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E a HERCULES W LYRA N S E I K is S NE U Y th M e M5 Y A b β SE B P r M57 N A ig I R h G O t E U es B N t . D “ CE je A IT w SERPENS RA s. F S el lu U C ” (CAPUT) LIB u O EN in eg Y T C R AT ER or to H ( on a T JU a ic ON ST Bo Sp TI A re α m EC S ali fro IR YO s, e D U The lin HE AR N ary S T E D orth gin A OI ern ima ME NG Cro an SA w E Charts & Astro• Star Posters • Astronomy & Software DVDs NOW n. EAST wing TH ) S follo IS O T iptic by MAP HE C Trace the ecl THE OMPA M OF SS DIRE BOTTO CTION THAT APPEARS ALONG THE at 20h UT at 7h UT (not at 7h UT (not , March 29 to April 4. Switch off unnecessary unnecessary 29 to April 4. Switch off , March at 18h UT (morning sky). Occultation sky). Occultation at 18h UT (morning at 1h UT (evening sky). at 1h UT (evening SAVE ON RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS • http://Skymaps.com/store SAVE • Star Atlases & Planispheres Atlases • Star • Books for Sky Watchers Sky Map. Evening The of distribution free and production All sales support the at 21h UT (evening sky). Mags. +1.2 & +1.2. sky). Mags. at 21h UT (evening peaks at 5h UT. Active between Active peaks at 5h UT. at 6h UT (evening sky). Mag. +1.0. sky). Mag. at 6h UT (evening at 6h UT (morning sky). Mag. –2.3. sky). Mag. at 6h UT (morning at 13h UT (evening sky). at 13h UT (evening at 18:32 UT. at 14:12 UT. at 17h UT (evening sky). Mag. sky). Mag. at 17h UT (evening at 18h UT (evening sky). at 18h UT (evening at 21h UT (17° from Sun, morning sky). Sun, morning at 21h UT (17° from ngdom, and Northern Africa. Northern and ngdom, at 21h UT (evening sky). at 21h UT (evening (closest to Earth) at 19h UT (361,080 km; (farthest from Earth) at 10h UT (distance Earth) at 10h UT (distance from (farthest at 3:55 UT. Start of lunation 1055. lunation Start of at 3:55 UT. at 10:25 UT. Called the “Grass Moon” or Moon” “Grass Called the at 10:25 UT. Last Quarter Moon Moon very near Mars Moon very Moon near Saturn near Antares Moon very Mars 4.8° from Pollux 4.8° from Mars Moon near Jupiter New Moon New Moon near the Pleiades Moon near Venus Occultation visible from Quebec, New Brunswick, Brunswick, New Quebec, visible from Occultation Iceland. and Greenland, Moon near Pollux First Quarter Moon First cluster (M44) near Beehive Moon very visible from occultations sky). Multiple (evening Ki United Europe, Moon near Regulus +0.5. at superior conjunction Mercury sky. evening the into visible). Passes Moon near Spica Full Moon “Egg Moon”. meteor shower Lyrid and is located between Hercules April 16-25. Radiant per meteors fast Expect between 10 to 20 bright, Lyra. this conditions viewing unfavorable at its peak. Very hour to moonlight. year due Moon at apogee size 29.6'). 405,943 km; angular visible from Southern Australia, and New Zealand. New and Australia, Southern visible from Moon at perigee 33.1'). outdoor lights. For more info visit http://www.ndsw.org. info For more lights. outdoor National Dark Sky Week FREE* EACH MONTH FOR YOU TO EXPLORE, LEARN & ENJOY THE NIGHT SKY The Evening Sky Map 28 = UT – 4 hours.) Time Eastern Summer (UT). (USA Time in Universal All times 12 12 12 13 15 15 15 19 20 22 23 23 26 27 6 7 9 4 Sky Calendar – April 2008 • About theCelestialObjects the optical equipment thatmay beavailable tothe stargazer. binoculars. appear more impressive whenviewed through atelescopeorvery large telescope tobeappreciated. is, without optical aid), those easilyseenwithbinoculars, and those requiring a grouped into three categories. Those thatcanbeeasilyseenwiththe naked eye(that visible inthe evening skythismonth (refer tothe monthly skymap). The objectsare Listed onthispage are several of the brighter, more interesting celestial objects Open StarCluster Magnitude Light Year (ly) Globular StarCluster Galaxy Sun asviewed from Earth. the greatest elongation occurswhen they are attheir most angular distance from the Elongation Ecliptic Earth (optical double). Apparent separation of starsisgiveninseconds of arc ("). gravity sothatthey orbiteachother (binary star)orlying atdifferent distances from Double Star Diffuse Nebula Constellation angular separation as viewed from Earth. Conjunction Astronomical Glossary moonless nights around either New Moon orLastQuarter. the fainter objectsvery difficulttosee. Sotry toobservethe evening skyon through atelescope, itslight issobright thatitbrightens Finally, the skyand makes many eventhough the of Moon isone of the most stunning objectstoview map, cover the light bulbwithred cellophane. Thiswillpreserve yourdark vision. 20 minutes afteryougo outside. Also,ifyouneed touseatorch toview the You sky willseemore starsafteryoureyesadapt tothe darkness—usually about10to away from the light pollution thatsurrounds many of today’s large cities. light from street lights and other sources. Ifpossibleobservefrom adark location nebulae, and galaxies, it’salwaysbesttoobservefrom adark location. Avoid direct When observing the night sky, and inparticular deep-sky objectssuch asstarclusters, Tips forObservingtheNightSky Variable Star Mean Time. USA EasternStandard Time (for example, New York) is5 hours behind UT. Universal Time(UT) Planetary Nebula Opposition – Amass of uptoseveral billion starsheld together bygravity. – The pathof the Sun’scenter onthe celestial sphere asseenfrom Earth. –The brightness of acelestial objectasitappearsinthe sky. –The angular separation of twocelestial bodies. ForMercury and Venus –When acelestial body isoppositethe Sun inthe sky. They are grouped inthis waytohighlight objectsthatcanbeseenusing –Two starsthatappearclosetoeachother inthe sky;either linked by –Analignment of twocelestial bodies such thatthey present the least –Astar thatchanges brightness overaperiod of time. –Adefined area of the skycontaining astarpattern. –The distance abeamof light travels at300,000km/secinone year. –Acloud of gasilluminated bynearby stars. –The remnants of a shell of gasblown off byastar. –Agroup of tens orhu –Atime systemusedby astronomers. Alsoknown asGreenwich –Aball-shapedgroup of several thousand oldstars. Note, allof theobjects(except singlestars) will ndreds of relatively young stars.
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE CELESTIAL OBJECTS APRIL 2008 Telescopic Objects Easily SeenwithBinoculars Aur Capella 3CVn Com Cnc Aur Aur Mel 111 Aur M3 M44 M37 M36 Vir M38 UMi Per Tau Spica Polaris Lyr Aldebaran Ori Algol Leo Gem Betelgeuse Gem Vega Regulus CMi CMa Pollux Castor Boo Procyon Sirius Arcturus 14Vir Vel UMa UMa γ Tau M104 3132 Mon M82 M81 Hya M1 2264 Hya Com β γ CVn M83 CVn 3242 Cnc M64 η M51 M94 M67 Ser ε Pup Pup UMa Mizar &Alcor M5 Ori Mon M46 M47 Mon Per Double Cluster Mon Cr 69 Lyr M50 Hya 2244 Hya Her 2232 Her R Lyrae Gem Hydrae R M48 Cyg M92 M13 M35 ν M39 Easily SeenwiththeNakedEye Vrii Vir Virginis Leo Leonis Böi Boo Boötis Daoi Dra Draconis MncrtsMon Monocerotis CsipieCas Cassiopeiae Easy tofind inbinoculars. Might beglimpsedwiththe naked eye. Praesepe orBeehiveCluster. Visible tothe naked eye. Dist=590±20ly. Very fine starcluster. Discovered byMessier in1764.Dist=4,400ly. About halfsizeof M38.Locatedinrich MilkyWay starfield. Dist=4,100ly. Stars appeararranged in"pi"orcross shape. Dist=4,300 ly. Latin name means "earof wheat" and shown held inVirgo's lefthand. Dist=250ly. The North Pole Star. Atelescopereveals anunrelated mag 8companion star. Dist=433ly. Brightest starinTaurus. It isnot associated withthe Hyades starcluster. Dist=66.7ly. Famous eclipsing binary star. Magnitude varies between2.1&3.4over2.867days. One of the largest red supergiant starsknown. Diameter=300 times thatof Sun.Dist=430ly. The 5thbrightest starinthe sky. Ablue-whitestar. Dist=25.0ly. Brightest starinLeo.Ablue-whitewithatleast1companion. Dist=77ly. With Castor, the twinsons of Leda inclassical mythology. Dist=34ly. Multiple starsystemwith6components. 3starsvisibleintelescope. Dist=52ly. Greek name meaning "before the dog" -risesbefore Sirius(northern latitudes). Dist=11.4ly. The brightest starinthe sky. Alsoknown asthe "DogStar".Dist=8.6ly. Orange, giant Kstar. Name means "bearwatcher". Dist=36.7ly. The 6thbrightest star. Appearsyellowishincolor. Spectroscopic binary. Dist=42 ly. Superb pair of mag 3.5yellow-whitestars. Orbit=169 years. At their closest in2005. Sombrero Galaxy. Almost edge-on spiral galaxy. Protruding central core. One of the brightest planetaries. Magnitude 10central star. Dist=2,600 ly. Close toM81butmuch fainter and smaller. Beautiful spiral galaxyvisiblewithbinoculars. Easytoseeinatelescope. Crab Nebula. Remnant from supernova which wasvisiblein 1054.Dist=6,500ly. Christmas Tree Cluster. Associated withthe Cone Nebula. Dist=2,450ly. Triple star. Mags 4.6,5.0&5.4.Requires telescope toview arc-shape. Sep=7.3". Superb pairof golden-yellow giant stars. Mags 2.2&3.5. Orbit=600 years. Sep=4.4". Classic face-on spiral. Discovered in 1752byLacaille. Inattractive star field. Ghost of Jupiter. Bright bluedisk.Mag 11central star. Dist=2,600ly. Black-Eye Galaxy. Discovered byJ.E.Bode in1775-"asmall, nebulous star". Yellow starmag 3.4&orange starmag 7.5.Dist=19ly. Orbit=480years. Sep=12". Whirlpool Galaxy. Firstrecognised tohavespiral structure. Dist=25million ly. Compact nearly face-on spiral galaxy. Dist=15million ly. Contains 500+starsmag 10&fainter. One of the oldest clusters. Dist=2,350ly. Red giant star(mag 2.5) withablue-green mag 4.9companion. Sep=2.8".Difficult tosplit. Good eyesight orbinoculars reveals 2stars. Not abinary. Mizarhasamag 4companion. Fine globularstarcluster. Telescope willreveal indiv Dist=5,400 ly. Contains planetary NGC2438(Mag 11, d=65") -not associated. Bright starcluster. 15+starsin7xbinoculars. Dist=1,500 ly. Double ClusterinPerseus. NGC869&884.Excellent inbinoculars. Dist=7,300ly. Lambda Orionis Cluster. Dist=1,630ly. Visible withbinoculars. Telescope reveals indiv Surrounded bythe rather faint Rosette Nebula. Dist=5,540ly. A large scattered starclusterof 20stars. Dist=1,300ly. Semi-regular variable. Magnitude varies between 3.9&5.0over46.0days. Long period variable. Mag varies between3.0&11.0over390days. Brilliant red. 12+ starsin7xbinoculars. Triangular asterismnear centre. Dist=1,990 ly. Fainter and smaller thanM13.Use atelescopetoresolve itsstars. Best globularinnorthern skies. Discovered byHalley in1714.Dist=23,000ly. Fine openclusterlocatednear foot of the twinCastor. Dist=2,800ly. Wide pairof whitestars. One of the finest binocular pairsinthe sky. Dist=100ly. May bevisibletothe naked eyeunder good conditions. Dist=900ly. Coma Berenices. 80mag 5-6starsin5deg. Dist=283ly. Age=400 million years. Copyright © 2000–2008Kym Thalassoudis. AllRights Reserved. idual stars. Dist=3,000ly. idual stars. Dist=25,000 ly.