THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM

207-780-4249       www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street  Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N,                    70.2667° W
Founded January 1970

              "More dreams coming..."

 

 

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER

Monday, April 4, 2016

April 2016 Night Sky Calendar  Part I

 

This month,  the calendar was a bit delayed, as April 1st occurred on a Friday and nothing will ever induce us to preempt a quiz.   Fortunately, the first "noteworthy" event doesn't happen until April 6th, so posting this calendar a few days after April 1st won't cause us to miss anything too important.  Of course, some egalitarian fanatics insist that all sky events are noteworthy.    On this, we respectfully disagree, which, on the bright side,  is why these night sky calendars aren't the size of Russian novels.

We post part I today and part II tomorrow.

 

In April, the winter patterns descend close to the setting sun while the summer constellation ascend in the late evening.  Between them, the spring procession of Leo, Cancer, Virgo and Hydra, all poised against the darker sky.  In this region we look out of the galactic plane, where the brighter stars are few and far between.     Virgo returns to her mother, Ceres, after a winter's hiatus in the underworld.    Ceres, delighted by the reunion, bestows copious sunshine and rejuvenating warmth onto the land, thereby ushering in a new season of growth and abundance.    (Snow and 40 mph winds about to splinter the bay windows.)

 

Mercury returns, but we lose Venus.  Mars and Saturn rise to greater prominence, while Jupiter remains an evening sky beacon.   Further evidence that you can never observe the same sky twice.

 

 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6:   MOON VERY CLOSE TO VENUS

Yes, we usually indicate a degree of angular separation when a moon appears close to a planet.  we didn't bother as the razor thin crescent moon will be less than a degree from Venus and both will be less than twenty degrees from the Sun.     Observing the moon and Venus in the pre-dawn sky will prove exceedingly difficult.  One would need a clear eastern horizon and a high perch, perhaps on the upper strata of a cumulonimbus.

 

THURSDAY, APRIL 7:  NEW MOON

Beginning of lunation cycle 1154.

 

FRIDAY, APRIL 8: MOON 5.0 DEGREES SSE OF MERCURY

Now, we see the sliver moon close to a planet in the western evening sky.    This time we decided to include the angular separation as Mercury will appear farther from the Sun than Venus did. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 10:  MOON 8.9 DEGREES SOUTH OF THE PLEIADES

As the moon is still a crescent and more than 8 degrees away from the Pleiades Star Cluster, the lunar light interference will not obscure the star cluster.      See them both in the western evening sky.

THURSDAY, APRIL 14:  FIRST QUARTER MOON

FRIDAY, APRIL 15:  MOON 4.9 DEGREES SOUTH OF THE BEEHIVE STAR CLUSTER

This time, the moon appears larger and will be closer to the Beehive Star Cluster than it was to the Pleiades.  The lunar light interference will obscure this cluster, but will not preclude you from observing it.

SUNDAY, APRIL 17:  MARS STATIONARY

No, Mars won't stop.  The planets have been moving continuously for billions of years and will continue to do so for billions of more years.   However, Mars will appear to stop moving in a prograde (eastward) fashion and then will begin retrograde (westward) motion as it approaches its May 22 opposition. 

 

PLANET WATCH  (Part I)

MERCURY: returns to the westen evening sky early this month.   Mercury's greatest eastern elongation is on April 18th, when it will be 20 degrees from the Sun.    VERDICT:  Not a particularly great apparition of Mercury, but at least it is visible.  Best time to find the little world is mid month.

 

VENUS: has left the building.  Throughout the winter, we warned sky watchers that the brilliant early morning orb would exit stage east by early April and then be out of sight until very late July/early August.     Now, it's April and Venus is no longer visible.    Throughout the spring and first part of summer, our sister world remains elusive.  Only when the evening sky is tinctured by August bronze will it re appear in the west.   VERDICT:  Well, you could attend a planetarium show if you want to see Venus.

 

MARS:  (PICK PLANET)    Though it is dimmer than Jupiter, Mars is growing rapidly brighter as it approaches its May opposition.      Mars has been obscure for awhile and only recently has it risen to greater prominence.     For this reason, we confer onto it the coveted "Pick Planet" designation.   VERDICT:   A wonderful time to observe Mars!   Watch its brightness dramatically increase throughout the next few weeks.