News on what is visable in this months sky as posted by Adrian Zielonka's in his monthly sky notes.
Thank you Adrian and thank you CADAS.
The May night sky
Hi
Here is the astronomy news for May.
From Adrian
| Sunrise | Sunset | Moon Phases | Venus Sets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st – 5:44am | 1st – 8:33pm | Last Quarter – 8th | 1st – 11:02pm |
| 10th – 5:29am | 10th – 8:47pm | New Moon – 15th | 10th – 11:25pm |
| 20th – 5:14am | 20th – 9:02pm | First Quarter – 22nd | 20th – 11:44pm |
| 30th – 5:04am | 30th – 9:14pm | Full Moon – 29th | 30th – 11:54pm |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Moon Rise | Moon Set | Moon Rise | Moon Set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st – 10:05pm | 1st – 6:56am | 16th – 6:26am | 16th – 10:06pm |
| 2nd – 11:08pm | 2nd – 7:27am | 17th – 7:09am | 17th – 11:18pm |
| 4th – 12:06am | 3rd – 8:03am | 18th – 8:02am | 19th – 12:21am |
| 5th – 12:57am | 4th – 8:44am | 19th – 9:05pm | 20th – 1:13am |
| 6th - 1:42am | 5th – 9:32am | 20th – 10:15am | 21st – 1:55am |
| 7th – 2:00am | 6th - 10:26am | 21st – 11:30am | 22nd – 2:29am (FQ) |
| 8th – 2:53am (LQ) | 7th – 11:24am | 22nd – 12:46pm (FQ) | 23rd – 2:58am |
| 9th – 3:21am | 8th – 12:26pm (LQ) | 23rd – 2:01pm | 24th – 3:23am |
| 10th – 3:46am | 9th – 1:31pm | 24th – 3:14pm | 25th – 3:46am |
| 11th – 4:10am | 10th – 2:38pm | 25th – 4:26pm | 26th – 4:09am |
| 12th – 4:32am | 11th – 3:47pm | 26th – 5:36pm | 27th – 4:32am |
| 13th – 4:56am | 12th – 4:59pm | 27th – 6:45pm | 28th – 4:58am |
| 14th – 5:22am | 13th – 6:14pm | 28th – 7:52pm | 29th – 5:27am (Full) |
| 15th – 5:51am (New) | 14th – 7:30pm | 29th – 8:57pm (Full) | 30th - 6:00am |
| --------------- | 15th – 8:49pm (New) | 30th - 9:57pm | -------------- |
At 10:30pm on the 1st, Jupiter will be 15 degrees to the upper right of the rising Moon in the south eastern sky. At the same time in the WNW, Venus will be just 4 degrees above the horizon.
Comet C/2016 N6 Panstarrs this month lies in the northern constellation of Lynx. Its last observable magnitude was 12 (April 3rd) On the 1st it will be 2.945AU from the Earth. Its at perihelion in mid-July. For further information please see 'Comets' and 'Constellations' in the website above.
On the 4th at 5:00am looking southwards, Saturn will be 8 degrees to the left of the Moon. Jupiter will also be low in the south west, with Mars in the SSE.
In the early hours around an hour before dawn during this month the asteroid Vesta will be 6 – 7 degrees to the upper right of Saturn. On the morning of the 4th Vesta will also be 5 degrees to the upper left of the Moon. For further information please see 'Asteroids' and 'Sky Chart' in the website above.
At 5:00am on the 5th, Saturn will be just 4 degrees to the right of the Moon with Mars 13 degrees to the left of it.
There is a scheduled launch on the 5th* at 11:10am* of an Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) is the first mission (to last at least 2 years) is to explore Mar's deep interior. Its targeting a landing in Elysium Planitia area of Mars. This NASA Discovery Program mission will be the first interplanetary launch from the West Coast.
On the 6th at 5:00am the planet Mars will be just 2 degrees to the lower left of the Moon.
The Eta Aquariids meteor shower reaches its peak on the 6th.
In the SSE at 4:45am on the 7th, Mars will be 10 degrees to the right of the Moon.
Jupiter and its moons are at its best to view this month. It will be at opposition on the 9th. At 1:05am it will be due south.
There is a planned launch on the 9th* from Wallops Island, Virginia of an Orbital ATK Antares rocket to the International Space Station (ISS). Its mission is to deliver over three metric tons of cargo to the ISS as the first of two planned Orbital-ATK resupply missions in 2018 under an extension to the original Commercial Resupply Services contract to bridge a gap until CRS-2 enters operations.
On the 10th at 4:30am in the ESE, Neptune will be 4 degrees to the upper left of the crescent Moon and just 1 degree to the above right of the 4th magnitude star Phi Aquarii in the constellation of Aquarius. For further information please see 'Constellations' in the website above.
The Eta Lyrids meteor shower reaches its peak on the 10th.
At 4:45am on the 11th Neptune will be 10 degrees to the upper right of the crescent Moon.
On the 12th at 4:40am the crescent Moon will be just above the eastern horizon. This will probably be the last time you will see it until a few days time when it will be setting in the evenings after the Sun.
Comet C/2016R2 Panstarrs will be at perihelion on the 9th when it will be 2.602AU from the Sun. From the 10th - 14th around 10:00pm, Comet C/2016R2 Panstarrs will lie midway between the two brightest stars Capella and Menkalinan in the constellation of Auriga in the evening sky in the north west. Its last observable magnitude was 12 (April 3rd). It is at perihelion in June. For further information please see 'Comets' and 'Constellations' in the website above.
Mercury and Uranus are just 3 degrees apart on the morning of the 14th and only just above the eastern horizon at 5:00am. Unfortunately with the Sun rising at 5:23am they unlikely to be seen.
Venus is at perihelion (its closest to the Sun in its orbit) on the 15th
On the 16th at 9:30pm a very thin crescent Moon will be 3 degrees above the western horizon and 16 degrees below right of the bright shining Venus. An occultation of the bright star Aldebaran occurs today though it will only visible from a part of north Russia, Greenland and Northern Canada.
At 9:30pm on the 17th a thin crescent Moon will be just 4½ degrees to the lower left of the planet Venus.
There is a planned launch on the 18th* from Guiana Space Center, French Guiana of an Ariane rocket. It will put the GSAT-11 and Intelsat 38 communications satellites into Geostationary Transfer Orbit. GSAT-11 is India’s largest and most-powerful communications satellite to date, weighing 5,725 Kilograms and utilizing the new I-6K satellite platform designed for satellites in the six-metric-ton class.
On the 18th at 11:30pm the 4th magnitude star Mekbuda in the constellation of Gemini will be just 1 degree above the crescent Moon.
On the night of 19th at 12:50am the bright stars Castor and Pollux point the way to the slowly setting Moon.
At 11:00pm on the 21st the bright star Regulus in the constellation of Leo is just 2½ degrees to the left of the Moon.
On the 24th at midnight the 2.7 magnitude star Porrima in the constellation of Virgo will be just 1½ degrees to the lower left of the Moon.
Just after 1:00am on the night of the 25th the Moon will lie approx halfway between the bright star Spica and the 3rd magnitude star Zeta Virginus in Virgo.
At midnight on the 26th Jupiter will be 11½ degrees to the lower left of the Moon.
From 4:30am between the 27th - 30th Comet C/2016 M1 PANSTARRS will lie midway between Mars and Saturn in the south. It is at its closest to Earth in June and at perihelion on the 10th August.
Its last observable magnitude was 11.5 (April 3rd). For further information please see 'Comets' and 'Constellations' in the website above.
On the 27th at 10:30pm Jupiter will be just 3 degrees to the lower right of the Moon. At the same time the 2.7 magnitude star Zubenelgenubi in the constellation of Libra will be just 1¼ degrees to the right of Jupiter.
During the late evenings around 11:00pm from the 28th May - 8th June the asteroid Ceres will be in the western sky. On the 3rd June it will be very close to the 3rd magnitude star Epsilon Leonis in the constellation of Leo which is at the opposite end of the reversed “?” to where the brighter star Regulus is.
On the 29th the Moon will be due south east at 10:15pm.
At midnight on the 30th Saturn will be just 5½ degrees above the south east horizon with the Moon 12½ degrees to above right of it.
On the 31st at midnight, Saturn will be just 1 degree below the Moon which is 7 degrees above the south east horizon.
Fact: John Watts Young (b.1930) enjoyed the longest career of any astronaut. He became the first person to make six space flights over the course of 42 years and is the only person to have piloted, and been commander of four different classes of spacecraft: Gemini, the Apollo Command/Service Module, the Apollo Lunar Module and the Space Shuttle.
News: On April 5th it was announced that a “Luxury Space Hotel” will be launched into space. Space tourists will have a new orbital destination four years from now, if one company's plans come to fruition. Orion Span aims to launch its “Aurora Station” in late 2021 and begin accommodating guests in 2022. It will be the first affordable luxury space hotel – How much I hear you ask? - Well a 12 day stay aboard the Aurora Station will start from $9.5 million. Anyone interested? Well I am, its just a matter about the cost? Though if (that's a big if) I win the Euromillions I wouldn't think twice – I would just go. I've been 7 miles up in Concorde. At least another 43 miles to go to get into outer space then beyond. (My 12 day mission will be …..to seek out new civilizations and to boldly go where no man as gone before. Well!!! Anybody got some spare cash???) From 2001 – 2009 seven private citizens took a total of eight trips to the International Space Station (ISS) paying an estimated $20 million to $40 million each time.
The April night sky
Hi All
Here is the astronomy news for April.
From Adrian Zielonka
Astronomy News
Night Sky 2018 – April
| Sunrise | Sunset | Mercury Rises | Venus Sets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st – 6:47am | 1st – 7:44pm | 5th – 6:19am | 1st – 9:29pm |
| 10th – 6:27am | 10th – 7:58pm | 10th – 6:02am | 10th – 9:58pm |
| 20th – 6:06am | 20th – 8:15pm | 15th – 5:49am | 20th – 10:29pm |
| 30th – 5:46am | 30th – 8:31pm | 20th – 5:37am | 30th – 11:00pm |
| Moon Rise | Moon Set | Moon Rise | Moon Set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st - 8:55pm | 1st – 7:37am | 16th – 6:55am (New) | 16th – 8:37pm (New) |
| 2nd - 10:06pm | 2nd - 8:02am | 17th – 7:22am | 17th – 9:54pm |
| 3rd | 3rd – 8:28am | 18th – 7:54am | 18th – 11:09pm |
| 5th – 12:19am | 4th – 8:57am | 19th – 8:31am | 20th – 12:22am |
| 6th – 1:19am | 5th – 9:30am | 20th – 9:17am | 21st – 1:28am |
| 7th – 2:14am | 6th – 10:08am | 21st – 10:12am | |
| 8th – 3:02am (LQ) | 7th – 10:52am | 22nd – 11:16am (FQ) | 22nd – 2:26am (FQ) |
| 9th – 3:44am | 8th – 11:42am (LQ) | 23rd – 12:27pm | 23rd – 3:13am |
| 10th - 4:20am | 9th – 12:38pm | 24th – 1:41pm | 24th – 3:52am |
| 11th – 4:51am | 10th – 1:38pm | 25th – 2:56pm | 25th – 4:24am |
| 12th – 5:19am | 11th – 2:42pm | 26th – 4:11pm | 26th – 4:52am |
| 13th – 5:44am | 12th – 3:49pm | 27th – 5:25pm | 27th – 5:16am |
| 14th – 6:07am | 13th – 4:58pm | 28th – 6:37pm | 28th – 5:40am |
| 15th – 6:31am | 14th – 6:09pm | 29th – 7:48pm | 29th – 6:04am |
| 15th – 7:22pm | 30th – 8:58pm (Full) | 30th – 6:28am (Full) |
A useful site: Heaven Above for satellite predictions and other astronomical data customised for your location.
A S Zielonka
There is a scheduled launch sometime this month* from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as part of an Iridium commercial satellite launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. GRACE-FO (GRACE Follow-On), a partnership between NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), is a successor to the GRACE mission, which tracks Earth's gravity field and water movement.
There is a planned launch this month* from Xichang, China. A Chinese Long March 3B rocket will launch the APStar-6C commercial communications satellite for APT Satellite Company Ltd under an end-to-end contract signed with China Great Wall Industry Corp (CGWIC).
Comet C/2016 N6 Panstarrs will be in the northern constellation of Camelopardalis this month. Its last observable magnitude was 12.5 (Mar 12th) It reaches perihelion this July. For further information please see 'Comets' and 'Constellations' in the website above.
For the first week this month before dawn Comet 24P Schaumasse will be approximately half way between the two bright stars Sabik and Zeta Ophiuchi in the constellation of Ophiuchus. Its last known magnitude was 13 (Mar 12th). For further information please see 'Comets' and 'Constellations' in the website above.
Mercury is at inferior conjunction on the 1st. It also rises no more than 30 minutes before the Sun this month and is unlikely to be seen in the dawn sky unless conditions are very favourable.
From the 1st - 5th at 5:45am in the SSE, Saturn and Mars will be no more than 2 degrees apart. On the 3rd they will be just 1¼ degrees apart with Saturn just above Mars.
There is a scheduled launch on the 2nd* at 9:30pm* from Cape Canaveral, Florida of a SpaceX Falcon 9 FT rocket (Possible Re-Use). It will launch the 14th operational Dragon cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) with supplies and equipment. The Falcon 9 first stage will attempt a Return to Launch Site recovery via a powered landing in Cape Canaveral's Landing Zone1.
At 5:00am in the SSW on the 3rd, Jupiter will be 7 degrees to the lower left of the Moon in the constellation of Libra. At the same time 13 degrees above the SSE horizon, Mars will be 1½ degrees below the planet Saturn in Sagittarius.
On the 4th at 5:30am in the SSW, Jupiter will be 7 degrees to the lower right of the Moon.
The Moon will lie approximately midway between Saturn in the SSE and Jupiter in the SSW on the morning of the 5th.
There is a planned launch on the 5th* from Kennedy Space Center of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Its payload is a 3.5 metric ton Bangabandhu-1 communications satellite for the Bangladash Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), becoming the first geostationary communications satellite operated by the small Asian nation.
The Serpentids meteor shower reaches its peak on the evening of the 5th.
On the 6th Saturn will be 16 degrees to the lower left of the Moon with Mars 2½ degrees lower left of Saturn.
At 5:30am on the 7th, Saturn will be 4 degrees to the lower left of the Moon with Mars just under 3 degrees ton the lower right of Saturn.
At around the same time also on the 7th the asteroid Vesta is 5½ degrees to the upper right of the Moon. For further information please see 'Asteroids' and 'Star Chart' in the website above.
On the 8th at 5:30am in the SSE, Mars will be 5½ degrees to the right of the Moon with Saturn just 3 degrees to the upper right of Mars.
On the 9th at 4:50am the Moon will be due south east and just 7 degrees above the horizon.
During the evenings between the 10th - 18th the asteroid Ceres will pass within ½ a degree of the 4th magnitude star Iota Cancri in the constellation of Cancer which is approximately halfway between Castor in Gemini and the top of the back to front '?' in the Leo constellation. For further information please see 'Asteroids' and 'Star Chart' in the website above.
From 5:00am on the 11th the crescent Moon will be just above the ESE horizon.
There is a planned launch on the 12th* from Cape Canaveral, Florida of an Atlas V rocket. The Air Force Space Command 11 Mission for the U.S. Air Force, utilizing the heavy-lift Atlas V 551 configuration with five Solid Rocket Boosters on the vehicle's first stage. Its mission will fly an as-of-yet undisclosed primary payload and a number of secondary payloads hosted on the ESPA Augmented Geostationary Laboratory Experiment (EAGLE).
On the 12th at 5:40am the crescent Moon will be due ESE and just 2 degrees above the horizon. Neptune is also just above the eastern horizon and 10 degrees to the left of the Moon.
There is a scheduled launch planned for the 16th* at 1:32pm* of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is an all-sky survey mission that will discover thousands of exoplanets around nearby stars. It will host an array of telescopes designed to focus the nearest 200 Light Years from Earth for exoplanet candidates.
Saturn reaches aphelion (its most distant from the Sun in its orbit on the 17th.
On the 17th at 8:45pm a very thin crescent Moon will be 7 degrees to the lower left of Venus in the west.
Uranus is at superior conjunction with the Sun on the 18th.
At 9:00pm on the 18th Venus will be 12 degrees to the lower right of the crescent Moon
On the 19th* there is a planned launch from Guiana Space Center, French Guiana of an Ariane 5 rocket. GSAT-11 and Intelsat 38 communications satellites will be put into Geostationary Transfer Orbit. GSAT-11 is India’s largest and most-powerful communications satellite to date. Intelsat 38 / Azerspace-2, built by Space Systems Loral, will be operated by Intelsat and Azercosmos.
An occultation of the bright star Aldebaran in Taurus by the Moon occurs on the 19th . Unfortunately it will only be seen from parts of Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia.
On the 19th at 9:30pm the crescent Moon will be due west.
In the west after 9:00pm from the 20th - 23rd, Comet C/2016 R2 Panstarrs will be passing 1 degree to the above right of the 3.69 magnitude star Zeta Aurigae Its last observed magnitude was 11 (Mar 12th). For further information please see 'Comets' and 'Constellations' in the website above. It will be at perihelion in early May.
On the 21st the asteroid 7 Iris will be within a 1/4 of a degree from the 3rd magnitude star Zeta Tauri in Taurus constellation. For further information please see 'Asteroids' and 'Sky Charts in the website above.
There is a planned launch on the 22nd* from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. A Russian government-operated Proton-M rocket with Briz-M upper stage will launch the second of four planned Blagovest dual-use communications satellites. The satellites are used for high-speed Internet services, TV distribution, radio broadcasting and voice/video networking.
At 9:00pm on the 22nd the two bright stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini point the way to the Moon.
The Lyrids meteor shower reaches its peak on the evening of the 22nd.
The Puppids meteor shower reaches its peak on the evening of the 23rd.
On the 24th at 9:00pm the bright star Regulus in Leo is less than ½ a degree below from the Moon. An occultation of the bright star Regulus (Leo) occurs just befor sunset today. This will only be visible from a small area of central North Russia.
There is a planned launch on the 25th* from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia. A Russian Rockot Booster – a converted UR-100N ballistic missile topped by a Briz-KM upper stage – will launch the Sentinel-3B satellite operated by ESA under the European Commission’s Copernicus Earth Observation Program. The Sentinel-3 satellites are the most-heavily instrumented satellites flying under Copernicus, hosting four instruments to deliver accurate data on land and ocean colour and topography as well as sea and land surface temperature with a rapid global revisit time and fast data availability for use in operational applications.
Low in the WSW during the evening of 26th the asteroid 2 Pallas will be 1½ degrees from the 2.7 magnitude star Cursa in the constellation of Eridanus which is 3½ degrees from the brightest star - Rigel in Orion. For further information please see 'Asteroids' and 'Sky Charts in the website above.
At 9:00pm on the 27th the 2.74 magnitude star Porrima in Virgo is just 1½ degrees to the right of the Moon.
Mercury reaches maximum western elongation from the Sun on the 29th. Mercury rises at 5:20am on this day.
At midnight on the 29th Jupiter will be 11 degrees to the lower left of the Moon and at 5:00am on the following morning they will be just 9 degrees apart.
At 10:00pm on the 30th Jupiter will be just 3½ degrees to the right of the Full Moon.
* = Dates and times are subject to change.
Facts: Frank Borman was a hero of the American Space Odyssey. He led the first team of American astronauts to circle the Moon, extending man's horizons into space. He is internationally known as the Commander of the 1968 Apollo 8 mission. A romance with airplanes that began when he was just 15 years old, took Frank Borman to the Air Force then to NASA.
News: Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will provide prime targets for further, more detailed characterization with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as well as other large ground-based and space-based telescopes of the future. TESS stars will be 30-100 times brighter than those surveyed by the Kepler satellite. It will comprise the most favorable targets for detailed investigations in the coming decades.
News Extra: For those of us stuck in light polluted areas there is a webcam operated by the Shetland tourist board: Shetland web cams. Cliff Cam 3 looks north from Sumburgh Head. On a clear winters night you may get a good chance to get a glimpse of the Northern Lights or in the coming months view the seabird colonies as they rest on the cliff's edge.
The March night sky
March Night Sky 2018
Sunrise
1st – 6:56am
5th – 6:47am
10th – 6:36am
15th – 6:25am
20th – 6:14am
25th – 7:03am
30th – 6:52am
Sunset
1st – 5:52pm
5th – 5:59pm
10th – 6:07pm
15th – 6:15pm
20th – 6:24pm
25th – 7:32pm
30th – 7:40pm
Mercury Sets
1st – 6:43pm
5th – 7:10pm
10th – 7:40pm
15th – 7:59pm
20th – 8:00pm
25th – 8:40pm
30th – 8:03pm
Venus Sets
1st – 6:51pm
5th – 7:03pm
10th – 7:19pm
15th – 7:35pm
20th – 7:51pm
25th – 9:06pm
30th – 9:22pm
Moon Rise
1st – 5:17pm
2nd – 6:35pm (Full)
3rd – 7:51pm
4th – 9:05pm
5th – 10:16pm
6th – 11:24pm
8th – 12:30am
9th – 1:32am (LQ)
10th – 2:29am
11th – 3:21am
12th – 4:07am
13th – 4:46am
14th – 5:20am
15th – 5:50am
16th – 6:17am
17th – 6:41am (New)
18th – 7:05am
Moon Set
1st – 6:50am
2nd – 7:21am (Full)
3rd – 7:48am
4th – 8:13am
5th – 8:38am
6th – 9:03am
7th – 9:30am
8th – 10:00am
9th – 10:35am (LQ)
10th – 11:15am
11th – 12:01pm
12th – 12:54pm
13th – 1:51pm
14th – 2:53pm
15th – 3:59pm
16th – 5:07pm
17th – 6:16pm (New)
18th – 7:27pm
Moon Rise
19th – 7:28am
20th – 7:54am
21st – 8:22am
22nd – 8:54am
23rd – 9:34am
24th – 10:22am (FQ)
25th – 12:19pm
26th – 1:25pm
27th – 2:38pm
28th – 3:54pm
29th – 5:11pm
30th - 6:27pm
31st - 7:42pm (Full)
Moon Set
19th – 8:40pm
20th – 9:53pm
21st – 11:07pm
23rd – 12:20am
24th – 1:29am (FQ)
25th – 3:32am
26th – 4:26am
27th – 5:11am
28th – 5:49am
29th – 6:20am
30th - 6:48am
31st – 7:13am (Full)
Clocks + 1Hr
on the night of
24th March
All times in Notes
are set for
Somerton,
unless stated
A useful site: Heavens-Above.com
Satellite predictions and other astronomical data customised for your location.
A S Zielonka
There is a scheduled launch soon after midnight* on the 28th February* of an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It will be the second satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES).
There is a planned launch sometime this month from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan of the Russian Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft. It will carry the new 'Expedition 55' crew members to the International Space Station (ISS). They are NASA astronauts A J (Drew) Feustal and Ricky Arnold and of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Oleg Artemyev. (See below for details)
An Occultation of Regulus by the Moon occurs on the morning of the 1st. It will disappear behind the Moon at approximately 6:09:58am (as set from Yeovilton). The Moon will be setting at 6:50am as the Sun rises at 6:56am. By 9:00pm the Moon will be 11 degrees from Regulus.
In the west at 9:00pm from the 1st - 3rd, Comet C/2016 R2 Panstarrs will be 2 – 2 ½ degrees to the left of the 2.84 magnitude star Zeta Persei in the constellation of the Perseids. Its last observed magnitude was 11.5 (Feb 12th). It will be at perihelion in early May. For further information please see 'Comets' and 'Constellations' in the website above.
In the south between 5:00 – 6:00am from the 1st - 4th, Comet 24P Schaumasse will be 1½ - 2 degrees below the 2.5 magnitude star Zeta Ophiuchi in the constellation of Ophiuchus. Its last known magnitude was 12 (Feb 12th). For further information please see 'Comets' and 'Constellations' in the website above.
Mercury will be no more than 4 degrees away from Venus during the first three weeks of March. They will be low in the west from 6:45pm at the start of the month. You will be have to be very unlucky not to see Mercury this period. From the 1st - 6th they will be no more than 2 degrees apart. On the 4th they will be at their closest at just 1 degree. For further information please see 'Sky Chart' in the website above.
Low in the east between 5:00 – 6:00pm from the 2nd - 4th, Comet C/2017 T1 Heinze will be 2 – 2½ degrees from the 2.38 magnitude star Enif in the constellation of Pegasus. Its last known magnitude was 9 (Feb 12th). For further information please see 'Comets' and 'Constellations' in the website above.
At 11:00pm on the night 3rd, the 2.74 magnitude star Porrima in the constellation of Virgo will be 1½ degrees below the Moon. At midnight they will be just 1 degree apart.
Neptune is at superior conjunction with the Sun on the 4th.
On the 4th at 11:00pm the Moon will be in between the bright stars Spica (1st Magnitude) and Zeta Virginis (3.38 magnitude) in the constellation of Virgo.
On the night of the 5th at 12:20am, Jupiter will be just 1 degree above the ESE horizon with the Moon 18 degrees to the upper right of it.
On the night of the 6th at 12:20am, Jupiter will be just 2 degrees above the ESE horizon with the Moon 6 degrees above it.
At 12:45am on the night of the 7th the Moon will be just above the ESE horizon with Jupiter 11 degrees to the upper right of it.
On the 8th around 6:00am looking southwards you will see in a staggered line, Saturn, Mars, Moon and Jupiter between the SSE and the SSW.
At 5:45am on the 9th, Mars will be 11 degrees to the lower left of the Moon.
Mercury is at perihelion (closest to the Sun in its orbit) on the 10th.
The Moon on the 10th at 5:30am will be in the SSE with Saturn, 10 degrees to the lower left and Mars, 3½ degrees to the lower right of it.
At 5:30am on the 11th, Saturn will be just 2½ degrees to the right of the crescent Moon.
On the 12th at 5:10am the crescent Moon will be due south east with Saturn, 15½ degrees to the upper right of it.
Comet C/2016 N6 Panstarrs is at it closest to Earth during 11th and 12th when it will be in the constellation of Camelopardalis and 2.601AU from us. Its last observable magnitude was 13 (12th Feb) It reaches perihelion this July. For further information please see 'Comets' and 'Constellations' in the website above.
At 6:00am on the 13th the thin crescent Moon will be due south east.
Comet 62P Tsuchinshan will be in the constellation of Virgo this month. It will be at its closest to earth from 14th - 19th March at a distance of 1.025AU. Its last known observed magnitude was 12.
On the 14th very thin crescent Moon will be just above the ESE horizon from 5:30pm.
Mercury is at maximum eastern elongation from the Sun on the 15th.
There is a scheduled launch on the 18th* from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Its payload are ten Iridium-NEXT mobile communications satellites which will be put into Low Earth Orbit in the continued effort to replace the entire heritage Iridium constellation with upgraded satellites supporting global communications, aeronautical monitoring and ship tracking.
From 6:50pm on the 18th and low in the west, a very thin crescent Moon will be slowly setting with Venus, 5 degrees to the upper right of it, and Mercury 4 degrees to the upper right of Venus. This will be a very good chance to see the inner planets near the Moon.
In the west on the 18th and 19th between 9:00pm and midnight, Comet 185P Petriew will be just a couple of degrees to the left of the 3.61 magnitude star Omicron Tauri in the constellation of Taurus. Its last known observable magnitude was 11.5 (12th Feb).
As the sky darkens around 7:00pm on the 19th the thin crescent Moon will be less than a degree to the left of the 4.45 magnitude star Nu Piscium in the Pisces constellation. (For further information please see 'Constellations' in the website above).
At 7:00pm on the 19th, Uranus will be 5½ degrees to the upper right of the thin crescent Moon. Uranus will be approximately 1½ degrees to the right of the 4.2 magnitude star Omicron Piscium in the constellation of Pisces. (For further information please see 'Constellations' in the website above). The Moon will also be 12½ degrees to the upper left of Venus which is due west. Mercury will be 4 degrees to the upper right of Venus.
There is a scheduled launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The targeted date for launch is the 20th*. Its payload is NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Its an all-sky survey mission that will discover thousands of exoplanets around nearby bright stars.
On the 20th from 7:00pm till when the Moon sets it will be in the constellation of Cetus between the two 4th magnitude stars Mu Ceti and Xi Ceti which are 5 degrees apart. (For further information please see 'Constellations' in the website above).
The Pleiades star cluster will be 13 degrees above the Moon at 7:00pm on the 21st.
From 10:00pm on the on the 22nd the Moon will be 1 degree or less from Aldebaran in Taurus. An Occultation of Aldebaran by the Moon occurs this evening. It disappears behind the Moon at 11:40:56pm (as set from Yeovilton) when the Moon is just 5 degrees above the WNW horizon.
On the 24th at 10:00pm the Moon will be just 1 degree to the left of the 4th magnitude star Nu Geminorum in the constellation of Gemini. (For further information please see 'Constellations' in the website above).
From 8:30pm on the 28th low in the west there is a very close conjunction between Venus and Uranus. The star Omicron Piscium (4.2 magnitude) in the constellation of Pisces will be 1 degree to the left of Venus.
The Moon will be 4½ degrees to the lower left of the bright star Regulus in the constellation of Leo at 9:00pm on the 28th. There is also an Occultation of Regulus by the Moon which will only be seen from parts of Scandinavia and Russia.
At 6:00am on the 31st, Saturn will be just 2 degrees to the upper left of Mars low in the SSE.
At 11:00pm on the 31st the Moon will be 3 degrees above the 4th magnitude star Theta Virginis in the constellation of Virgo.
There are further launches also planned from Satish Dhawan, India; French Guiana; Xi Chang, China.
* = Dates and times are subject to change.
Fact: The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada was completed in 1918. The glass mirror, 73 inches in diameter and 12 inches thick, weighed approximately 4,340lbs and was made by the Saint-Gobain company in Antwerp, Belgium and shipped just a week before the start of World War 1. It was then ground in the United States at the John A Brashear company in Pittsburgh. The mirror had to be reground twice which added 2 years to the completion time of the telescope. The completed mirror was hauled up Little Saanich Mountain by horse and wagon.
News: The satellite Hayabusa 2 which was launched in December 2014 for the asteroid Ryugu is expected to arrive at its target in July this year. It will survey the asteroid for 1½ years, then in December 2019 it will leave for Earth. Operations at the asteroid will be similar to those of the previous Hayabusa, but with an explosive device to dig the surface for fresh sample material to bring back to Earth in 2020.
NASA News: Andrew J Feustal has a Ph.D in the Geological sciences, specializing in Seismology, and is a veteran of two spaceflights. His first was on the final space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope that improved the observatories capabilities.
Richard R Arnold worked in the marine sciences and as a teacher in places like Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. He currently serves as the assistant to the Chief for EVA and Robotics in the Astronaut Office
Oleg Artemyev was born in Riga, present-day Latvia in December 1970 and is married to Malikhova Anna Sergeevna and they have a son. He was involved in developing testing procedures for Extra-vehicular Activity (EVA) equipment in neutral buoyancy at the hydrodynamics laboratory, Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre.
The Febuary night sky
I am sorry but due to technical reasons the notes for this months will not appear. Apologies to all and I will make sure the notes for March will be added.
The January night sky
Full Moon – 2nd
Last Quarter – 8th
New Moon – 17th
First Quarter – 24th
Full Moon – 31st
Mercury reaches greatest western elongation from the Sun on the 1st.
On the morning of the 2nd, Comet 24P Schaumasse (12 magnitude as on 11th Dec) will be just inside the constellation of Virgo and less than 1 degree from the 3.87 magnitude star mu Virginis. (for further details please visit website above)
From the 3rd – 6th Comet C/2016 R2 Panstarrs will be passing very close to the 3.65 magnitude star gamma Tauri in the constellation of Taurus. On the 5th it will be at its closest to the star and 2.088 AU from the Earth. It was at 10 magnitude on 11th Dec. A star chart and four daily positions will show its location for 9:00pm. This will be sent separately to this newsletter as 2/3. It is at perihelion in June 2018. (Strong binoculars or telescope will be best for viewing this)
Comet C/2017 T1 Heinze is at its closest to the Earth on 3rd/4th. It will be just 0.223AU from us which is less than a quarter of the distance to the Sun. It was at 14th magnitude on the 11th Dec. It may brighten somewhat as it approaches the Sun. This month it will pass through the constellations of Lynx, Camelopardalis, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Lacerta and Pegasus in the northern hemisphere. It will reach perihelion on the 21st February. (For further details please visit website above)
The Quadrantid meteor shower reaches its peak on the night of the 3rd/4th. The full Moon may be a hindrance to all but the bright ones.
In the mornings between the 3rd and the 10th, Mars and Jupiter will be no more than 2 degrees apart. At 6:30am they will be in the SSE.
On the 4th at midnight the bright star Regulus will be just 4 degrees to the lower left of the Moon.
An occultation of the Regulus by the Moon occurs on the morning of the 5th starting at 7:50am and would be visible from Somerset except that the sky will be beginning to brighten just beforehand. If you arise in the morning before its too light, do look towards the western sky to see the Moon slowly getting closer to Regulus.
Around 6:00am on the 7th look for Jupiter and Mars in the south eastern sky. There are in an extremely close conjunction together. In fact they may seem to touch one another. At 6:30am they will be in the SSE and 20 degrees above the horizon.
At 11:35pm on the 7th the Moon will be just 1 degree above the horizon and due East.
Pluto is at superior conjunction with the Sun on the 9th.
Venus is in conjunction with the Sun on the 9th and is not visible this month.
On the night of the 10th, Comet 62P Tsuchinshan will be in the Virgo constellation. At 2:00am it will be in a straight line with 1st magnitude star Spica and the 3.38 magnitude star zeta Virginis. It will be about 3 degrees to the upper left of zeta Virginis. In mid-February it will be at its closest to Earth at a distance of 1.025AU. It was at 12 magnitude on 11th Dec. (A telescope will be best for viewing this) For further details please visit website above.
On the 10th at 6:30am, Jupiter will be 13 degrees to the lower left of the Moon with Mars 1½ degrees lower left of Jupiter.
At 6:30am on the 11th, the Moon will be in SSE. Jupiter and Mars will be just 1½ degrees apart and below the Moon. Jupiter being 3½ degrees and Mars 4½ degrees away from the Moon.
On the 12th at 6:30am, Mars will be 9½ degrees to the right of the crescent Moon with Jupiter, 2 degrees to the upper right of Mars.
On the 13th at 6:13am the crescent Moon will be due south east. At 7:30am, Saturn and Mercury are in close conjunction and due south east, and 4 degrees above the horizon. Mercury will be ½ degree below Saturn.
On the 14th at 7:00am the thin crescent Moon will be in the SE with Saturn just 1 degree above the horizon and 9 degrees to the lower left of the Moon. At 7:15am, Saturn will be 3 degrees above the horizon with Mercury, 2 degrees to the lower left of it.
At 7:15am on the 15th a very thin crescent Moon will be 3 degrees above the south eastern horizon with Saturn 3½ degrees to the right of it and Mercury, 2 degrees midway below them, forming a nice triangle.
On the evening of the 16th* between 9:00pm and 9:35pm there is a scheduled launch of Epsilon Asnaro 2 from Uchinoura Space Centre, Japan. With a mass of 570 kilograms, it can deliver all-weather, round-the-clock radar imagery at a ground sample distance of one metre and an observable width of 10km.
On the 18th a very thin crescent Moon will be seen low in the south western sky from around 5:20pm till it sets soon after 6:00pm.
At 5:16pm on the 19th the Moon will be due south west.
On the 20th at 5:45pm, Neptune will be 3 degrees directly above the Moon and 1 degree to the above left of the 3.74 magnitude star Hudoor (Ekchusus) in the constellation of Aquarius.
At 7:30pm on the 23rd, Uranus will be 7 degrees directly above the Moon.
Venus reaches aphelion (its most distant from the Sun in its orbit) on the 23rd.
On the 24th at 6:45pm, Uranus will be 10½ degrees directly to the right of the Moon.
At 7:00pm on the 25th the Moon will be due south.
On the 25th* there is a planned launch of an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. It will carry a pair of commercial satellites (SES 14 & Al Yah 3) into Geostationary Transfer Orbit. SES 14 is an all electric satellite built by Airbus Defence and Space and carries NASA's Global-Scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) instrument designed to study the interactions of Earth's thermosphere with the solar wind. Al Yah 3, built by Orbital ATK, hosts a powerful Ka-Band payload delivering 58 spot beams to deliver broadband services to Africa and Brazil.
On the 27th at 6:00pm the bright star Aldebaran in Taurus will be 5 degrees to the upper right of the Moon. An occultation of Aldebaran by the Moon occurs this day but will only be seen from Alaska and most of Asia.
Comet185P Petriew will be at perihelion on the 27th and will travel through the constellations of Capricornus and Aquarius this month. It will be nearest to earth mid-February. This is currently a very faint object. (If I notice that this or the other comets change brightness I will try to let you know)
At 6:15pm on the 30th the Moon will be in a straight line with the bright stars Castor and Pollox in Gemini.
A “Total Eclipse of the Moon” occurs on the 31st. Unfortunately it will not be seen here in the UK, Western Europe or South America. At 5:30pm the Full Moon will be 2 degrees above the horizon and due ENE.
By the 31st, Venus sets just 17 minutes after the Sun so its likely to be seen this month until early to mid-February when the planet will become more evident in the evening sky as dusk sets in. It seems a long time since we had some bright planets to view during the evenings.