For the Northern Hemisphere March 20 - April 19, 2008 Look Up!
Planetary Treats Powerful
X-ray Auroras Near Jupiter’s Poles
New
Horizon’s Gravity Boost from Jupiter New
Horizons ~ NASA’s Pluto-Kuiper Belt Mission 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
Jupiter ~ The Fun To Watch Planet Viewing Jupiter's 4 Largest Moons
Inner
Solar System ~ April 16, 2008 [Image]
Sun (yellow), Mercury (grey), Venus (white), Earth (blue), Mars (red)
Animated
Orbits of Mars and Earth Solar
System Live 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.
3D Phobus
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?
Antares Flickers Behind Saturn's Rings!
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".
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.
The
Planets
Celestial Delights For
the legend of the Easter Bunny 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 Spring
Equinox [Return to Menu at top]
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.
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.
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! [Return to Menu at top]
The Myth ~ Scorpius the Rival of Orion
Orion
and His Rival
Who
rules Spring? Image 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! [Return to Menu at top]
I'd
like to know your thoughts about The Night Sky and
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