April 2012

Hopefully April showers will not ruin our chances of good sky watching this month!

The moon this month was full on the 6th. We should have a new moon again by the 21st.

So far as sunspots go, infamous spot 1429 and now 1450 have calmed down and no longer are a threat. 1429 had been tracked on the far side of the sun for the last month.

Looking for a meteor shower? The Lyrids will be this month on the evening of the 21-22. The Lyrids originate from detritus left by comet C/Thatcher. As the moon will just be new, we should have nice dark skies to watch the show.

Want something a little more challenging to target this month? Why not try spotting M44, the beehive cluster in Cancer. M44 is a good, open cluster for mid-range scopes. In ancient Greek mythology, Cancer the crab along with Hydra the water snake both fought the hero Hercules and lost after an epic battle.

Spica will be an excellent star target this month in Virgo. Always glittering, try to see if you can spot the planet Saturn close by as it rises this month. Regulus and the planet Mars will also be rather close together, too, by the way. While we are at it, Venus will be with the Pleiades, so there is more than enough to look for.

If you have any questions about these subjects or any other subjects in astronomy, join us on the 3rd Tuesday night of each month for our Astronomy Series from 7:00-8:30pm in the Wetherbee Planetarium at Thronateeska Heritage Center.

April 2011

April showers might just cloud your view of the night sky this month, but there are some interesting things worth waiting with an umbrella for holes in the clouds to see.

The month begins with a new moon on the 3^rd and a full moon on the 17^th.

Last month saw an unprecedented number of massive sun spots, and we can expect to have a few at the beginning of the month. There is no immediate threat of big solar flares, though.

As far as meteors go, the Lyrids will visit us on the 21^st and 22^nd of the month, but it will probably only yield a medium-sized show. Bright and quick, these short-lived dust grains come from comet C/Thatcher, and enter our atmosphere at 29.8 miles per second. Too bad the moon will almost be full; its light should obscure most of the view.

If you are into constellation-gazing, you can expect to see Vela, the sail of the Argo, just over the southern horizon. A very dim Hydra is just below Leo and Cancer, and Ursa Major will dominate the northern skies this month.

If you are out to spot a particular star, we recommend finding Leo’s alpha star Regulus, star of kings, and heaven’s guardian. A binary star system of three stars lying 72 light years away, Regulus is a blue dwarf of spectral class B7 V.

Last but not least, Saturn is back in view, northwest of the bright star Spica in the constellation Virgo. Venus will be the morning star for only a little longer, rising just ahead of the sun. And right before sunrise, Mars will make a brief appearance in the east.

   

For more information or for tips on star gazing, call 229-432-6955.