Photo credit: www.astronomy.com
Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron.
Friday, April 11
Just after sunset, the brilliant planet Jupiter will be prominently displayed in the eastern constellation of Taurus. It will create a distinctive V shape with the tips of the Bull’s horns, Zeta (ζ) Tauri and Gamma (γ) Aurigae. Beneath Jupiter, the star Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus and a glowing red giant with a magnitude of 0.9, will shine. To the far lower right of Jupiter, the Pleiades star cluster (M45) will be visible, offering a beautiful sight to both the naked eye and through binoculars or a telescope.
As the evening progresses, stargazers can utilize a telescope to view the Great Red Spot on Jupiter’s surface, which will be crossing the disk at around 8:45 P.M. EDT. The Red Spot can be observed for a couple of hours before and after this peak time as it moves due to Jupiter’s rotation.
During this time, Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, will transit in front of the gas giant, accompanied by its shadow. This event will commence around sunset in the Midwest, with Io covering the planet around 8:30 P.M. EDT and its shadow appearing shortly after 9:40 P.M. EDT. The transit will last about two hours, concluding at 10:46 P.M. EDT.
Additionally, Europa and Callisto, two other Galilean moons of Jupiter, will be sighted to the east of the planet, whereas Ganymede will be found to the west until Io’s transit moves it to that side.
Sunrise: 6:27 A.M.
Sunset: 7:35 P.M.
Moonrise: 6:36 P.M.
Moonset: 5:48 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous (98%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is provided at 12 P.M. local time from the same location.
Saturday, April 12
The Full Moon for April will occur at 8:22 P.M. EDT, just after it rises in the east at sunset. Commonly known as the Pink Moon, this particular lunar event may also be labeled a “Micro Moon,” as the Moon is approaching apogee, the point in its orbit where it is farthest from Earth. Consequently, it will appear marginally smaller than average in the sky, measuring around 29.5’ across compared to its typical dimension of about 31’.
Later, the Moon will pass 0.3° south of Spica, Virgo’s brightest star, at 10 P.M. EDT. Both will rise together, with Spica slightly above the Moon. Spica, shining at magnitude 1, is often occluded by the Moon, although that will not be the case tonight. Observers will appreciate the blue-white color of Spica through binoculars or a telescope. Spica itself is part of a binary star system, where its two predominant stars are just 0.12 astronomical units apart, making them indistinguishable from one another through a telescope.
Sunrise: 6:26 A.M.
Sunset: 7:35 P.M.
Moonrise: 7:37 P.M.
Moonset: 6:07 A.M.
Moon Phase: Full
Sunday, April 13
Today, the Moon will reach its apogee, standing at 6:48 P.M. EDT at a distance of 252,460 miles (406,295 km) from Earth. When it rises later, it will still appear Full, now 99 percent illuminated, positioned in southeastern Virgo, just below Spica.
As night falls, the winter constellations including Orion, Canis Major, and Canis Minor will be descending in the west. Canis Major is easily identifiable by its brightest star, Sirius, which shines with a magnitude of -1.4 and is often depicted as the nose of the Big Dog.
Near the tail of Canis Major, you can find the star 145 Canis Majoris, referred to as the Winter Albireo for its contrasting color components—blue and orange—similar to those of Albireo in Cygnus. To spot 145 CMa, observers should look westward just after sunset around 9 P.M., where it will be about 20° above the horizon, roughly 10° left of Sirius. The two stars of 145 CMa can be easily separated using a small telescope.
Sunrise: 6:24 A.M.
Sunset: 7:37 P.M.
Moonrise: 8:37 P.M.
Moonset: 6:28 A.M.
Moon Phase: Full
Monday, April 14
About 90 minutes ahead of sunrise, the Square of Pegasus will be seen rising in the eastern sky. This asterism, known for its four prominent stars—Scheat, Markab, Algenib, and Alpheratz—will be easy to spot.
Just above and to the left of the Great Square lies Lacerta, the Lizard, which is nestled between Andromeda and Cygnus. Though Lacerta lacks bright stars or notable Messier objects, it contains the open cluster NGC 7243, a faint grouping of stars approximately 2.7° southwest of Beta (β) Lacertae.
Measuring around 20’ across, NGC 7243 is situated roughly 2,800 light-years from Earth, with its stars estimated to be about 100 million years old.
Sunrise: 6:23 A.M.
Sunset: 7:38 P.M.
Moonrise: 9:40 P.M.
Moonset: 6:51 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (97%)
Tuesday, April 15
The distant ice giant Uranus will still be visible, though its view will soon diminish with twilight by the month’s end. Presently, it sets about 2.5 hours after the Sun. Uranus will be located 0.9° north of a magnitude 6.8 field star in Taurus, making it relatively easy to locate.
Shining at magnitude 5.8, Uranus is best viewed with binoculars or a telescope. To locate it, first find the Pleiades cluster as it sets in the western sky after sunset. Center the Pleiades in your view, then shift roughly 4.5° south to find 13 and 14 Tauri, a pair of 6th-magnitude stars aligned east-west. Then, continue another 3° southwest to locate Uranus, which will appear brighter than those stars, under a degree due north of the westernmost star of that duo.
Sunrise: 6:21 A.M.
Sunset: 7:39 P.M.
Moonrise: 10:43 P.M.
Moonset: 7:19 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (94%)
Wednesday, April 16
Mercury will pass 0.7° south of Neptune around 3 P.M. EDT; both planets will briefly be visible in the early morning sky. Observers should try to spot them just prior to sunrise.
At around half an hour before sunrise, Mercury and Neptune will rise just 4° above the eastern horizon. Mercury, shining at magnitude 0.6, will be positioned to the lower left of the much-brighter Venus, which shines at magnitude -4.7 and will be 11° above the horizon. If viewed through a telescope, Mercury will reveal a crescent phase, with its disk measuring about 9” wide.
Neptune, being faint at magnitude 7.8, will be slightly north of Mercury and may blend into the brightening sky. Additionally, Saturn will be located 3.8° west of Mercury and might also be visible through a telescope, showcasing its magnificent rings. Observers will need to ensure to set aside their optics a few minutes before local sunrise.
This evening at 6 P.M. EDT, Mars will reach aphelion, the point in its orbit where it is farthest from the Sun, at a distance of 154.9 million miles (249.3 million km). An hour after sunset, Mars can be located in western Cancer, glowing at a magnitude of 0.7, positioned just above the Gemini stars Castor and Pollux. The planet’s disk will appear small, at 7” across.
As Mars continues its path, it will move closer to Cancer’s central region, home to the striking Beehive Cluster, which it will approach later this month.
Sunrise: 6:20 A.M.
Sunset: 7:40 P.M.
Moonrise: 11:45 P.M.
Moonset: 7:52 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (88%)
Thursday, April 17
Around 3 A.M. local daylight time, the star Antares, prominent in Scorpius, will appear approximately 20° high in the southern sky. The waning gibbous Moon, now just over 80% illuminated, will be located to its lower left.
After passing practically on the same vertical plane as Antares yesterday, the Moon is now situated about 5° southeast of the star. Both Antares and the Moon inhabit a richly populated section of the Milky Way, near the galactic plane and close to the center of our galaxy in Sagittarius, near the Teapot asterism.
Antares, which means “rival of Mars,” radiates a deep red hue reminiscent of Mars itself. This color results from the star’s temperature of around 3,600 K, which is significantly lower than our Sun’s surface temperature of roughly 5,800 K. However, Antares is about 10,000 times brighter than the Sun, attributed to its mass exceeding tenfold that of our star.
Antares is part of a binary system and features a fainter companion star that is 5.5 in magnitude and situated about 3” away. The contrast between the red of Antares and the blue-white of its companion can give the illusion of a greenish hue to casual observers, although the companion is simply a hotter star. To see this binary pair, you will require good seeing conditions and preferably a larger telescope, making it a suitable challenge for astronomy enthusiasts.
Sunrise: 6:18 A.M.
Sunset: 7:41 P.M.
Moonrise: —
Moonset: 8:33 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (81%)
Friday, April 18
For those who missed the earlier events this week, Jupiter’s moon Io will be transiting the face of the gas giant again tonight while accompanied by its shadow. This event will start to be visible in the eastern U.S., while observers in the western U.S. will witness later phases as Jupiter sets beneath the horizon.
Jupiter continues to be the most luminous object in Taurus, located between and below the Bull’s horns and shining prominently above Aldebaran. Early in the evening, observers on the East Coast can note Jupiter flanked by two of its Galilean moons: Ganymede and Callisto on one side, and Io and Europa on the other.
Io will begin transiting at 10:35 P.M. EDT, taking just over two hours to complete its passage across Jupiter’s face. The moon will wrap up its transit shortly before 10:50 P.M. MDT, which is crucial for Midwestern observers to note the time change as Jupiter will disappear. Io’s shadow transit will commence shortly after 10:36 P.M. CDT, and it will take about the same time to traverse, vanishing around 10:50 P.M. PDT.
Sunrise: 6:17 A.M.
Sunset: 7:42 P.M.
Moonrise: 12:43 A.M.
Moonset: 9:23 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (73%)
Source
www.astronomy.com