Podcaster: Ralph & Paul
Title : Awesome Astronomy’s March Sky Guide
Organization: Awesome Astronomy
Link : www.awesomeastronomy.com
Description: What to look out, and up, for in March.
For the beginners this month we take a look at perhaps the most recognisable constellation of them all: Ursa Major, the Great Bear. In the Great Bear we go hunting for the easiest binary star in the sky and a host of big bright galaxies.
Next Jeni rounds up the planets that are visible in December: Mars, Jupiter & ever more brief views of Saturn, before taking a look at this month’s moon phases – with a few conjunctions with Mars Saturn & bright star Antares.
Finally we take the unlitmate tour of easy and more difficult galaxies as we explore the rich bounty of the constellation Leo the Lion.
Bio: Awesome Astronomy is the show for anyone and everyone who has even the slightest interest in astronomy and science.
Join Ralph, Paul & Jeni for informative and fun astronomy programs telling you what to look out (and up) for every month as well as a main show dedicated to space and astronomy news. You can be guaranteed a passion for astronomy, simple explanations of complex and fundamental topics, space and science discussions, absorbing interviews with astronomers and astronauts who make the news and answers to listeners’ space questions.
Today’s sponsor: This episode of “365 Days of Astronomy” is sponsored by — no one. We still need sponsors for many days in 2015, so please consider sponsoring a day or two. Just click on the “Donate” button on the lower left side of this webpage, or contact us at signup@365daysofastronomy.org.
Transcript:
Paul: Paul: March! For the true British amongst you the beginning of the New Year approaches, for everyone else the beginning of spring as we arrive at spring equinox and the official astronomical start of the new season. This means we end the month with days longer than the night and we begin to slowly leave those long dark cold nights behind us. This month we have some great objects for you to track down to take advantage of those last long nights, but before we look at that, what have you got lined up for the beginners in March Ralph
Ralph: Thanks Paul. So for the beginners’ guide this month we’ll take a look at one of the most famous and useful constellations in the sky, Ursa Major or the Great Bear. Famous because it has within it seven stars that are recognisable to almost everyone, young and old. Known in North America as the Big Dipper, in Asia as the Northern Ladle and in Europe as the Plough or the Saucepan, it’s not hard to see why it gained these colloquial names. And it’s useful because it serves to locate so many points in the sky:
The two stars at the opposite end of the plough to the handle, Merak and Dubhe, are known as the Pointer Stars because they point to the Pole Star that sits practically at true north. And this will be the first port of call for anyone using an equatorial mount, so they can get a polar alignment before they begin observing. Following the curve of the handle of the plough away from the saucepan’s bowl traces an arc to the bright star Arcturus and the constellation Bootes. Following that arc further, takes us to the star Spica and the constellation of Virgo.
Ursa Major is a far larger constellation than just the Plough asterism but we’ll stick with these seven stars in this guide as it’s all we need to make our way around it.
And we’ll start with the easiest binary star of them all to split. For this you need look no further than the star in the kink of the handle Mizar. Even in the most light polluted skies, those with good vision, will be able to see it as two distinct stars, Mizar & Alcor, with the naked eye.
But Ursa Major is probably just as famous for the galaxies it contains. And as they’re all in our local supercluster, they’re close enough to be simply stunning in the eyepiece and can be seen in dark skies relatively easily with even a 4” scope – although M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, does have a low surface brightness, you may have to use averted vision to pick that one out unless you use a 6” scope or larger.
But it’s well worth looking for M101 as it’s a grand spiral galaxy like our own and it’s face-on so we get to see it’s lovely spiral arms. Draw a line between Mizar and Alkaid (the stars at the end of the Plough’s handle). If it were an equilateral triangle with the third corner pointing to the left, that corner is where M101 sits.
Now draw a line between Alkaid and Cor Caroli in the constellation Canes Venatici (to the right of Ursa Major). And about a quarter of the way along that line and roughly half a degree above that point, sits another unique wonder for amateur astronomers, Messier 51, The Whirlpool Galaxy. So named because you see a face-on spiral galaxy devouring another smaller galaxy that strayed too close. It’s visible in a 4” scope but the view through an 8” scope will blow your mind. And where else can you see something as awe inspiring as two galaxies colliding with your own eyes from your own garden?
Now to complete the list of easily viewed galaxies in Ursa Major, move up the Big Dipper to the lower left star in the bowl, Phad or Phecda. Draw a line from that star to the last star in the bowl, Dubhe. Continue that line to the left for the same distance and you get a two for one, because that’s where a slantindicular spiral galaxy, M81, sits within the same low power eyepiece view as the edge-on galaxy, home to the recent supernova, M82. Gravitational interactions between the two galaxies set off rapid star-formation in M82 and, all four of the galaxies I’ve suggested here will merge with our own galaxy in billions of years’ time.
Jeni: Thank you Ralph. So let’s take a look at what the solar system has to offer us in March.
As if the very name of the month has awoken the red planet, March sees Mars getting better and better, beginning the month at magnitude 0.3 and ending the month -0.5 and quickly becoming one of the stand out bright objects in the sky. As Earth approaches, we will see mars move more rapidly this month, moving from Libra into Scorpius. It’s growing in size too, and more and more surface detail will be visible to even those with small and moderate telescopes. Look out for the polar caps and dark features such as Syrtis Major, Wilkins Recta or the Acidalia Planitia. Mars has much more to offer with opposition still ahead on the 22nd of May.
The real star of the month is Jupiter as the King once more sits at opposition and gives us the best views of the solar system’s largest planet. Opposition is on the 8th, which means in the weeks afterwards you will get the best views of those stunning cloud belts, storms, dark mysterious barges and of course the Great Red Spot. Jupiter will be unmistakable below Leo, shinning at -2.5, there will be nothing else like it in the sky and when you swing your scope to take a look don’t miss the famous Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede.
Not far behind Mars in the morning sky is Saturn which has now moved from Libra into Ophiuchus. It sits low in the sky as the ecliptic here is close to the southern horizon for northern observers, and with the Sun rising ever earlier, the chance to view Saturn is still not a long one. The rings are still very well orientated, being almost face on, and like Jupiter there are moons to hunt, look out of Enceladus, Titan, Iapetus.
Uranus and Neptune are visible again, still sitting in Pisces and Aquarius, not far from where we last saw them before they vanished behind the Sun. The viewing window is short and currently they are very distant, Neptune especially is a difficult find.
Mercury and Venus are too close to the Sun for observation this month.
We start the month with last quarter moon on the 1st moving to new moon on the 9th, first quarter on the 15th, full moon on the 23rd and back to last quarter on the 31st. Look out for the moon close to Mars, Saturn and Antares on the on the mornings of the 1st and 2nd, a feat repeated at the end of the month and enjoy the moon in Taurus on 13th and 14th as it passes close to Aldebaran. Back to you Paul, for the wonders of the deep sky
Paul: For the deep sky tour this month we are heading to one of the more distinctive constellations in the sky, Leo.
This is one of those constellations that does actually look like its namesake and you would have to be pretty unimaginative to not see this bright set of stars as a lion. The appearance of Leo is usually a rallying cry for all deep sky observers as it heralds the start of galaxy season, with the constellation hosting several galaxies itself and leading the way for the spring extravaganza that is the Virgo cluster.
We start with a double star in the lion’s neck, Gamma Leonis or Algieba. This should be fairly easy to locate, the second bright star above Regulus that forms the front of the lions back. This is a bright but close double with the split being just four arc seconds. They are of a similar colour, being both yellowish, but they are different, being K and G stars so some colour difference should be discernable.
Next we are going to work our way over the mane and to the lions nose in the form of the star Alterf that sticks out westward of the main sickle or reversed question mark that makes the head of the lion. A little over a degree south of this is one of my favourite objects in the whole sky, galaxy NGC2903. This is a bright barred spiral that demonstrates incredible star formation rates. Found by William Herschel it is about 30 million light years away and is real eyepiece and imaging treat that is often overlooked. For the bigger scoped NGC2916 is about a third of a degree to the east but much smaller and fainter.
Why 2903 gets such a low billing ( a travesty if you ask me) is down to the two groups of galaxies sitting under the belly of the beast, all part of the Leo one or M96 group. The most famous of this galaxy cluster are the Leo triplet, which sits in the back leg of Leo. Look for the bright star Denebola at the tail then move toward Regulus at the front. You should see the back leg, the top of which is made of Chort and Iota. Place your view finder with both these stars in the FOV and you should looking straight at the triplet, consisting of M65, M66 and NGC 3628. The last is difficult and requires a good sky. a measure of its difficulty is the fact that Messier missed it despite it being in the same field of view as the other two. If you move up and do the same trick with your viewfinder but this time with Chort and Zosma you will find galaxies NGC 3607, 3608 and 3632. Much fainter but worth the hunt.
For the rest of the cluster head back to Chort then move towards Regulus and the fainter star rho after 6 degrees of movement you should be able to locate M105, M95 and M96. All quite bright but a little more spread out that the triplet. 105 is fairly easy while 95 and 96 are a little more diffuse, with 95 being almost ghostly and needing good skies to be found with ease. With a bigger scope NGC3384 and 3389 should be visible right next to 105 and if you move away from 105 north east, the opposite direction from 95 and 96 then you should find ngc3412 as a small dim oval of light.
So all that remains is to wish you happy hunting and clear skies.
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
=====================
The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by Astrosphere New Media. Audio post-production by Richard Drumm. Bandwidth donated by libsyn.com and wizzard media. You may reproduce and distribute this audio for non-commercial purposes. Please consider supporting the podcast with a few dollars (or Euros!). Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org. This year we will celebrate more discoveries and stories from the universe. Join us and share your story. Until tomorrow! Goodbye!