get a more accurate diameter of the planet by timing the disappearance of a star behind the planet. Extra short dips in brightness before and after the main occultation revealed the existence of the rings. Uranus also has an extreme axial tilt of 98 degrees.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Ephemeris: 05/21/2026 – The man who first mapped the Moon
This is Ephemeris for Thursday, May 21st. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 2 minutes, setting at 9:11, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:07. The Moon, 2 days before first quarter, will set at 2:11 tomorrow morning.
Ever wonder where the names of the features of the Moon come from? Most of the large features on the Moon were named by Giovanni Battista Riccioli, a Jesuit priest of the 17th century. He created the first accurate map of the Moon in 1651, and he named the features he drew, including the Sea of Tranquility (Mare Tranquillitatis), the craters Tycho, Plato, Clavius and many others that I talk about. Even though he professed the Earth centered universe, he gave the heliocentrists Copernicus, Kepler and Aristarchus prominent craters, but in the Ocean of Storms, Oceanus Procellarum, denoting the controversy of the day. Riccioli’s nomenclature became the standard for the Moon and other planets and moons.
The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.
Addendum
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 