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Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks This Weekend

Thursday, April 20th, 2006 - The annual Lyrid Meteor Shower is upon us... with the peak taking place in the wee hours of Friday night / Saturday morning. Skywatchers ought to see a dramatic increase in meteor activity the next several nights. The Lyrids are the second major meteor shower of the year. Coming in mid April, viewers must dress appropriately to enjoy the display as the Earth passes through the path of the comet Thatcher. The radiant of Lyrid meteors is in the northern constellation of Lyra (hence the shower's name). Visible from April 16th to April 22nd, the Lyrids currently peak on April 21st and 22nd, with the morning of the 22nd between midnight and dawn being best time to observe. Expect to see about 15 meteors per hour... though the Lyrids have spiked to 100 per hour on a few occasions. Check out Gary Kronk's Comets & Meteor Showers page for more great info.

Morning Moonset

Wednesday, April 19th, 2006 - As the sun rose on this clear, crisp spring morning in the Utah mountains of Park City, the waning gibbous moon - 67% illuminated and nearing last quarter - approached the high south-western horizon to set behind historic Ecker Hill. Expect the moon's last quarter of this synodic cycle on the 21st of April and the new moon on the 27th.  Look for a special treat on the morning of the 24th when the moon and Venus pose in a morning conjunction just before sunrise.

Comet 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann Live on the Web

Tuesday, April 18th, 2006 - (PRNewswire/Slooh.com) - Comet 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann, which has broken up into 19 separate pieces and is heading for a rendezvous with Earth, will be broadcast live from Slooh.com's Canary Island based telescopes every night this week starting at 9pm EST. The first of its kind, Slooh.com broadcasts live celestial events to the viewing public from its powerful telescopes stationed at high altitude at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, the leading European observatory. Slooh.com's coverage will be hosted by astronomy luminaries David Levy, co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker-Levy, Bob Berman, columnist with Astronomy Magazine, Michael Narlock, Head of Astronomy at the Cranbrook Institute of Science, and Jeffrey Bass, Head of Astronomy at the Milwaukee Public Museum. Check out Slooh's press release for more info.

Conjunction: Venus And Uranus

Monday, April 17th, 2006 - The brightest planet, Venus will cross paths with one of the faintest planets, Uranus before sunrise tomorrow morning. Events like these are known as conjunctions, and have long been thought to portend doom and gloom. Nowadays, we recoginze them for what they are, the comings and goings of Earths nearest celestial neighbors.
Many early risers have been watching the planet Venus for some time now... sitting high above the eastern horizon just before sunrise. Well, for the next couple of mornings you can use Venus as a guide to view the planet Uranus. Venus will be only about 0.3° from Uranus at closest pass tomorrow... well within the field of view provided by a telescope or pair of binoculars. Venus is the brightest starlike object in the sky... while Uranus is just beyond naked eye visibility (but an easy target for folks with an optical aid). Uranus is a beautiful blueish / greenish planet. Checkout Science@NASA for more details.

Jupiter And The Moon Tip The Scales

Sunday, April 16th, 2006 - The Moon chased Jupiter over the east-south-eastern horizon last night, waning gibbous in Libra. Jupiter is seen next to the brightest star in the constellation - Alpha Librae. Known also as Zubenelgenubi, the name is Arabic meaning "the southern claw". Beta Librae or Zubeneschamali, seen north of Jupiter, is "the northern claw". These ancient Arabic references are reminders of the Greek identification of this constellation with the claws of the scorpion.

The Northern Lights

Saturday, April 15th, 2006 - The northern lights appeared again last night with displays seen throughout Alaska and Canada. Conditions are ripe for another outbreak tonight. Skywatchers, especially those at higher latitudes, are encouraged to keep an eye on the northern horizon. Also, be sure to checkout the Spaceweather.com Aurora Gallery for some really incredible pictures. This gorgeous shot was captured by Daryl Pederson of Crow Pass, Alaska.

Conjunction: Jupiter Meets The Moon

Friday, April 14th, 2006 - Skywatchers are in for a treat tonight as the two brightest objects in the night sky are in conjunction. Look for the planet Jupiter to rise just east of an almost full Moon around 10:00pm this evening. You might want to make use of a moon filter for your lunar observations. These help to tone down the intense brightness of the moon and allow you to see some of the more subtle details on its surface. You'll want to remove the filter prior to observing Jupiter. Pay close attention to Jupiter's moons as they jockey for position around the giant planet.

Full Moon Rising

Thursday, April 13th, 2006 - The full moon rose around 8:30pm this evening.. but didn't peer over the mountain tops until around 10:00pm this evening. The April Full Moon is known as the Pink Moon... though I didn't see any of that tonight.

Two Astronomy Lectures This Week at the University of Utah

Wednesday, April 12th, 2006 - Locals should try to take advantage of two free astronomy lectures being offered this week at The University of Utah. The first takes place tonight and is entitled 'Discovering our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos' while the second takes placed Friday night and is entitled 'Spitzer Space Telescope: Exploring the Infrared Universe'. Both events start at 7:30pm and will be taking place in the Aline Wilmot Skaggs Biology Building Auditorium, University of Utah

Peering Down on Venus

Tuesday, April 11th, 2006 - The European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft successfully entered into orbit around the planet Venus early this morning. The craft will take another 4 weeks to move into its final orbit around the 2nd rock. The craft is scheduled to perform observations of the structure, chemistry and dynamics of the atmosphere of Venus for at least two Venusian days (486 Earth days). Checkout the Venus Express website for more details.

Dramatic Solar Prominences

Tuesday, April 11th, 2006 - Solar activity seems to be picking up again as evidenced by this gorgeous solar prominence captured by Alan Friedman of Buffalo, NY. The past week has seen sporadic outbreaks of aurora in northern and not so northern skies. Checkout the Spaceweather.com Aurora Gallery for some sweet images.

Venus Amateur Observing Project To Compliment Venus Express Mission

Sunday, April 9th, 2006 - Amateur astronomers have an opportunity  to capture and submit scientifically useful images and data to compliment the European Space Agency's (ESA) Venus Express mission findings. The Venus Amateur Observing Project (VAOP) is reaching out to amateurs to obtain filtered images of the Venusian atmosphere - from near ultraviolet, through visible, and to the near infrared range - to augment the data received from Venus Express. Scientists will use amateur pre- and post-mission imagery, as well as simultaneous earth-based and spacecraft observations, to extend their understanding of the dynamic atmosphere of Venus. The ESA VAOP web pages provide complete information on the program, including needed equipment, observing guidelines, how to take observations, sample images, how to submit images, observing campaigns, as well as links to useful websites. This is a fantastic opportunity for amateur astronomers, students, and hobbyists to add significantly to the body of scientific knowledge through a well organized program; have at it!

The VLT Images A Cosmic Spider

Saturday, April 8th, 2006 - The European Southern Observatory's VLT (Very Large Telescope) recently snapped this gorgeous image of one of the night skies most photogenic objects, the Tarantula Nebula. The Tarantula is located in the Large Megellanic Cloud, a neighboring galaxy visible from the southern hemisphere. The VLT is made up of four 8.2 meter telescopes. Yes... 8.2 meters each! Checkout the ESO Press Release for more details.

Blue, Blue, Its Ring Is Blue

Friday, April 7th, 2006 - Scientists reporting in the April 7 issue of Science have discovered that the outermost ring of Uranus, discovered just last year, is bright blue, making it only the second known blue ring in the solar system, the first being that of Saturn. Interestingly, both blue rings are associated with small moons; Enceladus orbits within Saturn's blue ring and Uranus's recently discovered Mab orbits within the seventh planet's blue ring. Another interesting fact surrounds the blue color of the rings. All other rings in the solar system - those around Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - are reddish in color primarily because the particles comprising them are large and preferentially scatter and reflect red light. The particles in the blue rings of Uranus and Saturn are sub-micron (less than a thousanth the width of a human hair) that scatter and reflect mostly blue light. Check out the UCBerkeley press release and Dr. Imke de Pater's "One Ring, Two Ring, Red Ring, Blue Ring" web page for more fascinating information on this colorful discovery.

Ringside Seats

Friday, April 7th, 2006 - The orbiting Cassini Spacecraft recently snapped this gorgeous shot of Saturn's moons Enceladus and Dione sitting just above the outermost "F" ring. Like they say in real estate... location, location, location. The planet Saturn is currently rising around 1:30pm and transits just before 9:00pm. This has it in a perfect location for evening observation. Make the most of this easy viewing schedule to checkout one of our solar system's most impressive looking members.

Because of its proximity to the Sun, Mercury is never really viewed against a dark background. Rather, it always struggles to be seen over the light of the setting or rising Sun. Patience (and clear skies) will reward you with some beautiful morning views of this planet in April.

Venus remains high in the morning sky near sunrise, making for a brilliant wake-up treat over sips of coffee. If you have a telescope handy, take a peek at the love goddess' name sake; the crescent of Venus is lovely indeed. Be sure to catch the conjunction of the moon and Venus before the sun rises on the 24th as they'll only be separated by just a little more than a degree!

The ESA's Venus Express spacecraft is now in orbit around the second planet and preparing for its mission. Once in ready, the 'craft will study the planet in great detail, in particular the Venusian atmosphere and clouds.

Need to know more about Venus? Checkout this article by The Planetary Society.

Rich with incredible shades of red and green, and capped with the blues of sky, southern Utah in the spring is a warm draw in the shoulder seasons of northern Utah.

The Moon wanes crescent this weekend, having reached last quarter on the 21st. Those observers that consider the moon "light pollution" look forward to this time of the synodic cycle as the moon's glow gives way to the dark skies that favor viewing of distant, elusive, and faint fuzzies - galaxies, nebulae, and clusters.

Remeber thought, as the moon wanes, you can look forward to those phases where Moon observations are most fascinating. Features appear - mountains, craters, rilles - as the sunlight casts long, defining shadows. Look along the portion of the Moon separating light from dark, known as the terminator, for the greatest contrasts.

The Red Planet is found high in the western sky at sunset as it moves to it's superior conjunction opposite the Sun later in the year.  Look at this sweet shot taken by Utah Skies member Brian Jolley last year when Mars was at its closest. He took this through the historic Clark refractor at Lowell Observatory.

Even without a telescope the view of and around Mars is interesting. Moving into the constellation Gemini, Mars sits at the feet of the twin whose head is Castor next to the star Propus.

This image is an example of what Jupiter has to offer viewers: exquisite details. Much of this beautiful structure can actually be seen through a typical telescope, but results vary depending on telescope aperture and sky conditions. Too, the Great Red Spot has some company: another storm has grow in proportion near the GRS, and has come to be known as Spot Jr!

If you have binoculars, point these towards Jupiter. While you won't be able to see any details on the planets surface, binoculars will clearly show you several of Jupiter's brightest moons, and regular observations will show them jockey for position as they orbit the giant planet. The movement is quite apparent, sometimes even in the span of a few hours.

This sweet shot of Jupiter nicely shows its great red spot and some of the incredible details just waiting your observation. Additionally, you can see one of Jupiter's moons eclipsing the giant planet. The round "ink spot" on the planet's surface is the shadow cast by its moon. Watching Jupiter's moons as they orbit and occasionally transit the giant planet is a very interesting part of observing Jupiter.

Look for Saturn alongside Utah's namesake Deep Sky Object, M44 - The Beehive Star Cluster.

Uranus is currently rising in the morning, sitting close to the sun. April 17th, 18th, and 19th will present a unique opportunity to possibly see the seventh planet with the naked eye! Look east just before dawn and see Venus. Using binoculars, scan the area around Venus, and there you'll find this distant gas giant! If the sky is very dark, you may be able to lift your eyes from the optics and see Uranus directly.

The Earth and Uranus have ostensibly achieved their greatest separation, and will soon begin to draw nearer again.

The planet Neptune, is currently rising about 2 hours before the sun... leaving you precious little time to view the 8th rock. To speed up your acquisition of the planet, just look towards the east around first light You should immediately see bright Venus. Neptune is just about 1.5° below Venus. At just a touch brighter than mag 8, Neptune should be visible as a faint star-like object in binoculars... or as a bluish object in a telescope. Once you've found it, higher powers will clearly reveal the disk of the planet .

This beautiful image of Neptune and its moon, Triton, was taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft from a perspective that will never be had from Earth. Interesting to note is the gray hue of the planet in this image. The atmosphere of the planet preferentially scatters the light forward from this vantage and so removes the bluish tinge, and reddens the color.

This image of Pluto and its moon Charon was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, showing the improved performance of a space-based observational platform over ground-based telescopes.

 Constellation Report

This section focuses on to the constellation Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs. The dogs, named Asterion and Chara can be seen in the sky with their master, Icarius (Bootes) in the spring.

As you can see from the accompanying chart, Canes Venatici is just below the handle of the Big Dipper. So...when looking for it, remember that it is very high in the sky... probably overhead and slightly to the east just after dark.

Deep Sky Report

Next we'll hit another of the finest deep sky objects... Irregular Galaxy M51(mag8.4). Also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy, this is one of the most beautiful galaxies to be viewed in an amateur astronomer telescope. 

To find M51, make a right triangle from the handle of the dipper. Star at Mizar and go to Alkaid... then hang a left for about 2/3 of the distance between the two stars. You can't miss it :)

Actually, M51 is a fairly bright object. It shows well in most telescopes from about 85mm and up. Obviously if you want to see the extra details, you're gonna need significantly more aperture. 

The accompanying image was taken by Anthony Arrigo of Utah Skies this past weekend under beautifully clear skies from my home in Park City. This is the result of a 12 minute unguided exposure through a 10" f/4.5 reflector using ASA800 film.