For the Northern Hemisphere
March 20 - April 19, 2008
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Look Up!
Planetary Treats
Jupiter's Polar Auroras
Earthlings Lose Sight of Mercury and Venus
Martian Moon ~ Phobos
A Flicker Behind Saturn's Rings
Celestial Delights
How Many Heavenly Rabbits Do You Know?
National Dark Sky Week ~ 3/29-4/4
Scorpius the Rival of Orion
Who Rules Spring?
Plus ...
Sky Lights
Printable Date Tables
Moon Dances 3/7-4/5
Moon Dances 4/5-5/5
The Night Sky ~ Home Page
Planetary Treats
Powerful
X-ray Auroras Near Jupiter’s Poles
Credit: Chandra / Hubble
Jupiter’s polar auroras are 1000x more powerful than those found on Earth. It is thought they are the result of the interaction of sulfur, oxygen and solar wind particles in the outer regions of the Jovian magnetic field.
In support of NASA's New Horizons Mission to Pluto, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory gathered images of Jupiter for several days before the spacecraft to Pluto made its closest approach to Jupiter, February 28, 2007. Hubble’s visible and ultraviolet images combined with the X-ray photos of Chandra resulted in the above single composite image. This data along with the analyzed New Horizons data will help scientists learn more about Jupiter’s atmosphere, aurorae, and charged-particle environment. Culled from Chandra’s News Release ~ Hubble’s News Release
New
Horizon’s Gravity Boost from Jupiter
Easy to Read, Fun, Informative - Mission Highlights Too!
Earth to Pluto ~ 2006 - 2015 and Beyond
New
Horizons ~ NASA’s Pluto-Kuiper Belt Mission
Check out the Gallery!
Jupiter at magnitude –2.2 is a brilliant morning light outshining any nearby stars or planets. It rises in the southeast at 3:40am in the beginning of Aries and by its end at 2:00am.
As Jupiter climbs higher above the predawn horizon, it also appears brighter and bigger for it is nearing the Earth and opposition 7/9/08. During April the distance between this gaseous giant and our planet decreases by 43 million miles!
The waning Moon is a predawn delight between Antares and Jupiter March 27-30. Click Moon Dances for a map and reflections.
Jupiter remains located at the eastern border of the constellation Sagittarius throughout 2008. Early April Map April 22 the Lyrid shooting stars fly past Jupiter; a bright Gibbous Moon approaching Scorpius blocks out the fainter meteors. 5am Sky Chart
Giant Jupiter is now close enough for small telescopes to show details of the planet's alternating bright zones and dark belts. Atmospheric activity occurs near the boundaries of these bands. Jupiter's Stormy Stripes
Last year, Jupiter's dark North Equatorial Belt appeared more prominent than the South Equatorial Belt, and both the latter belt and its neighbor, the South Tropical Zone, underwent major changes. ... backyard observers will be keen to follow what's happening in 2008. Astronomy Magazine 3/08
Jupiter ~ The Fun To Watch Planet
Viewing Jupiter's 4 Largest Moons
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Inner
Solar System ~ April 16, 2008
Earthlings
Lose Sight of Mercury and Venus in the Solar Glare
Mercury
Reaches Superior
Conjunction Today
Venus Approaches Superior Conjunction
Mars Is Dimming in the Night Sky
Faster Inner Orbiting Earth Is Moving
Away from ...
Slower Orbiting Outer Mars
Image: Solar
System Live
The portion of the orbit above the plane of the Earth's orbit (ecliptic) is drawn in blue, the portion below in green. Most planets' orbits are only slightly inclined to this plane; notable exceptions are Mercury, 7 degrees and Pluto, a whopping 17.2°.
Sun (yellow), Mercury (grey), Venus (white), Earth (blue), Mars (red)
Note: Venus reaches superior conjunction June 9, 2008.
BTW: As seen in the above image, the planetary orbits are not perfectly circular. Planetary Orbits shows their eccentricity.
Animated
Orbits of Mars and Earth
Watch the distance between Earth and Mars increase.
Solar
System
Live
View the entire solar system or just the inner planets.
Mercury and Venus are journeying through the Sun's glaring light during Aries. Dim Mercury is presently invisible to us, while the more brilliant Venus, rising only 30 minutes before the Sun, is too deep in the solar glare to be easily seen from the Northern Hemisphere.
The waning Crescent Moon thins and disappears April 3-5. It's last predawn vestige lies above Venus in the morning glow of Friday April 4. Click Moon Dances for viewing information, maps and reflections.
SOHO Sees Sun-Hidden Planets ~ So Can You!
When any planet is lost in the bright glow of our Sun, it can be seen from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). The SOHO spacecraft's coronagraph blocks out the Sun's glare to reveal Sun-hidden objects.
The approximate dates to view Mercury's transit across SOHO's coronagraphs are April 8-23. The approximate transit dates for Venus are May 9-July 8.
Try viewing our two innermost planets on the SOHO site. First click THE SUN NOW and then click the LASCO C3 (or C2) image. Clicking More LASCO C3 will give you a series of images taken about every half hour or so. Expected Transits gives information about planets and other objects moving through the coronagraph's field of view.
Reappearance in the Sunset Sky
Mercury reaches superior conjunction April 16 and reappears in the sunset sky in late April, when it gives its best performance for 2008.
Venus, whose orbit is further from the Sun, doesn't reach superior conjunction until June 9. Begin looking for the planet's brilliance to pop through the twilight glow of sunset during mid-July. By August 5 Venus sets less than an hour after the Sun.
Martian Moon ~ Phobos
Got 3D Glasses? See 3D Phobus!
Image: JPL
PHOTOJOURNAL
NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO) took this high resolution image of the Martian moon Phobos March 23, 2008 at a distance of 6,800 kilometers (4,200 miles). The prominent Stickney impact crater, 9-kilometers (about 5.5 miles) in diameter, can be seen at the lower right of the image. Whatever excavated this crater is thought to have almost shattered the tiny moon!
… Color filters in MRO's camera reveal a blue splash of material around Stickney's rim. [Thumbnail ~ Quicktime .tif] What is it? No one knows. Equally striking are Phobos' many long grooves and crater chains. Although these seem to radiate from Stickney, recent studies show that most are not related to the crater. Instead they come from the planet below; when asteroids hit Mars, debris flies up and scores Phobos. The grooves seem to emerge from Stickney only because the crater faces Mars. Finally, note the bright features lining inner slopes of Stickney. These are thought to be landslides--on a moon where the pull of gravity is only 0.001 g! SpaceWeather.com 4/11/08Note: The gravity on Phobus, less than one-thousandth the gravity of Earth, is not strong enough to pull it into a sphere, hence its oblong shape.
BTW: Analogous to our Moon, the bluer material color could be fresher, less exposed to space, compared to the rest of Phobos' surface.This Martian moon is of interest because it may be rich in water ice and carbon-rich materials. The extraordinary data from the HiRISE images will help determine the origin and evolution of the moon.
Phobus, about 22 kilometers (13.5 miles) in diameter, is the larger and inner of the two tiny dark moons of Mars. The smaller Deimos is about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) across. Both may be captured asteroids from the outer, carbon-rich, Mars-Jupiter asteroid belt. Full Story/All Images
3D Phobus
A second image of Phobus was taken 10 minutes later. The mission’s scientists combined the pair into a red-blue anaglyph. Get out those 3D glasses and have a look!
MRO Jet Propulsion Laboratory ~ MRO NASA Mission
Mars is seen overhead, high in the west at 8:00pm. During Aries the planet moves toward and through the constellation of the Gemini Twins. Mars Path 3/08 ~ 4/18 9pm Sky Chart The planet sets around 3:00am at the beginning of Aries and by its end at 2:00am.
April 11, Friday, Mars and the Moon get intimate. Mars moving eastward toward the bright Gemini Twin stars, Castor and Pollux, forms a striking shapeshifting triangle with these two bright stars. The Red Planet, red Aldebaran and red Betelgeuse also form the shapeshifting Red Triad with the eastward movement of Mars. Click Moon Dances for maps, more information and reflections.
Mark your calendar now! The first week of May red Mars diagonally lines up with bright Castor and Pollux, near Pollux. You've got a week to view this rare lovely sight. May 21-23, Wednesday-Friday, Mars buzzes the Beehive star cluster in the constellation Cancer. If skies are clear, this promises to be a tasty binocular treat for the eyes of the beholder! Note: Both Mars and Saturn transited the Beehive in June 2006. Image
Mars is diminishing in size and brightness, as Earth’s faster inner orbit moves it past the Red Planet, increasing the distance that separates the two.
Those telescoping Mars need a medium scope to observe any details of the planet’s surface, unaided eye observers will easily notice the planet’s conspicuous rouge-gold glow through May.
Mars a God of Agriculture Responsible for Spring?
Mars has pastoral origins.
Antares Flickers
Behind Saturn's Rings!
Image: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute
A point of light flickers behind Saturn's rings as multiple instruments on the Cassini spacecraft observe a stellar occultation of Antares (or Alpha Scorpii). Scorpius Constellation
Such observations are designed to understand the fine-scale structure of the rings. Scientists look at variations in the observed brightness of the star to determine the opacity of the rings in different places.
Among other things, Cassini's prior stellar occultations have been used to examine density and bending waves induced in the A ring by Saturn's various moons. Saturn's Rings
The Cassini spacecraft captured this image January 3, 2008, at a distance of approximately 336,000 miles (541,000 kilometers) from Saturn.
Cassini Image of the Week / Home Page
Cassini Contest ~ Scientist for a Day
NASA is giving 5th to 12th grade students the opportunity to study Saturn and make decisions, just as scientists on the Cassini-Huygens mission do on a daily basis. The entry deadline 5/8/08. Learn More
Saturn and Regulus pair up high in the southeast at nightfall. Watch the golden planet's retrograde motion (12/19/07-5/1/08) move it westward closer and closer to Regulus the blue-white heart star of Leo the Lion. Saturn glows 2.5x brighter than sparkling Regulus. Both the planet and star set at 6:00am in the beginning of Aries and by its end at 4:15am.
April 14-15, Monday-Tuesday, use the waxing Gibbous Moon to guide you first to Regulus then Saturn. Click Moon Dances for maps and reflections. Learn to identify the thin triangle formed by Algieba, Leo the Lion's neck star, Regulus the heart star of Leo and the planet Saturn.
Evening Saturn lies east of Mars and both are scenically placed in the night sky providing a splendid view. 4/16 9pm Sky Chart When predawn Saturn sinks in the west, brilliant Jupiter rises in the east. 4/16 3am Sky Chart
Saturn"s Rings ~ Telescoping the Planet
The changing tilt of Saturn's rings is gradually decreasing until the rings appear edge-on in 2009. 2008 is the last year to view the rings before they "disappear".
BTW: When Saturn's rings are wide open at maximum tilt, they reflect a lot of sunlight and the planet can appear brighter even when it's not at its closest to Earth.
Note: Saturn’s current ring tilt reveals both the North (top) and South (bottom) Poles of the planet. Saturn's globe is prominent now.
The features of Saturn’s globe are subtle and challenging to see with a small scope, but it’s easy to see that the poles of Saturn are flattened by about 10%. This is caused by the gaseous planet’s rapid rotation and short day of 10 hours.
Several moons circle Saturn like lazy fireflies, creating a panorama that changes night to night. Easy to see in any telescope is Titan, an 8th-magnitude object that handily outshines the other moons. It passes due south of Saturn April 2 and 18 and due north April 10 and 26. ... a 6-inch scope brings several more [moons] into view. Astronomy Magazine 4/08
April 18 ~ Saturn's Moons
11:30pm EDT; 8:30pm PDT; 03:30 UT 4/19
The
Planets
Is it
a planet? ... What planet? When you look up at the night sky, how do you
know you are looking at a planet? Click
here.
When
gauging distance in degrees, please note:
*2
degrees is hardly more than a finger's breadth at arm's
length.
**10 degrees is one width of your fist at arm's length.
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Celestial
Delights
|
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For
the legend of the Easter Bunny
and the Rabbit in the Moon click
here.
Find Three Rabbits in the Heavens!
Moon Rabbit as shown above is always seen in the Full Moon.
Lepus The Hare ~ the Cosmic Bunny is located below Orion's feet. He's easier to see in a dark country sky. Use this fun star map for orientation, then compare to this Easter 8pm star map. This cosmic bunny might just have an Easter egg for you!
Bunny's Footprints belong to a magical bunny and you can track these footprints in Scorpius throughout the year.
Click Moon Dances to learn more about Easter's Full Moon!
The Spring Equinox
Surprise your friends with equinox facts!
Participate in equinox global meditations ...
March 20, 21 and 31.
Spring Equinox
A new balance comes into play.
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National
Dark Sky Week in
2008 occurs Saturday - Friday, March 29 - April 4.
This event raises awareness about the importance of preserving a dark sky
and
promotes the hobby of
astronomy.
During this
week people are encouraged to turn
out their unnecessary outdoor lights in order to temporarily reduce light
pollution. National Dark
Sky Week is an educational and a take action event.
As cities continue to grow, so does light pollution through poor planning and misuse of outdoor lighting. While light pollution is detrimental to our ability to observe and enjoy the night sky, it also disrupts the surrounding natural environment, wastes energy, and has the potential to cause health problems. Astronomy.com 3/19/08
The mission of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is to preserve and protect the nighttime environment from any adverse effect of artificial light. See IDA’s Best Choice Lighting page for resources. Check out Sky and Telescope's Saving Dark Skies for links to helpful, interesting and pertinent articles.
In 2008 IDA is encouraging everyone to support Earth Hour, which coincides with the first day of National Dark Sky Week, March 29.
Earth Hour is a global initiative to "turn off the lights" in cities around the world for one hour, starting at 8 p.m. local time on March 29, 2008. ... Earth Hour is intended to bring together a diverse group of community, municipal, corporate and non-governmental organizations, to heighten awareness of the impacts of climate change on the world, and to inspire individuals and businesses to take practical action to reduce their own carbon footprint. Astronomy.com 3/19/08
As of March 26, nearly 16,000 businesses and 220,000 individuals had indicated their intention to participate in this event. Learn more at earthhour.org.
The value of the night is explored in Ecology Of The Night. National Park scientists on the Night Sky Team work to preserve the Natural Lightscapes, dark night skies above our national parks.
Take action for a dark sky!
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The Myth ~ Scorpius the Rival of Orion
Scorpius is the legendary killer of Orion. Orion was a great hunter who bragged about his skills until the gods grew tired of his boasting. The scorpion was sent to punish Orion, who never thought of such a small creature as a threat. Once he was stung, it was too late. Both were placed in the sky although Orion's last wish was that he never be in the sky as the same time as the scorpion. Thus, Scorpius rules the northern hemisphere's summer while Orion rules the winter skies. StarrySkies.com
Orion
and His Rival
A Fun Cartoon comparing the HUGE red star
in Orion with the HUGE red star in Scorpius. Enjoy!
Who
rules Spring?
Leo the Lion!
Image: StarDate Online / Adobe Photoshop
During Aries as Orion sets in the west and Scorpius rises in the east around midnight, Leo the Lion, as if chasing winter Orion out of the sky, lies overhead as the master of spring. This cosmic Lion rules spring.
In 2008 during Aries, Saturn's golden orb can be observed moving closer and closer to blue-white Regulus from the east.
Regulus and Leo the Lion Spring Up!
May Spring's Emerging Opportunities Bless you!
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March 20 - April 19
Mars is seen overhead, high in the west at 8:00pm. The planet sets around midnight at the beginning of Aries and by its end at 11:15pm. The Red Planet lies above (east of) and between red Betelgeuse and red Aldebaran; these three form the shapeshifting Red Triad. Compare the color and brightness of each. The Red planet is now moving eastward toward the bright Gemini Twin stars, Castor and Pollux, forming another shapeshifting triangle! Mars Path 3/08 ~ 4/5 9pm Sky Chart
Saturn and Regulus pair up high in the the southeast at nightfall; they set at 6:00am in the beginning of Aries and by its end at 4:15am. During Aries watch the golden planet's retrograde motion (12/19/07-5/1/08) move it westward closer and closer to Regulus the blue-white heart star of Leo the Lion. 4/5 9pm Sky Chart Saturn is 2.5x brighter than Regulus. As predawn Saturn sets in the west, Jupiter rises in the east. 4/5 4am Sky Chart Saturn's rings are closing toward their 2009 edge-on view.
Jupiter is brilliant as it ascends above the predawn southeastern horizon, outshining any nearby stars or planets. It rises in the southeast at 3:40am in the beginning of Aries and by its end at 2:00am. As it nears Earth and opposition 7/9/08, Jupiter grows bigger and brighter in our sky. Jupiter remains located at the eastern border of the constellation Sagittarius throughout 2008. Early April Map ~ 4/15 6:30am Sky Chart
Venus rises within 30 minutes of the Sun during Aries and is too deep in the solar glare to be easily seen from the Northern Hemisphere. 4/15 6:30am Sky Chart BTW: Observers in the Southern Hemisphere see the planet 90 minutes before sunrise. Venus reaches superior conjunction 6/9.
Mercury is lost in the glowing embrace of the Sun during Aries. It reaches superior conjunction 4/16. Mercury reappears in the evening sunset sky in late April, when it gives its best performance for 2008.
Capella is the very bright star in the northwest setting in the beginning of Aries at 4:00am and by its end at 2:00am. It is the brightest star seen the most often. Spring Star Map
The Pleiades star cluster can be seen sinking in the west in the early evening. Look for the line-up, west to southwest, of the sparkling blue-white Pleiades, red Aldebaran and brighter red Betelgeuse. Winter Star Map In 2008 the Red Planet lies above (east of) and between the two red stars, completing the Red Triad. 4/5 9pm Sky Chart The Pleiades set about 12:15am in the beginning of Aries and by its end at 10:15pm. Springtime Pleiades
Orion The Hunter is found with the winter stars sinking in the southwest at sunset. The stellar giant fully sets in the beginning of Aries by 1:30am and by its end at 11:30pm. Use Orion's stars to navigate this area of the sky. Winter Star Map Orion helps one find the Winter Triangle and the Great Winter Hexagon.
Sirius the brightest star in the heavens can be seen high in the south as the sky darkens. Sirius sets in the beginning of Aries around 1:00am and by its end at 11:00pm.
Regulus and Leo the Lion spring up in the east at sunset.
Arcturus, a bright golden star, can be seen low on the eastern horizon at 9:00pm. Use the handle of the Big Dipper to arc down to Arcturus from there spike down to blue-white Spica in the south! Big Dipper Navigation
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May your Night Sky traveling always be filled
with Celestial Delights and Treats!
Susan Sun
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