Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog: Ephemeris for Friday, January 3rd. The sun will rise at 8:19. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 55 minutes, setting at 5:14. The moon, 2 days past new, will set at 8:32 this evening. We have a big night ahead. At 1 a.m. the Earth will be closest to the Sun at perihelion. In the morning hours the Quadrantid meteor shower will reach peak. Before that the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will hold its monthly meeting at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers observatory on Birmley Road south of Traverse City starting at 8 p.m. The program will be given by Richard Kuschell, who will talk about “Aristotle’s Big Mistake”. Afterward, starting at 9 p.m. there will be a star party. If its clear the winter wonders will be visible including the planet Jupiter and the Great Orion Nebula, the closest star nursery to us. The meeting is free to the public. There will be another program given during the star party. Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location. Addendum Quadrantid meteor shower radiant at 1:30 a.m. Great Orion Nebula in Orion’s sword. My old photograph. What you’ll see will actually be ...