Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Thursday April 29 to Thursday May 6
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday, May 4.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset). click to embiggen.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset), click to embiggen.
The eta Aquarids are debris from Halleys comet. the best time to see the eta Aquariid meteor shower between around 4 and 5 am, when Aquarius is fairly high above the horizon and the crescent Moon is low. You may see between a meteor every 3-4 minutes at this time. The radiant of the shower is about five hand-spans up from the eastern horizon, and three hand-spans to the left of due east at 4 am (see diagram above).
Venus is lost in the twilight but is also visible in the evening twilight late next week..
Mars is readily visible in the evening sky above the north-western horizon in the early evening. Mars is beyond the stars that form the tips of the horns of Taurus the Bull heading towards Gemini. On the 29th to the 6th Mars is is within binocular distance of the open cluster M35. You will need binoculars to see this as although M35 is technically unaided eye visible, the moonlight and low altitude makes the cluster too hard to see. On the 1st Mars forms a triangle with the brightish stars mu and eta geminorum, A little juggling gets all 4 objects in one binocular field.
Jupiter is climbing higher in the morning sky forming a line with Saturn. On the 3rd the waning Moon forms a line with Saturn and Jupiter.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/
Labels: weekly sky
Monday, April 26, 2021
The Perigee Moon ("Super Moon") of Tuesday April 27, What Can You See?
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| Looking north-east after Full Moon on Tuesday, 27 April at 23:00 ACST (strictly Full Moon is at 1:30 ACST and Perigee at 1:00 am ACST on the 28th). | Full Moon April 27 14:00 AEST (shown at 18:00 AEST), perigee April 28 2:00 AEST (+ 11h from full) | Full Moon December 19 15:00 Moon at apogee 18th -26h |
A Full Moon is a perigee Moon when the Full Moon is closest to the Earth. This tuesdays Perigee Full Moon (April 26) is not as good as the May 26 perigee Moon/lunar eclipse but is still very good. Don't look just at Moon rise as the horizon illusion will make the Moon look bigger than it is (even though it will look spectacular), wait until it is a decent way above the horizon.
You won't see much of a difference if you compare it with your memory of last months full Moon (March 10, which was also a perigee Moon, but a poor one). You will need to either remember the the October 31/November 1 apogee Moon from last year or wait for the apogee Moon of December 19 (see above images) for the best size contrast. Perigee is at 1 am on the 28th, so you need to stay up late to see the Moon at its best (and for the best astrophotography).
A full Moon at perigee has been called a "Super Moon", this is not an astronomical term (the astronomical term is perigee syzygy, but that doesn't trip off the tongue so nicely), but an astrological one first coined in 1979 (see here).
Still, it is a good excuse to get people out and looking at the Moon. A guide to photographing the Perigee Full Moon is here.
Labels: astrophotography, Moon, perigee, public outreach
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Thursday April 22 to Thursday April 29
The Full Moon is Tuesday, April 27, this is a perigee (super) Moon. Perigee is on April 28, 11 hours after official Full Moon, but this still counts.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset). click to embiggen.
A full Moon at perigee has been called a "Super Moon", this is not an astronomical term (the astronomical term is perigee syzygy, but that doesn't trip off the tongue so nicely), but an astrological one first coined in 1979 (see here).
Still, it is a good excuse to get people out and looking at the Moon.
Venus is lost in the twilight.
Mars is readily visible in the evening sky above the north-western horizon in the early evening. Mars is beyond the stars that form the tips of the horns of Taurus the Bull heading towards Gemini. On the 27th Mars is is within binocular distance of the open cluster M35. You will need binoculars to see this as although M35 is technically unaided eye visible, the moonlight and low altitude makes the cluster too hard to see.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/
Labels: weekly sky
Monday, April 12, 2021
Thursday April 15 to Thursday April 22
The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday, April 20.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset). click to embiggen.
The south-eastern horizon, around 11:00 pm local time in Australia. Can you see the Emu? Click to embiggen.If you are out camping this school holidays, now that the Moon is just waxing and the evening sky is dark it is a great time to find the constellation of the Emu. Now you are saying: ‘Emu – but there is no Emu!’ However, the Emu is one of the indigenous Australian constellations. And interestingly, it is a "dark" constellation, one that is made up entirely of dark dust lanes!
"Dark" constellations are unique to the Southern hemisphere. In South America they had the constellations of the Tinamou (and Emu relative) and two llamas making up the constellation the Indigenous Australians called the Emu*.
See the Emu now?The Emu consists of the Coal Sack, the dark dust cloud that nestles in the crook of the Southern Cross (the head of the Emu), and a dark dust lane that stars near the Pointers (alpha and beta Centauri) and runs down to the curl of stars that forms the body of Scorpio. This is the neck and wings of the Emu. A second dark dust lane forms the lower body and legs.
Being made of dark dust lanes, it is almost impossible to see in any city. However, here in the suburbs, if I let my eyes adapt for several minutes I can make it out. And of course in the country it is almost immediately obvious. Once you spot it, you will wonder why you never saw the Emu before. The best time too look currently is about 11 pm when the Emu is nearly vertical and easier to recognise. You can look earlier from 9-10 pm, but the legs are cut off and it might be harder to recognise.
*There is more than one Emu, another Indigenous group identifies Orion as an Emu.
Venus is lost in the twilight.
Mars is readily visible in the evening sky above the north-western horizon in the early evening. Mars is just beyond the stars that form the tips of the horns of Taurus the Bull. On the 17th Mars is just two finger-widths (about 2 degrees) from the crescent Moon. This means Mars is within binocular and wide field eyepiece distance of the crescent Moon.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/
Labels: weekly sky
Thursday, April 08, 2021
Southern Skywatch April 2021 edition is now out!
In April most of the planetary action is in the morning.
6 April; Saturn close to the crescent Moon in the morning. 7 April; Saturn, Jupiter and the crescent Moon form a triangle in the morning. 8 April; Jupiter above the crescent Moon in the morning. April 11; crescent Moon above Mercury low in the twilight. April 13; Mars is almost directly between Elnath and Zeta Tauri, which forms the tip of the other horns of Tarus the Bull. April 15; Moon at Apogee. April 17; Mars and crescent Moon close. April 27th; Mars passes through the outskirts of the open cluster M35. April 28; Moon at perigee (perigee Full Moon, "super" Moon).
Mercury is low in the morning sky this month and lost in twilight mid month. On the 11th the thin crescent Moon is just above Mercury low in the twilight, a mere 3 finger-widths above the horizon, 30 minutes before sunrise. You will need a level unobscured horizon and possibly binoculars to see this.
Venus
is too close to the sun to see. It will return to the evening sky in May.
Mars is close to the crescent Moon on the 17th. On the 13th Mars is almost directly between Elnath and Zeta Tauri, which form the tips of the horns of Taurus the Bull. Mars passes through the outskirts of the open cluster M35 on the 27th. You will need binoculars to see the encounter at its best.
Jupiter is rising higher in the morning sky, in a line with Saturn and Mercury early in the month. On the 7th the crescent Moon is between Saturn and Jupiter, then on the 8th the thin crescent Moon is below Jupiter, with Saturn above.
Saturn climbs higher in the morning sky. On the 6th the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter from a line, then on the 7th the crescent Moon is between Saturn and Jupiter finally on the 8th the thin crescent Moon is below Jupiter forming a line with Jupiter and Saturn.
Apogee April 15; Moon at perigee April 28 (1 am 11 hours after Full so a super moon, May will be better).
Labels: southern skywatch
Monday, April 05, 2021
ThursdayApril 8 to Thursday April 15
The New Moon is Monday, April 12.The moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on the 15th.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset). click to embiggen.
Venus is lost in the twilight.
Mars is readily visible in the evening sky above the north-western horizon in the early evening. Mars is near the Hyades is traveling down the horn of Taurus the Bull.On the 13th Mars is between that stars that form the tips of the horns of Taurus the Bull.
Jupiter is climbing higher in the morning twilight forming a line with Saturn and Mercury. On the 8th the thin crescent Moon is below Jupiter.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/
Labels: weekly sky
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