Mars makes its way through Gemini, while Saturn begins to emerge in the week\u2019s stargazing guide. <\/p>
What\u2019s in the night sky in the week of 17 to 23 April, 2023 in our weekly stargazing guide. Mars makes its way through Gemini, while Saturn begins to emerge in the week\u2019s stargazing guide.<\/p>
Chris 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<\/a> or digital edition by visiting on iTunes or Google Play.<\/p>\n Ezzy Pearson <\/strong>Greetings, listeners, and welcome to Star Diary, A weekly guide to the best things to see in the northern hemisphere\u2019s night sky. As we are based here in the UK all times are in BST. In this week\u2019s episode, we\u2019ll be covering the coming week from 24 to 30 April. I\u2019m Ezzy Pearson, the magazine\u2019s features editor, and I\u2019m very glad to be able to welcome back to the show our reviews editor, Paul Money. Hello, Paul.<\/p>\n Paul Money <\/strong>Hello, Ezzy. Glad to be back.<\/p>\n Ezzy <\/strong>It\u2019s absolutely great to have you back again. It\u2019s been a while, but this week we\u2019re looking up at the night sky. Can you tell us what we have to look forward to?<\/p>\n Paul <\/strong>Well, a lot of attention has been in the evening twilight, and that continues because Venus<\/a> absolutely dominates, doesn\u2019t it. I mean, it is so bright. I mean, it\u2019s the first thing you never know, see, as the sky starts to darken, but it\u2019s got Mars<\/a> up there as well. But on 24th, we\u2019ve actually got three planetary bodies. And technically, we ought to say four, because you can see the Earth\u2019s horizon. We\u2019ve got Venus, but we\u2019ve got the crescent moon<\/a> as well. It\u2019s a rather thick crescent moon, and we\u2019ve got Mars as well. So, you know, and if you\u2019ve got dark skies, it\u2019s something I haven\u2019t I don\u2019t really have a good site for because my western horizon has lots of buildings and light pollution. But if you\u2019ve got a nice horizon you might still get the zodiacal light as well sort of thing. So that\u2019s worth looking out for at the moment, especially as it extends through the Pleiades<\/a>, because the Pleiades star cluster are.. we\u2019re in the last stages, we\u2019ll lose it shortly after this. So this is your last chance, really, I think, to get the Pleiades and they actually forms a line with.. It goes the Pleiades, M45 Venus, Crescent Moon and Mars. So you\u2019ve actually got quite a line-up there. And if you have the zodiacal lighting<\/a>, gosh, you\u2019ve got a lot going on in the evening sky.<\/p>\n Ezzy <\/strong>For those of you who don\u2019t know, the zodiacal light is the light from, I believe, the Solar System. It\u2019s dust within the solar system that is gets reflected sunlight. And you can sometimes see it shooting up over the horizon. It does. I believe you need quite a dark sky to be able to see it. But if you are out in the dark anyway, keep an eye out and you might be able to catch it.<\/p>\n Paul <\/strong>Yes, it\u2019s a cone of light and it\u2019s it follows the ecliptic, which is why we know it\u2019s the fine dust in the inner Solar System scattering the light. So I\u2019ve only seen it a few times to be fair. And you have to get away from light pollution. There\u2019s no doubt about it. First time I ever thought I saw it, I was actually looking towards Horncastle and it was the light pollution from Horncastle. So it\u2019s just one of those things in it. So yeah, a good dark horizon. So there\u2019s nothing in the way. No light pollution to fool you as such, but it does follow the ecliptic and that\u2019s part of the clue. So yeah, we\u2019ve got Venus, the Moon, we\u2019ve got Mars. We\u2019ve got the Pleiades as well all in the image. I\u2019m looking around about 9:30pm so I think start to leave early, later and you\u2019ll start to lose the Pleiades. But of course the sky will get darker as well. But the Moon is interesting because you\u2019ve actually got the Moon as a like\u2026 Quite thick crescent. And I was I was looking at that and I\u2019m thinking, well, actually halfway between new and half phase. So surely we should be calling it quarter phase Moon. It\u2019s just a confusing sort of thing with a normal quarter moon sort of thing, which is of course quarter way around the orbit.<\/p>\n Ezzy <\/strong>I\u2019m quite glad that they haven\u2019t gone for that naming convention because the astronomers, they don\u2019t always give things the best names. For instance, the quarter moon is when it\u2019s half full.<\/p>\n Paul <\/strong>Yes.<\/p>\n Ezzy <\/strong>And then I think having another thing where it\u2019s the quarter phase would be even more confusing and I don\u2019t think I could have one.<\/p>\n Paul <\/strong>Yeah. So I encourage that to get started, but it does mean we get a good view of the Mare Crisium<\/a>, the sea of crises actually on the Moon and I always tickles me. Mare Tranquilitatis is just coming into view as well and fecundity art is is well displayed. It\u2019s both it and Crisium really well displayed. But it always tickled me that there\u2019s a crater called Picard and Mare Crisium and it\u2019s actually quite well seen, you know, it\u2019s quite an easy one to see, but it\u2019s not that Picard. It\u2019s not Jean-Luc Picard from a certain TV franchise. No, but it is Jean Picard. And he was actually a French astronomer and geodesist in the Paris Observatory in the 17th century. So, you know, I got to I have to admit, I had to look up geodesist. So somebody who measures the Earth sort of thing, you know, from observations, gets their positions and coordinates from that. So I thought that was quite fascinating. But it\u2019s a nice crater. So you\u2019ve got this huge, great mare sort of thing, but you\u2019ve also got this nice crater in it. There are all the craters. Well, we should say there are other craters in Mare Crisium and on the Moon. But it\u2019s worth having a look up because this one stands out and this particular phase, you\u2019ve got some nice shadows forming from it as well. So that\u2019s the Moon then. Now that\u2019s on\u00a0 24th. So you know, quite a lot happening on\u00a0 24th. Get started on\u00a0 25th and 26. What we find is the moons. We always follow the moon that way because the moon, you know, that\u2019s where we get months from. It goes round. So every month we\u2019re going to have events featuring the moon. And this is no exception because on 25th and 26th and on 25th, it\u2019s to the right of Mars. So he shouldn\u2019t have trouble identifying Mars really. But it is fading now. So it is beginning to look more like some of the regular stars around it. The only difference is that it is slightly orangish, but Betelgeuse<\/a> is still up, so you\u2019ve got the two to compare them. But to give you a guide to it, you\u2019ve got the Moon on 25th to its right and it\u2019s still quite a thick crescent as well. So. So you better pick out Mars. But telescopic it\u2019s quite small. Now. I tried imaging it just the other week and it was so tiny and I just thought it\u2019s a blob time.<\/p>\n Ezzy <\/strong>Sometimes the planets are just blobs in the night sky, but that doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t, you know, try and pick them out with the naked eye and have a good look at them.<\/p>\n Paul <\/strong>Exactly. I mean, the fact that it shows a disc, there is a disc, there shows you haven\u2019t got a star that\u2019s out of focus. You\u2019ve got an actual disc itself. So that was good. The 26th, though, the next night, the Moon is trying to form a bit of a line-up with Castor and Pollux in Gemini<\/a>. So it\u2019s a slightly curved line. And I always think it\u2019s a bit of a triangle also with Kappa from Pollux and Kappa Geminiorum as well. So as it happens, with Mars going through the centre of Gemini at this particular time, on 25th, it should be noted it\u2019s right next to 48 Geminorum. So it\u2019s got a star right next to it. Now, Mars is magnitude +1.3. The star is a lot fainter, it\u2019s mag +5.8. So this is quite difference there. You can\u2019t confuse them and there\u2019ll be a colour difference as well. And you can see this easily with binoculars. You know, technically it\u2019s a naked eye star as well, +5.8 magnitude. But you know, but again, you don\u2019t want to have much light pollution and you\u2019ve also got natural light pollution because we\u2019ve got the Moon coming in and we growing in phase sort of thing. So that\u2019s always a\u2026 I mean, you either love the moon or you hate it. You hate it if you\u2019re a deep sky observer sort of thing, you know, or you love it, If you\u2019re a lunar observer. I tend to fall between the two a little bit, but I must admit I am more of a deep sky observer myself.<\/p>\n Ezzy <\/strong>So I think you just have to learn to have to flip flop throughout the month. You know, two weeks you\u2019re a lunar observer and then one week you\u2019re a deep sky observer and that\u2019s how you\u2019re going to go\u00a0 through. I think that\u2019s probably a good approach to take.<\/p>\n Paul <\/strong>It is.<\/p>\n Ezzy <\/strong>Might require getting some different equipment to use throughout the month.<\/p>\n Paul <\/strong>But often enough, I was going to mention that because if you\u2019re an astroimager, once upon a time, when the moon was that was it, you stopped. But now we\u2019ve got so many different filters that can cut through the moonlight, especially the emission line, one sort of thing, you know, oxygen and silicon, things like that. Astro images now can near enough image throughout the entire month without worrying about the moon. And I think that is absolutely amazing. But it does mean, when do you sleep? During the day? Hang on, you could be a solar observer. And of course, the Sun is actually getting quite active. So, you know, I mean, we have had some recent auroras during March. And, you know, aurora<\/a> season isn\u2019t quite\u2026 I\u2019ve seen aurora in July. I mean, I\u2019ve only seen it twice. But, you know, if it\u2019s a really good storm, you can actually have the aurora during the summer months as well. So, you know, always keep a lookout. You never know if there\u2019s a big storm. We are they think now there\u2019s a prediction that the solar cycle might peak towards the end of 2023, 2024. So that\u2019ll be exciting. So, you know, we might still have some aurora, so it\u2019s worth keeping a lookout. Just think, I never, never say it\u2019s just a season. So\u2026 Just lingering around from March and April, you know, we\u2019re thinking about it for the rest of the year as well.<\/p>\n Ezzy <\/strong>I was going to say, if there is anybody out there who is thinking about possibly doing some aurora hunting, you might want to move your plans up a bit. If you are planning on going next year or the year after. People think the peak might happen this year, it might just be that we\u2019re in a really active solar cycle and it will keep going on. If you haven\u2019t done that once in a lifetime trip, which I, I\u2019ve managed to go aurora hunting and have success and I really do recommend it if you can.<\/p>\n Paul <\/strong>I mean, it is a sight to behold, I must admit sort of thing. I have a toss up between the aurora and noctilucent clouds<\/a>. When is Aurora season I\u2019m really excited of a bright aurora and of course, unfortunately I was ill and we had cloud when we had the really bright one in March. Isn\u2019t that typical? Isn\u2019t that typical. I can\u2019t complain because I did do the Northern Lights flights for many years sort of thing. So I got some absolutely humdinger of some displays, but I have seen some great ones from the ground as well. But I have to say sort of thing now, ready one When we get into the summer, my allegiance is switch and I start saying, Oh, yeah,. Noctilucent Clouds. They\u2019re brilliant. Yeah. And then when that season finishes, when we get the aurora and get a good aurora. Oh yeah. Well aurora for me. So I\u2019m definitely a flip flopper aren\u2019t I.<\/p>\n Ezzy <\/strong>And if you are interested in finding out a bit more about noctilucent clouds, then I suggest you pick up the May copy of BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/a> where we have a feature all about in there. And also, if you are interested in hunting aurora<\/a> or Noctilucent clouds, then go to our website www.skyatnightmagazine.com<\/a>. We have lots of guides on there. I\u2019ll put a couple in the show notes below as well.<\/p>\n Paul <\/strong>Exactly. We will cover it every year slightly because that\u2019s just such an amazing experience to see them. And I do know people have gone to Iceland and Norway to see them and being cloud about and I know that really big ones. There was some friends of mine had gone to Norway and didn\u2019t get anything and were rather cheesed off, shall we say, to find out we\u2019d had a great display in the UK. Yes, it\u2019s an ironic twist, isn\u2019t it? Sort of things that you can be up there and actually miss them because the auroral oval has moved south? Otherwise we would better see it in the UK. But you know, it\u2019s just one of those things, you know, I mean, you have to take it or leave it. Now, continuing we\u2019re looking to the next night,April 27th, we\u2019re following the Moon now. We\u2019re not quite at half phase. It\u2019s just about\u2026 it\u2019s borderline. Yeah. Catching it directly a half phase is a bit of an art because sometimes it can occur when the Moon\u2019s below the horizon for us, but it\u2019ll be directly above the Beehive Cluster<\/a>. This is Messier 44 in Cancer<\/a>. So the half phase Moon\u2026 now the light from the Moon will diminish some of the cluster members. You\u2019ve got to bear that in mind. And then on the 28th we switch \u2013 I know is the morning sky. I know it\u2019s 4:30 in the morning, but Saturn is getting back into the sky. Now. You do need a good, uncluttered solar east, south, east horizon, to be fair, which is that I have a disadvantage there. I have an industrial estate and a big\u2026 they call it a bund. It\u2019s a big sort of a mound that hides us from the industrial estate and got lots of shrubs all over it. Trouble is, as lives have grown up is hidden more and more of that horizon for me. Yet to the great shame but Saturn<\/a> is now emerging back into view. So you better check out the rings. So yeah, to look at around about 4:30 in the morning. So you know, if you\u2019re an early morning riser, you know, a lot of people are they\u2019ve got work in the morning sort of thing very early. So look out for that. I say in the south, a lot of things are now that Saturn is creeping out to the glare of the Sun. So that was on the 28, sort of thing, and from then on, really sort of thing with Saturn. But on\u00a0 29th, the Moon continues in a journey around and it\u2019s directly involved and forms a bit of a triangle with Regulus and Eta Leonis as well. So but I always find it\u2019s almost on a line \u2013 it\u2019s a bit of a curve \u2013 with Algieba and Regulus<\/a> as well. So Regulus and Algieba both double stars.<\/a> So this is a time when you can use the Moon to guide you on. Double stars aren\u2019t spoiled by the moonlight. That\u2019s the good thing about them. Whereas deep sky objects like galaxies and nebulae as a swamped by the moonlight. But double stars are all right. So here we are also Gamma Leonis Algeiba and closer inspection is a closer double with two yellow orange stars, one slightly brighter, and the other one at magnitude 2.21 at 3.6 magnitude as well. So, you know, this is a nice time to catch up on these double stars when the Moon is actually quite close to the Sun. Then to finish off this week, certainly from my part, we\u2019ve got\u2026 Iris, 7 Iris<\/a>, It is an asteroid. It is actually quite faint, but it reaches opposition on 30th April. It will no doubt is just on the border of Virgo and Libra, both because it reaches opposition, is now visible technically all night, because it rises as the Sun sets and sets to the sun rises. But it is fine if magnitude +9.6. So I would allow at least wait until about 11:00pm onwards, let it get well above the horizon before you try. But you will need, I think, in this case, a telescope to actually hunt it down. So I\u2019ll give you another planetary body to find because we have got a scarcity of planets at the moment. We really only got Venus and Mars in the evening sky, Saturn in the morning, and then this very meagre minor planet coming to opposition. We\u2019ll have to wait a few weeks, but we will have some come back. Sadly, we\u2019ve lost Mercury<\/a>, of course, we\u2019ve just lost mercury. Oh, we just lost it. It\u2019s just one of those things. But it will be back at some stage.<\/p>\n Ezzy <\/strong>It does sort of feel like Venus is doing all of the work at the moment. You know, Venus, it\u2019s a bright I think it\u2019s about -4.0 this week. It\u2019s around about that point. And, you know, very much the brightest thing in the sky after the Moon. And then there might be some other ones maybe.<\/p>\n