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Home , Gamma Virginis, Spica

visible all night: Saturn reaches on April 3 and ©ABRAMS PLANETARIUM Use this scale to measure for several days it is up all night, angular distances between Planetarium business office: objects on diagrams below. shining at mag. +0.4 in . (517) 355-4676 SKY CALENDAR APRIL 2011 In April, Saturn is 11°-13° NW of Notes on World Wide Web: and 3.8° to 1.6° ESE of 0° 10° 20° http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/nightskynotes/ An aid to enjoying the changing sky 3rd-mag. . Watch Saturn retrograde (go west against star background) until it is 1/4 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY degree from Gamma Vir in early June. (This author followed a Fri & Sat Sunday Apr 3, 1-1/2 hrs after sunset One hour One hour Thurs Friday April 1, similar, but much closer pairing of Apr 1 & 2, Saturn at opposition in Virgo, Pleiades after sunset after sunset Bull’s Apr 7 45 min before sunrise Saturn with Gamma Virginis two morning 11.2° NW of Spica, horns - Saturn- [59 -years] ago, twilight: 4.6° NW of Theta, Gamma Jupiter in Betelgeuse Saturn in the spring of 1952. That and a See end of Wed 6 Fri 8 Venus and 3.6° ESE of Gamma. 150° gathering of Saturn, Mars, and this row. N’most Moon apart Spica in Virgo that spring and with Orion’s E ESE other sky events planted the seeds Sunday Apr 6. belt in a.m. Saturn for an eventual career choice to April 3: sky. When share the beauty of the sky.) Seen Saturday April 2, at dusk in April 2011, Saturn Aldebaran Thurs 7 will you Theta Tues Apr 5 ARIES 30 min before sunrise begins low, S of E, and climbs to last see New Moon Hawaii may spot some 35° up in SE by month’s end. both Venus 10:32 a.m. Rigel Hyades Pleiades At dawn it begins April low in WSW, simul- Mars rising 6° LR and sets in midtwilight by month’s EDT, 30 hrs Spica of Moon end. Rings: See April 23. after most Young Moon tane- Old Moon E (binocs). at dawn: Venus rises distant Moon E ESE W Mon Apr 4 WNW Wed 6 ously? ESE from 1.3 hours to one hour before of . sunup (from lat. 40° N). At dawn midtwilight it’ll be easy to spot the 1-1/2 hours Tues April 12, Wed 13 1-1/2 hours Gamma Sat Apr 16, –3.9-mag. planet, very low in ESE Pollux Castor 45 minutes after sunset Vir shifting to E as month progresses. after sunset Spica Saturn one hour before SICKLE Saturn remains above W horizon Mon 11 GREAT at after sunset sunrise opposition, after Venus rises, but by an interval past First Qtr Moon occults SQUARE shrinking to only 12 min. by April 30. Capella visible LEO Moon Zeta Gem from OF (Mutual opposition of Venus-Saturn all passes some locations occurs on May 1.) Mercury emerges PEGASUS night. widely (8°) in twilight to LL of Venus in April’s Sunday Procyon Saturn- Spica S of final week, brightening enough for Apr 10 Kids Spica Saturn. binoculars and even naked eye, approaching 12.0° Wed 13 especially from south of lat. 40° N. First Qtr Sat Apr 9 See April 24-30. Mars (mag. +1.2) Venus apart on and Jupiter (mag. –2.1) can by April Lion’s tail Mercury in ENE E ESE SE spotted nearby, at first only from Bull’s 14 & 15. southern and SW states and inferior conj Apr 9. horns Thurs 14 Hawaii. Diagrams for April 25-30 Fri 22 Gamma Vir Beta are plotted for lat. 34° N, where Sat 23 S’most Moon Moon, week of April 17-23, Sunday Four Sat these planets rise earlier in twilight, Saturn Alpha Thurs 21 1-1/2 hours before sunrise Apr 17, hours LIBRA Apr 23 in a darker sky, compared to the one hour after Saturn’s usual choice for our diagrams, night of Wed 20 Alpha Lib after sunset lat. 40° N. Viewing conditions are sunset Mon 18 rings better from locations still farther now 8° south of 34° N, and poorer from Saturn from TEAPOT tail S’most farther north. For all locations, Tues 19 Gamma night of edgewise Spica Vir Spica Moon binoculars are recommended for Lyrid meteors SCORPIUS Tues 19 and fully enjoying what can be seen, night near peak, CORVUS closing and remain outdoors after your Mon 18 of night of Apr 22-23. Sunday 17 Full Moon until planet-viewing to enjoy the just past Full Wed near perigee Antares early spring dawn chorus of birds! 20 In May, the four planets Mercury- SSE S SSW SW WSW SE SE June. Venus-Mars-Jupiter will form several close pairs, two trios (three planets within 5°), and a quartet 6° across, all low in Sunday April 24 1-1/2 hours Alpha Cap Monday 25, Tuesday 26, Wednesday 27, Thursday 28, Friday 29, 35 min Sat Apr 30, 35 min eastern morning twilight. Venus crosses celestial before sunrise Beta 40 minutes 40 minutes 40 minutes 40 minutes before sunrise before sunrise Moon and planets: The Moon, and begins to rise before sunrise before sunrise before sunrise before sunrise Venus ~ 14° from Moon. Venus 6° below Moon. one day past Full, appears S of N of E, a little farther Me within 8° Me-Ve = 7°. Me-Ve = Me-Ve = 5°. Mercury, now Mercury 3.7° from Ve. Saturn on night of April 16. A each morning. Mercury Mon 25 LL of Venus. Mars rising Ma-Me = 6°. Ma-Me = 6.5°. mag +1, is 4.4° Using binocs, try waning crescent Moon appears Tue 26 just past brightens from mag +1.6 Note: Morning 5.6° LL of Me. From FL, south TX FL, south TX, from Ve. apogee for Ju 7.5° N of Venus at dawn on April 30. Last Qtr Organizations hosting events to +0.9 this week, scenes rest of & HI, look for Ju HI, watch for Binocs show Moon LL of Me, for Astronomy Day May 7 or week are for 2° LL of Ma. Jupiter 1.5° LL and Ma Moon closing from 9° to within Delta Ma 7° LL of Me Astronomy Week May 2-8 or 4° LL of Venus. Diagrams Cap, tail of lat 34° N. of Ma. and 1° UR of Ju. 0.5° other events in April/May are showing Venus with other Venus Ve Ve above Ju. encouraged to reprint our May Sea-goat planets this week and Venus Ve Sky Calendar and evening sky Mercury Ma Ve Me all of May are drawn SE E Ma E Me E Me E E Me E map for free distribution. Me Ma Ma for lat 34° N. Ma Ju Ju

Robert C. Victor, Patti Toivonen $11.00 per year, starting anytime, from Sky Calendar, Abrams Planetarium, ISSN 0733-6314 Subscription: Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 This chart is drawn for latitude 40° north, but April Evening Skies should be useful to stargazers throughout the continental United States. It represents the sky at © 2011 Abrams Planetarium the following local daylight times: Subscription: $11.00 per year, from Sky Calendar, Abrams Planetarium, Michigan State University, Late March 11 p.m. East Lansing, MI 48824-1324. Early April 10 p.m. Late April 9 p.m.

This map is applicable one hour either side of the

above times. NORTH

Vega

CASSIOPEIA

LITTLE DIPPER LITTLE

Polaris

DIPPER

Dbl

Pleiades

Capella Kids

The - BIG

BOOTES

Hyades

AURIGA TAURUS EAST Arcturus

Castor Aldebaran

OCl Overhead WEST +

Pollux

GEMINI The + LEO OCl VIRGO Sickle ORION Betelgeuse VIRGO Regulus + Nb ✷ Procyon Rigel Saturn

Spica CANIS MINOR

Sirius

CORVUS CANIS MAJOR

SOUTH

The planet Saturn is plotted for mid-April 2011. At chart time 12 objects of first , a cloud of gas and dust out of which stars are forming, is marked (Nb) or brighter are visible. In order of brightness they are: Sirius, in that constellation. The open or galactic star cluster (OCl) known as the Arcturus, Vega, Capella, Rigel, Procyon, Saturn, Betelgeuse, Aldebaran, “Beehive” can be located between the Gemini twins and Leo. Coma Be- Spica, Pollux, and Regulus. In addition to stars, other objects that should be renices, “The Hair of Berenice,” is another (OCl), between Leo visible to the unaided eye are labeled on the map. The double star (Dbl) at and Bootes. Try to observe these objects with unaided eye and binoculars. the bend of the handle of the is easily detected. The famous Orion —D. David Batch