Hear: https://soundcloud.com/astrophiz/astrophiz211-aprilskyguide
April Abstract
Jupiter & Mars are dominating the NW skies
Venus, Saturn & Mercury dominate the morning skies.
TCr Borealis is ‘lurking’ … able to go Nova
The ‘Lunar X’ is arising
April Moon Phases:
First Quarter: April 5
Lunar X is seen on the fifth
Daylight saving ends on Sunday 6 April
Moon at Apogee April 13
Full Moon: April 13
Final Quarter April 21
Moon at Perigee April 28
New Moon: April 28
Night Skies:
Jupiter is excessive within the north-western night sky when the sky is absolutely darkish. Jupiter kinds a line with the celebrities Aldebaran and Elnath. The Moon joins the line-up Jupiter on the threerd, and on the 8th, Jupiter is 8 levels from the crescent moon.
Mars is excessive within the night sky, setting simply after midnight. Mars was at opposition, when it’s largest and brightest as seen from Earth, earlier within the 12 months on January the sixteenth.
Mercury is misplaced within the night twilight, however is shifting to morning skies.
… AND HAVE A HUNT FOR VESTA!
Morning Skies:
Saturn returns to the morning twilight. It’s close to the crescent Moon on the 28t
Mercury is fairly simple
Venus – Best
Vesta is tough, however getting simpler because the month progresses
Highlights:
3 April Crescent Moon close to Jupiter in Night twilight.
5 April “Lunar X” seen
5-6 April Mars round 5° from waxing Moon
13 April Apogee Full Moon
16-25 April The Lyrid meteor bathe might be seen
25 April Saturn and Venus shut within the morning twilight forming a triangle with the skinny crescent Moon
26 April Crescent Moon near Mercury within the morning twilight
Astrophotography Challenges:
- CHASING the ‘Terminator’ on the Moon. Trace: 1/250 sec at ISO 400 each half-hour, and making a easy animation.
2. CATCHING The T Coronae Borealis Nova.
The problem remains to be … to seize a Nova earlier than and after it blows!
This Nova is ‘overdue’ so all eyes are on it!
Ian’s Tip: use 1sec stacks
T Coronae Borealis final brightened in 1946, and astronomers initially predicted it will brighten once more by September 2024.
It’s a variable star in Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, a backward-C-shaped constellation east of Boötes.
T Coronae Borealis, dubbed the “Blaze Star” and recognized to astronomers merely as “T CrB,” is a binary system nestled within the Northern Crown constellation some 3,000 light-years from Earth. The system is comprised of a dense white dwarf – an Earth-sized remnant of a useless star with a mass corresponding to that of our Solar – and an historic purple big slowly being stripped of hydrogen by the relentless gravitational pull of its hungry neighbour.
