WHAT'S UP?

by Ronald A. Leeseberg, the Star Geezer

April 2008 - Vol. 12 No. 04

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Features: Calendar | Lunar Almanac | Monthly Topic

This Month's Night Sky - NOTE: The next paragraph describes the sky as it appears at 10 pm EST (11 pm EDT) near mid- month. The sky also looks this way at 11 pm EST (midnight EDT) during the beginning of the month and at 9 pm EST (10 pm EDT) by month's end.

As the days lengthen, the stars of the Winter Triangle fade into evening's dusk. The "Big Dipper" asterism (Ursa Major) is well placed for viewing this month since it is almost directly overhead. Follow the curve of its handle to Arcturus (Bootes) and continue on the curve to Spica (Virgo). Regulus (Leo) is on the ecliptic (the path traced by the planets and Moon), just W. of overhead. Further W., on the ecliptic, find the Gemini Twins, Castor and Pollux, and finally the Pleiades asterism of Taurus.

MERCURY is hidden behind the SUN as the month begins. However, by the third week of the month, it should be shining low in the WNW about a half hour after sunset. VENUS remains hidden in the Sun's glare throughout the month and will not be visible. MARS is visible high in the W sky at dusk. It sets at about midnight. JUPITER is highest in the SE sky at dawn. SATURN appears high in the SE at dusk and is visible all night. Its rings continue to open all month. The Lyrid Meteor Shower peaks on the 22nd. but. unfortunately, the nearly full MOON makes observation difficult.

Calendar of Events

NOTE: For those observers not in the ET zone, convert the calendar times to your zone's time by subtracting one hour for CT, two for MT and three for PT. Don't forget to adjust for Daylight Savings Time when necessary by subtracting one hour from your planisphere's time.; Dawn and dusk times must also be corrected. See your local newspaper, TV news, or cable TV's Weather Channel for sunrise and sunset times. Unfortunately some of these events may occur during daylight hours in your area.

DATE	EVENT
04	Look for a conjunction (5 degrees) of the Moon and Venus at 9 pm.
08	Look W at dusk to see the crescent Moon occult some of the Pleiades' (M45) stars. The Lyonid Meteor Shower peaks. Unfortunately, this year's waning gibbous Moon, just two days past the full Moon, may be too bright to see many of these meteors.
12	Look for a close conjunction (less that 2 degrees) of the Moon and Mars at 2 am.
22	The Lyrid Meteor Shower peaks. Unfortunately, this year's waning gibbous Moon, just two days past the full Moon, may be too bright to see many of these meteors.
27	Look S to see a conjunction (3 degrees) of the Moon and Jupiter at 1 am.
30	Look high in the W, shortly after dark, to see a "conjunction" of Mars and the bright star Pollux, one of Gemini's "twins".

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Lunar Almanac for April 2008

Phases of the Moon	Phase and Date(s)	Best viewed before local midnight
	New 05	Deep Space Objects
	1st. Qtr 12	Planets & Moon
	Full 20	Moon
	Last Qtr 28	Deep Space & Planets

Topic of the month: Binocular Object: Beehive Cluster

Topic of the month: Binocular object: The Hyades (Open Star Cluster in Taurus) The Beehive Cluster is considered to be one of the best best binocular sights of the night sky. Although situated in a lonely place in the sky, it is relatively easily seen by the naked eye, even under the handicap of typical city light pollution. It is found on the ecliptic, the path of the Moon and the planets, in the Constellation Cancer. However, it may require a good planesphere or star chart to find it! The Beehive Cluster is an example of an "open cluster". Open clusters usually have no definate shape as compared to globular clusters. M44 can be located by finding the Gemini's twin stars and Procyon, the brightest star in Canis Minor. You may recognize Procyon as being the left most star of the "winter triangle". M44 "forms" a triangle with Procyon (below, right) and Pollux, the lower of the Gemini "twins" (above, right). --See you next month! Ron, the star geezer

The star chart above was generated by Stellarium, a free open source planetarium program. This image was created by Dawn Jenkins, using Stellarium and a graphic editing program to highlight M44 and to format the image for this web page. The Mars position represents the position of Mars as April begins. Stellarium offers much to amatuer astronomers and is being used in planetariums. Simple charts like the one above can be used on the internet for non-profit, illustration purposes. Proper credit is due of course! Thank you to the makers of this fine program from Astra's Star Gate.
* Also see Ron's What's Up? Bonus Issue December 2007 for more binocular information.

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