Saturday: As the rock
group Journey once thought of singing, “Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’. Know
where the Dipper’ll be tomorrow.” Every night, the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia
make a wheel in the sky that turns around the North Star in a counter clockwise
direction. Every year on April 27 at 10 p.m., the Big Dipper is straight
overhead and W-shaped Cassiopeia is low on the northern horizon. Every year on
April 28 at 10 p.m., the Big Dipper is straight overhead and W-shaped
Cassiopeia is low on the northern horizon. Every year on April 29 at 10 p.m.,
the Big Dipper is straight overhead and W-shaped Cassiopeia is low on the
northern horizon. Every year on April 30 at 10 p.m., well, you get the idea. Of
course, there are subtle charges in the position from night to night. Each
northern constellation moves about one degree counterclockwise from one night
to the next. But this is not going to change their position in the sky
drastically over a few days. So, if you know where the Big Dipper is tonight,
you DO know where it’ll be tomorrow. If you are really struggling to understand
this concept, Don’t Stop Believin’ in yourself. Just keep studying Faithfully.
Sunday: Do you wish
you could archive your own lunar images but you don’t have a camera for your
telescope? Why not go old school and actually sketch your observations? Visual
artist Bettina Forget will be giving a workshop on Facebook Live called
Sketching the Moon during which she’ll give you some tips for drawing lunar
features. So, gather up some paper, sharpen your pencils, and go to https://astronomerswithoutborders.org/gam2019-programs/astroarts/4682-sketching-the-moon.html for more
information. The workshop starts at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
Monday: Saturn is
two fists above the south-southeast horizon at 5 a.m. Neptune is a much bigger
binocular observational challenge at this time. It is a half a fist above the
Moon. First find the Moon with your binoculars and put the Moon at the bottom
of your field of view. There should be a triangle-shaped clump of stars to the
upper right of the moon, a solitary star of similar brightness near the center
of your field of view, and a solitary star of similar brightness near the top
of your field of view. Neptune is to the left of the star at the top of your
field of view.
Tuesday: Mars is
two and a half fists above the west horizon at 9 p.m.
Wednesday: Winter
must be over because the winter constellations are becoming less visible. Orion
is setting in the west starting at about 9 p.m. At this time, Orion’s belt is
one fist above the west-southwest horizon and Betelgeuse is nearly two fists
above the west horizon. By mid-May, Orion will be lost in the glare of the Sun.
Thursday: Jupiter
rises at 11:30 p.m. By 4 a.m., it is two fists above due south. It looks so
peaceful up there. But life is not peaceful for Jupiter. According to a recent
study by astronomers, Jupiter gets hit by a 5-20 meter in diameter asteroid 10
to 65 times a year. For comparison, the object that exploded over the Russian
city of Chelyabinsk in 2013 was 20 meters in diameter. Earth gets hit by a
20-meter asteroid about once every 50 years. For more information, go to https://goo.gl/RxPc5G.
Friday: The
CWU Physics Department is hosting its monthly First Saturday planetarium show
tomorrow from noon to 1 p.m. STEM Teaching major McKenzie Bailey will give a
show called Solar System Travels. You will learn about a few key missions to
explore the Solar System. The show is free and open to all ages. There will be
a show on the first Saturday of every month of the school year hosted by
different CWU astronomers and astronomy educators. The CWU Lydig Planetarium is
room 101 in Science Phase II, just off the corner of 11th and Wildcat Way, H-11
on the campus map found at https://www.cwu.edu/facility/campus-map.
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.
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