Comet Pons-Brooks will pass close to Aries this week, while the US is treated to the sight of Venus disappearing behind the Moon. Find out how to see all this and more in our weekly stargazing podcast, Star Diary 1 to 7 April 2024.
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Chris: Hello and welcome to Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. You can subscribe to the digital edition of the magazine by visiting iTunes, Google Play, or Apple News, or to the print edition by visiting www.skyatnightmagazine.com.
Ezzy: Greetings listeners and welcome to Star Diary a weekly guide to the best things to see in the Northern Hemisphere’s night sky. As we are based here in the UK, all times are in BST. In this episode, we’ll be covering the coming week from 1 to 7 April. I’m Ezzy Pearson, the magazine’s features editor, and I’m joined on the podcast today by Katrin Raynor, an astronomer and astronomy writer.
Hello, Katrin.
Katrin: Hello, Ezzy. How are you?
Ezzy: I’m doing very well, thank you. So, what do we have to look forward to in this week’s night sky?
Katrin: Okay, well it’s the start of a new month and what a month it is!
As you mentioned last week, the main event in April is the total solar eclipse on 8th, but more of that next week. But just to manage our expectations, don’t get excited if you are in the UK because unfortunately we aren’t in the path of totality, but we should enjoy a partial eclipse at sunset.
So it’s a shame we haven’t got an eclipse to enjoy.
Ezzy: That is a shame.
Katrin: But yes, Comet 12P Pons-Brooks will be visible in the evening twilight. And the week ahead is actually pretty quiet. The planets are hiding and the Moon is waning.
So I will start with the Solar System this week. While the planets aren’t well placed at the moment, with the exception of Jupiter and Uranus, which remain in the evening sky. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Neptune are too close to the Sun to be visible, although we may catch a glimpse of Mars and Saturn later on this week.
So on 2 April, Comet Pons-Brooks will possibly be visible in the evening twilight, located close to the constellation of Aries, near Himal, the brightest star in Aries, and you will need a pair of binoculars to view the comet. Hopefully you managed to spot it last week.
Listen to last week’s episode of Star Diary
For those of us that don’t like getting up early but would like to enjoy seeing planets, Mars and Saturn, then you will need to be up pretty early on 6th.
The two planets will be near a 9% waning crescent Moon in the east southeastern horizon in the dawn sky. The Moon is rising at 6:02AM BST and the sun rising at 6:37AM BST, so you won’t have a large window to observe the planets because of course the sky will be brightening.
But you know, get outside, it’ll be a challenge, but we all love a challenge in astronomy.
Ezzy: It’s not difficult, it’s challenging.
Katrin: That’s right. And I also think astronomers have to be extremely patient people as well.
Ezzy: You’ve got to wait for the universe to be in the right place and also waiting for the weather to be in the right place and to be in the right part of the world at the right time.
So there’s lots of things that’s got to align. But fortunately, most of the time there’s something that you can… unless it’s completely, completely overcast, there’s usually something you can see.
Katrin: Yes, and of course also you either have to get up early or stay up late, which I, you know, I kind of struggle with both, so…
Ezzy: I’m fine with staying up late. I can stay up as long as you like. It’s the getting up in the morning that’s the horrible bit for me. I can’t do that.
Katrin: Yeah. I think it would have to be something, you know, pretty special, spectacular to kind of, you know, drag yourself out in an early morning or stay up till like 3:00 in the morning to see something, you know, that you really want to see.
Ezzy: That does seem to be the way with astronomers. Most of us are night owls. That’s what brought us to the hobby in the first place.
Katrin: Absolutely. And the patience.
Ezzy: Yeah. Most people I talk to, it’s like, “oh, there’s something in the early morning. I’ll just stay up. That’s better. I’ll sleep through the day. I’ll be fine.”
Katrin: I’ll just wait to see some pictures on the internet. It’ll be okay.
As I mentioned, you know, the Moon is waning throughout this week and is only visible in the morning sky. It reaches last quarter on 2 April. But there is an occultation of the Moon and Venus on 7th, but unfortunately this is going to happen after both have set from the UK. And there will be a new Moon on 8th, which is of course the day of the solar eclipse.
So, with the Moon out of the way, I mean, this is great news for anyone wanting to get out and make use of the moonless nights to enjoy some deep sky observing.
With that in mind, some deep sky objects.
I mentioned last week the Realm of Galaxies. This is going to be a real high point of the week, I think, or any time throughout the spring when the sky is clear.
So the Realm of Galaxies, or the Virgo Supercluster, is a galaxy rich area of the sky sitting within and north of the constellation of Virgo. It is well placed this week, the Moon is out of the way, and now is a great chance to enjoy this galaxy laden area of the sky. The Realm contains thousands of galaxies, and nowhere else in the sky has a concentration as high as this.
If you can, escape to the countryside, you know, get out of the city or town. Less light pollution, obviously, when you’re out in the country.
And to find the approximate location of the Realm of Galaxies, first of all, you need to find the constellation of Leo, the lion, which is easily found in the southeast this time of year. And you can use the backwards question mark or the sickle asterism over his head as a starting point.
So cast your gaze past Leo’s rear end and you’ll be in the bowl asterism of Virgo to the bottom left of Leo and the faint constellation of Coma Berenices, top left of Leo.
So just to recap from what I said last week, the bowl is an asterism formed by five stars of the Virgo constellation.
You may need to use an app to help you locate this. You’re going to need some powerful binoculars or a telescope to make out the individual galaxies. The Realm of Galaxies or the Virgo Supercluster contains up to possibly 2,000 spiral and elliptical galaxies and approximately 20 or more are observable using amateur equipment and this includes 16 Messier objects such as the Black Eye Spiral Galaxy, M64.
You’ve got M86 with its plume; massive M87 at its centre; and M49, the brightest elliptical galaxy within the cluster. So you can check out page 56 of the April issue of The Sky at Night for a deep sky tour of this region for more information. And this is a region of the sky that I haven’t yet explored and I only bought my telescope last year so I’m really excited to get outside and start taking a look at this area of the sky.
Have you seen it?
Ezzy: I haven’t seen it, no.
Katrin: I’m looking forward to hopefully getting outside and having a good look.
Ezzy: Is there anything sort of like particularly that’s on your bucket list that you haven’t got yet that you would like to?
Katrin: Oh my gosh, that’s a good question actually.
Ezzy: If you are getting a new telescope.
Katrin: Yeah, well I bought one last, the six inch Dobsonian last year.
Ezzy: Yeah.
Katrin: Last August actually, and I just feel I’ve managed to look at Andromeda Galaxy, look to the Pleiades, but from my back garden and obviously living in the valleys, it’s quite difficult. There’s a lot of hills on the way.
Ezzy: Yeah, trying to see anything close to the horizon. Not gonna help, not so great.
Katrin: Yeah, but you would have to go up, either down to the coast or, you know, Brecon Beacons a great place to go. But I would like to try and get to see the comets with the telescope before they disappear from view. That would be pretty special, I think.
Ezzy: Yeah, I hope you manage to get to do that, that would be great.
Also, the Moon and Venus occultation that you mentioned on 7 April, it’s not going to be visible from the UK. It will, however, be visible from the US.
I know a lot of our listeners are based in the US. It will be right along the eastern coast as well as parts of Canada and most of Mexico as well.
So if you want to try and catch that, if you are in that part of the world, you can see the occultation of Venus on 7 April.
But thank you Katrin for running through all of those details for this week.
If you at home would like to get even more details, please do subscribe to the Star Diary podcast to make sure that you never miss an update on what’s coming up in the night sky.
But to summarise this week again: we start off with the Solar System, where Jupiter and Uranus will be visible in the evening sky throughout the week.
On 2 April, the Comet Pons-Brooks is still going to be close to the star Hamal in Aries.
And then on 6 April, Mars and Saturn are going to be near the crescent Moon in the dawn sky.
In terms of the Moon, on 2nd it will be heading towards last quarter, as it rushes towards being new on 8th next week.
But that does mean that there is a good chance to see some deep sky objects as the Moon is mostly out of the way throughout the week. So why not take a look at the Realm of Galaxies in the Bowl of Virgo? We have more details about how to see that in our April issue of Sky Night Magazine.
And for those of our listeners who are based in US or Mexico, then there is also a chance on 7 April to see the Moon occult the planet Venus as well.
So lots of things to look for in this week’s night sky, and we hope to see you all here back next week.
Goodbye!
If you want to find out if even more spectacular sights that will be gracing the night sky this month, be sure to pick up a copy of BBC Sky at Night Magazine, where we have a 16 page pull out sky guide with a full overview of everything worth looking up for throughout the whole month. Whether you like to look at the Moon, the planets, or the deep sky, whether you use binoculars, telescopes, or neither, our sky guide has got you covered, with detailed star charts to help you track your way across the night sky.
From all of us here at BBC Sky at Night Magazine, goodbye.
Chris: Thank you for listening to this episode of the Star Diary podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine, which was edited by Lewis Dobbs. For more of our podcasts, visit our website at skyatnightmagazine.com/podcasts, or head to Spotify, iTunes, or your favourite podcast player.