Saturday: The
nighttime stars take little more than an instant to rise. The Moon takers about
two minutes to rise. That’s absolutely speedy compared to the constellation
Virgo, which takes four hours to rise. The first star in Virgo rises at 4:30 in
the afternoon today. Spica, the brightest star in the constellation, rises at
7:30. By 9 p.m., Spica is one fist held upright and at arm’s length above the
southeast horizon.
Sunday: Jupiter
is less than a half a fist above the moon at 10 p.m.
Monday: Hit
the road Mercury. And don’t you come back no more, no more. For a few weeks,
Mercury has been hitting the road and moving away from the Sun in the sky.
Today, Mercury is as far away from the Sun as it will get on the evening half
of this cycle. This is known as its greatest eastern elongation. Mercury is
about a fist above the west-northwest horizon at 6:00 p.m. Over the next few
weeks, Mercury will move toward the Sun in the sky. After it passes in front of
the Sun, it will appear in the morning sky by early June.
Tuesday: Capella
is a half a fist above the north-northeast horizon at 5 a.m.
Wednesday: You’ve seen all of the top 100 lists: top 100 ways to make a
birdhouse, top 100 sushi restaurants in Ellensburg, etc. Now get excited for
tomorrow night’s full Moon by reading about and finding some of the lunar 100
at http://goo.gl/ldGvH6 This list describes
100 interesting landmarks on the Moon that are visible from Earth. They are
listed from easiest to see, starting with the entire moon itself at number 1,
to most difficult (Mare Marginis swirls, anyone?). Stay up all night to binge
watch the moon or just make a few observations a month. It’s your decision.
It’s our moon.
Thursday: Remember
the old saying: April showers bring… meteors. The Lyrid meteor shower peaks
this morning and tomorrow morning. The meteors appear to come from a point to
the right of the bright bluish star Vega in the constellation Lyra the lyre.
This point is about three fists above the east-northeast horizon at midnight
tonight and close to straight overhead near dawn. The best time to look is just
before dawn since that is when the radiant, or point from which the meteors
appear to come, is high in the sky. This year, the Moon is full so the extra
light will obscure all but the brightest meteors. Typically, this is one of the
least interesting major meteor showers of the year. However, it is also one of
the most unpredictable. As recently as 1982, there were 90 meteors visible
during a single hour. In addition, the Lyrid meteor shower has historical
interest because it was one of the first ones observed. Chinese records say
“stars fell like rain” in the shower of 687 B.C. As your Mother might say,
dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment. Meteors are
tiny rocks that hit the Earth and burn up in the atmosphere. For more
information, go to http://goo.gl/j87bVB.
Friday: At midnight tonight, Mars, Saturn, and the star Antares make a small
triangle low in the southeastern sky. Antares, the dimmest of the three is less
than a half a fist above due southeast. Mars, the brightest of the three is
about a half a fist to the upper left of Antares. Saturn is about a fist to the
lower left of Mars.
The
positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically
accurate for the entire week. For up to date information about the night sky,
go to http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
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