{"id":31607,"date":"2022-04-24T07:01:48","date_gmt":"2022-04-24T07:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=107643"},"modified":"2022-04-24T07:22:05","modified_gmt":"2022-04-24T07:22:05","slug":"star-diary-podcast-25-april-to-1-may-2022","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/star-diary-podcast-25-april-to-1-may-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Diary Podcast: 25 April to 1 May 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Ezzy Pearson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 24 April 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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What\u2019s coming up in the northern hemisphere\u2019s night sky in the month of 25 April to 1 May 2022.<\/p>\nLink to <a href=\""https:\/\/open.acast.com\/public\/streams\/61ba00841a8cbe40143cf08e\/episodes\/6260133c5ebac00015015d23.mp3"\">Star Diary episode<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h1>Transcript<\/h1>\nChris Bramley <\/strong>Hello and welcome to Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at night Magazine. You can subscribe to the print edition of the magazine by visiting www.skyatnightmagazine.com or to a digital edition by visiting iTunes or Google Play.<\/p>\nEzzy Pearson <\/strong>Greetings listeners and welcome to Start Diary, Radio Astronomy Guide to the best things to see in the night sky, covering the week 25th April to the 1st May. I\u2019m news editor Ezzy Pearson and I\u2019m joined on the podcast today by our reviews editor Paul Money. Hello Paul!<\/p>\nPaul Money <\/strong>Hiya Ezzy! How\u2019s things?<\/p>\nEzzy Pearson <\/strong>I\u2019m doing well. Great to hear from you again. So what can we expect to see in the sky this week?<\/p>\nPaul Money <\/strong>Well, you know what we\u2019ve said in the past? I think these things always happen to ungodly hours, don\u2019t they? And I have to say the first half of the week, it\u2019s really all happening in the morning sky. It would be. So this is a time to set your alarms once again. And I am talking about around about four to five am in the morning. But it;s twilight time, you see. So when we get in at the end of April, beginning to May sort of thing, you know, that\u2019s about the time is happening because of course the clocks change, etc. So, yeah, so it\u2019s a parade of planets. We really have a great time at the moment. If you like planets and don\u2019t mind early morning because we have four planets on show in a line near enough. Now it depends on what time you want to get up. But if you get up, say about four-ish and look out and you need to be looking between east and southeast, so about east southeast is the midpoint, and that\u2019s where you\u2019ll find Mars. But if you look at four o\u2019clock, Mars and Saturn are up and the sky\u2019s a bit darker. So at least you\u2019ll have a few stars, especially Capricornus and Aquarius, which is where most of the action is taking place. But if you then allow and watch the Twilight gradually brighten, the Moon will rise and is below Saturn. Now that\u2019s a quite decent crescent moon. So, yeah, but it\u2019s very low. It\u2019s below the ecliptic now at this particular part of its orbit, so that means it rises later. So it mainly rises when it\u2019s closer to the brighter part of twilight. So you have to bear that in mind over the next few days. So is below Saturn on the 25th and with miles to the left of Saturn, So it makes a nice \u2013 it almost makes a right angled triangle in actual fact. So, you know, it\u2019s just something to look out for. But the Moon doesn\u2019t rise until around about 4:40-ish. Now, to bear in mind, it does depend on where you are in the country. If you further north, it will be lighter, so the skies will be lighter as well, so it\u2019ll have swamped most of the stars by then. And if you further south, you\u2019ve got to wait a little bit longer for them to rise. But if you wait about four fifty in the morning, the n you\u2019ll have Saturn, Mars, Venus and Jupiter. And of course, Venus and the Moon near enough rise. At the same time, there are very similar elevation above the horizon, so the rise near enough at the same time on the 25th. And if you give it just a few more minutes, then you\u2019ll have Jupiter rise as well. Obviously, Venus will be the brightest of all four planets, but you\u2019ve got this nearly almost a line up arcing down towards the horizon. So that\u2019s a nice parade of planets. It\u2019s just a shame. Neptune\u2019s there, but it\u2019s so find in the bright twilight you actually see it. You know, it\u2019s going to be around about magnitude eight. So, yeah, pretty difficult against a bright twilight, but if you if you do see it, then shout out to us as such. So it\u2019s really happening over the next few days because I\u2019ve mentioned the moon is below Saturn. What we\u2019ll find is the Moon then the next morning is below Mars. But remember, it\u2019s below Mars. It\u2019s lower, so you have to wait a bit longer. So we\u2019re talking about five o\u2019clock now and the sky will be brighter. So there we are. The crescent\u2026\u00a0 It\u2019s even thinner because of course, he\u2019s heading towards new. And interesting enough that we find that this will be the second new moon of the month. You don\u2019t hear many of them being mentioned, do you? It\u2019s always about the full moons and two full moons in a month. Well, this month I believe we\u2019ve actually got two new moons, but we don\u2019t really observe them, do we? Until there\u2019s an eclipse. So it passes us by that. There\u2019s actually two new moons, do we? But I\u2019ll be a bit later on in the week when we get that new moon. So the Moon is getting thinner and thinner and thinner, but is getting lower and lower on the horizon. You have to wait a bit longer for it to actually rise. So, you know, this is the problem. The sky will be getting brighter. So the next morning on the 26th, it\u2019ll be below Mars, very low around on, say, look around about 5am at all and you\u2019ll find the vast majority of the stars will by now be washed out. But also keep an eye on Jupiter and Venus as they get higher with each passing day. You\u2019ll see Venus is creeping closer to Jupiter, so Jupiter is pulling out from the solar glare but Venus is heading back. And so they\u2019re destined to meet up, but tune in towards the end of the week in a few moments when we\u2019ll deal with that. So the next morning, we\u2019re talking about the 27th now and again you have to give it another 10 minutes. So 5:10 the sky is brighter, but I really thin Crescent Moon is directly below Venus, and they form a lovely triangle with Jupiter as well to the upper left. So a really great sequence of events for three mornings on the trot, sort of thing. Hopefully you never know whether we have clear skies, you know what it\u2019s like. And of course because we\u2019re in the early morning sky, keep an eye on Venus and Jupiter, because although we\u2019ve got the moon really below below them in bright twilight, you have to wait now another 0 minutes to 5:10 in the morning sky is getting brighter. It\u2019s going to wash out virtually all the main bright stars. But keep an eye on Venus and Jupiter because as Jupiter is pulling out from the solar glare, so Saturn is gradually moving in and they\u2019re destined to meet. They\u2019re going to join together later in the week. So we\u2019ll tune in and go back to that in a short while. So catch the Moon then it will have three mornings where it goes past these planets Saturn, Mars and now Jupiter and Saturn on the 27th. But make sure you do all these observations and keep an eye out, making sure you don\u2019t catch the sun as it rises. The last thing we want you to do is do any damage to your eyes, but this should be all right to catch it.<\/p>\nEzzy Pearson <\/strong>Yeah, that\u2019s a very important point. Always make sure that you\u2019re careful of the Sun. I think the 27th is also probably a good one to look out for because Venus and Jupiter are both going to be very big and bright and that they\u2019re really obvious in the night sky. So even if you are just a beginner astronomer, that\u2019s a good one to look out for.<\/p>\nPaul Money <\/strong>And I mean, they are the brightest two planet. So what more could we ask for, hey Ezzy? So now that was in the morning sky. Hey, we\u2019ve got something in the evening. Yeah, but we all I would look forward to this time of year because around about March, April and May, we\u2019ve got the chance to have Mercury in the evening sky. Doesn\u2019t always work out, sometimes early. Sometimes it\u2019s later. But April the 28th Mercury will be directly below the Pleiades or Messier 45, or the seven sisters cluster, depending on how you want to call it, it\u2019ll be directly below it in Twilight. But binoculars will show the cluster and this little planet. So if you get the planets in the morning sky, you\u2019ll also got Mercury in the evening sky as well. And the thing about this is that on the 28th, you\u2019ve got Mercury below it. But it\u2019s quickly moving past to the left of the Pleiades star cluster over the next few days. So just as we saw the Moon going past the planet over several days from the 25th to the 27th, so we\u2019ll see Mercury go past the Pleiades in the evening sky. So something for the evening viewers to look out for and it\u2019ll be closest to the cluster on the 29th. And we\u2019re looking about, say, about 40 minutes after sunset and roughly west northwest now, something we hadn\u2019t mentioned, but you know, when we\u2019re looking at these things there, often towards the horizon. So it really is important to have a unclutered clear horizon to actually view these. If you\u2019ve got Buildings or trees or anything like that in the way that it\u2019s worth trying to find a site where you can actually observe these clearly without anything getting in the way. So there we are. We mentioned the new Moon earlier, its on April 30th. I mean, nobody better observe it, but it is the second new moon. So I just think.. it just tickles me that it\u2019s the second new moon, and it doesn\u2019t hardly ever get a mention when you got two new moons in a month, sort of thing. So towards the end of the week now, and so we go back to that morning conjunction and it really is a gorgeous conjunction between Jupiter and Venus. And basically over the next couple of days, they close in. They\u2019re at the closest on May the 1st, and we\u2019re talking about less than half a degree. I think it worked out as about 21 arc minutes actually apart from each other. So that\u2019ll be a really good view. And this is one of those circumstances where it\u2019s worth looking with the naked eye. You should see them separated with the naked eye, it\u2019ll be a grand view and good old fashioned 10\u00d750 binoculars. And of course, if you got a telescope, you\u2019ll be able to home in and see them like that as well. So this is a great opportunity to visual and photograph the actual event as well. So this conjunction on May the 1st is absolutely brilliant, but that\u2019s in the morning sky. Remember, we\u2019re talking about 5:00 a.m. bright twilight, but these are very bright planets. We haven\u2019t quite finished yet because wait for that evening. So we\u2019ve had the events in the morning sky, then wait for the evening. We\u2019ve gotten Mercury just to the left of the Pleiades in fact it\u2019s level with the Pleiades. So to the left of the actual cluster itself, the crescent moon now joins them. But you have to catch that very early, so be careful. Make sure you wait for the sunset, but keep an eye on that area sort of thing. So have a look west northwest. Just look to see if you can see the really thin crescent moon. I think like twenty four hours old or something like that, but Very, very young. You know, I like really young ones are really difficult to say, but it\u2019s in a bright twilight. It\u2019ll be below right of Mercury and the Pleiades.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\nNow the latest information I\u2019ve got, which could be wrong because these things change so rapidly, we might have a binocular comet. Comet C 2021 03 PanSTARRS and it\u2019ll be to the right of the Pleiades, so you\u2019ll likely have a line-up: Mercury, the Pleiades and then a bit further to the right. PanSTARRS. It will have passed the Sun at this stage. It hasn\u2019t done it as I\u2019m recording this, as we\u2019re recording this, so it could disintegrate. You know what comets are like that, fickle things.<\/p>\nEzzy Pearson <\/strong>It\u2019s so hard to say with comets, you know, it could be absolutely spectacular. It could stay in one piece, but not really do anything interesting. Or it could just completely fall apart and into nothing \u2013 like you can never tell. And I think that to me, that\u2019s what is really interesting about comets because they\u2019re like so much of astronomy is so predictable, you know exactly what\u2019s going to happen, like 2000 years in advance, almost sometimes. And then you\u2019ve got these comments that come along and they\u2019re so fickle and they\u2019re a surprise, and you never quite know what\u2019s going to happen. So they\u2019re sort of slightly interesting dynamic in astronomy.<\/p>\nPaul Money <\/strong>Yes, exactly. I mean, we are so used to the clockwork astronomy, aren\u2019t we? But this is one of those variables that you can\u2019t predict properly. So I\u2019ll be looking out there if we got a clear skies or things is the first of May you want to be looking around at 9:15, so the skies will be bright. But of course, even if you don\u2019t get the Moon as they get lowered to the horizon, the sky will get dark, so it\u2019ll increase your chance. If the comet survived in these binocular viewable, you might just get it. So yeah, fingers crossed this one way to stop the wheat, finish the way and have a hunt for a comet, as well as a planet, the innermost planet next to this wonderful star cluster. And if you do it early enough, you might even get this really slim crescent Moon as well. But a week of events, I mean, there\u2019s a lot going on, you know, and there\u2019s never nothing going on these.<\/p>\nEzzy Pearson <\/strong>There\u2019s always something.<\/p>\nChris Bramley <\/strong>Yeah, exactly.<\/p>\nEzzy Pearson <\/strong>Yes, I think that\u2019s also a nice end to end with a comet after a week that\u2019s kind of dominated almost by the planets. And we have some absolutely great line ups, as you mentioned. So thank you very much for joining us today, Paul, and thank you very much for telling us what\u2019s coming up at the night sky.<\/p>\nPaul Money <\/strong>It\u2019s a pleasure. Thank you.<\/p>\nEzzy Pearson <\/strong>If you want to find out 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 up sky guide with a full overview of everything worth looking up for. Whether you like to look at the Moon, the planets or the deep sky, whether you use binoculars, telescopes or never ask, our 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.<\/p>\nChris Bramley <\/strong>Goodbye. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Star Diary podcast from the makers of BBC Scotland magazine. For more of our podcast, visit our website at Sky at Night Magazine Dot Com or head to Acast, iTunes or Spotify.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ezzy Pearson Published: Sunday, 24 April 2022 at 12:00 am What\u2019s coming up in the northern hemisphere\u2019s night sky in the month of 25 April to 1 May 2022. Link to Star Diary episode. Transcript Chris Bramley Hello and welcome to Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at night Magazine. 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