Saturday: Tonight’s full moon is called the pink moon, named after the pink creeping phlox wildflowers that bloom in the early spring in North America. Also, this moon is a mini-moon because the moon is at apogee - farthest from Earth - a few hours after being full.
Sunday: Do people think you have a magnetic personality? The
star Cor Caroli understands how you feel. Cor Caroli has one of the strongest
magnetic fields among main sequence stars like our Sun. This strong magnetic
field is thought to produce large sunspots that cause the brightness of Cor
Caroli to vary. Cor Caroli is nearly straight overhead at 12:30 a.m.
Monday: Did you get binoculars for the holidays? Like
Celebrate Scientists Day or Science Education Day (both celebrated today)
If so, start using them on some of the easy to find binocular targets found
here: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/best-targets-for-binoculars-moon-planets-nebula-clusters/.
The first item on the list, the Moon, is a great choice because it is full this
week, meaning it is out most of the night. One of my favorite binocular objects
is the Hyades Open Star Cluster. It is a V-shaped set of stars found about two
fists held upright and at arm’s length above the western horizon at 9:00 p.m.
The bright star Aldebaran is in the upper left-hand part of the V, just below
Aldebaran is the double star system Theta1 and Theta2 Tauri. Theta2 Tauri is a
blue giant star and Theta1 Tauri is an orange giant star. Through binoculars,
you should get a hint of their color. In the mythology of the Maya, the Theta
Tauri pair is known as Chamukuy, meaning “small bird” in the Yucatec Maya
language. The bright planet Jupiter is about a fist above the cluster.
Tuesday: There is a clump of planets low in the eastern sky
at 5:45 this morning. The brightest planet Venus is about one fist above the
eastern horizon. Saturn is below Venus, less than a half a fist above the
horizon. Mercury is to the lower left of Saturn, and a little bit brighter.
Since they are so low in the twilight sky, you may need binoculars to see them.
You’ll need a small telescope to see the dim planet Neptune, just to the upper
left of Mercury.
Wednesday: “The crow rises in the southeast,” said spy
number one. “I’m sorry. I don’t recognize that code,” replied spy number two.
Spy one exclaimed, “That’s because it’s not a code, you idiot. I’m talking
about the constellation Corvus the crow.” This very bad spy movie dialogue is
to remind you that Corvus had a very bad life. According to one myth, Corvus
brought the god Apollo the news that his girlfriend was seeing someone else. In
a classic case of punishing the messenger, Apollo turned the formerly
beautifully colored crow black. The box-shaped Corvus is two fists above the
south-southeastern horizon at 11:00 p.m.
Thursday: Mars is six fists above the southwestern horizon
at 9:00 p.m.
Friday: Remember the old saying: April showers bring…
meteors. The Lyrid meteor shower peaks next week, with the peak of the peak
occurring from Monday night to Tuesday 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 see
meteor showers is between midnight and dawn. Typically, this is one of the
least interesting major meteor showers of the year, with 10-20 bright, fast
meteors per hour. 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 seen. 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://earthsky.org/?p=158735.
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 https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
All times are Pacific Time unless noted.
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