Podcaster: Shane and Chris
Title: Objects to Observe in the April 2022 Night Sky
Organization: Actual Astronomy
Link : https://actualastronomy.podbean.com/
Description: The Actual Astronomy Podcast presents Objects to Observe in the April 2022 Night Sky and places a focus on the planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn as they line up and meet in conjunctions in the morning sky while Mercury makes an appearance during evening dusk. We also talk about when and how to observe the Lunar X and Lunar Straight Wall as well as what comets and asteroids to look out for this month.
Bio: Shane and Chris are amateur astronomers who enjoy teaching astronomy classes and performing outreach where they help the eyes of the public to telescope eyepieces.
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Transcript:
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3, 2, one welcome to episode, 209 of the actual astronomy.
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Podcast the objects to observe in the april the twentieth, 22, ninth sky edition, I’m Chris, and joining me, Shane.
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We are amateur astronomers who love looking up the night sky in this podcast.
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Is for anyone else, but likes going out under the stars which we’re starting, just starting to be able to do after our horrendously cold and snowy winter.
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Here, Shane. Yeah, we we had a we kind of go through cycles here, like if you know for a few years, you get no snow and warm temperatures, and then for a few years it’s cold and you get lots of snow
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and I don’t know if this is the start of the cold and lots of snow, but certainly that’s the winter that we had.
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Yeah. Well, it certainly was cold the past couple years as well, that is, for sure.
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I remember 2019 was even colder and the past few years haven’t been quite as snowy, but this year we had both the cold and the snow, but finally, we’re getting above temperatures just about every day and things are starting to
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melt off nicely. so really looking forward to to April more so than usual.
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Yeah, no kidding. Yeah. We also have have a great conjunction of sorts, which happens from the end of March through the first week of April.
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So I could recall, like I think we had that great conjunction in December of 2,021 no December of 2,020 between Jupiter and Saturn.
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I think that I just barely got it, and then you you end up totally claditive for that.
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When I believe that night the day of yeah, I believe so.
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I had great observations of it the day before. Yeah.
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And well, actually in like 2 or 3 days before each night I was observing it.
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But the day of I just missed it. Yeah. And we got, you know, couple of these this month sort of an interesting month for you.
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April we have Mars in saturn starting off even even the last couple days of March. they’re going to be pretty close.
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Mars and Saturn, and they’re going to be in the same binocular field, or or you know, wide field telescope field until about the end of the first week, and you know it for the fourth and fifth on those
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2 2 mornings mars and saturn are going to be closer than half a degree. Yeah, that’s super tight, you know.
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That’s well within any telescope will have a field of view larger than that.
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So you know, anybody can observe this if you wake up a little earlier.
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Yeah, I think this this is one i’m definitely gonna try to to start getting out to take a look at here.
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We’re recording this in the 20 seventh I think this this podcast. is going to come out on the 34.
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And yeah. So by the 30 first, this one will be visible in the morning sky, and certainly by the fourth and fifth, they’re gonna be really really close together.
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So yeah, this is I think this is gonna be an neat one to see Mars and Saturn getting super super close during this first week of of Apriling. People should try to get out and take a look this is this is something to see and
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it’s surprising that they are getting so close and there’s been virtually no fanfare for this fun.
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Unlike unlike the great conjunction I don’t know I thought I thought this sort of conjunction would you know almost each that one in a way, because mars is an opposition this year it’s coming
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along might even be able to get a hint of like a puller cap while you’re looking at Saturn’s rings in that same telescopic I piece. field.
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I think that is a is a unique site, gene Yeah. this is a super cool opportunity. Yeah, I i’m hoping.
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You see it you know me i’m not i’m not likely to wake up early to to observe. But i’ll live vicariously through you on this one yeah i’ll definitely get up and and take a crack
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at this when I got yeah, I have some parts coming.
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I think I mentioned that I lost one of the feed off my my tripod, my port of one of my portable tripods that I used for for observing I had left.
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You know, a piece of it in the field, unfortunately, like one of the feet got stuck in the mud and pulled out.
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I had noticed this, and I drove off and I actually thought it was like the whole lag, but it’s just the foot, and when I realized that I thought because I had hoped that once the Snow starts to melt i’d be
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able to go out, and just retrieve it but the way that what they call the prairie gumbo does to swallow things up by. I don’t think there’s any chance of me ever seeing that again.
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I probably drove over it, and that would just just a push the rate into the it’s gone.
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Yeah, you know your your time has a price on it, too.
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So you have to you’d spend a lot of time trying to find that little foot and it’s yeah a replacement was 20 bucks.
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And what was funny is this is that I looked at one of my other feed in the tripod, and what they are is through these little rubber feet.
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They’re about anchored so across and they kind of are like cones, and then you can kind of screw them up and down.
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If you screw them up or down like there’s a bit of a metal stead that kind of sticks out, and but they do kind of they’re bit of a friction fit.
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But I think you know quite a tight friction fit, and I guess this must have happened once before.
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I have no recollection of this and one of them had fallen to it, and I had wrapped it and tape, and was able to jam it back in and and that one also fellow, and so I have that one but i’m
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like, Okay, you know how much are these things and so they’re 20 bucks?
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So I was like, You know what I ordered a couple, so I got 2 new feet coming to replace these ones.
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I thought in the end I should have just bought a third one but i’m like i’m i’m too cheap.
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I’m not gonna get 3 and then and then and then so that so they’re gonna be replaced.
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And then you know what else I bought is I didn’t realize how you get this, and i’ll probably need your help on this.
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Is that the little handle on my column like cause you can ratch that column up?
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Oh, yeah, there’s like a little plastic part that had come off, and you can buy a replacement column, winch, or handle, or whatever it is, and that may be belong be beyond my skill set to replace but i’m
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hoping maybe I can lean on You comes with instructions for how to do it, and I thought maybe that would be an interesting spring project for us to do together.
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How I can break more of your tools. Yeah, Yeah. sounds good, all right.
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Good stuff, all right. On April the third Uranus is going to be point 6 degrees north of the crescent moon.
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That is super close again, just over half a degree between the Moon and Uranus on that night.
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So basically on April the third, the star that is really close to the moon is not a star.
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That is the planet Uranus, shining at about a little bit brighter than sixth magnitude.
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So that is a binocular object even from the city.
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Yeah, yeah, really good opportunity to observe, uranus if you’ve never seen it before.
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And see if you can tease out some of the color.
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Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. And I think on the 4 worth the next night the moon and the the crescent moon and the Pleiades are in the same field of view.
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So so you can try for that. The following night. on April the eighth we have the the Lunar X.
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And this is a really good night for the Lunar X.
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On April the eighth. So what is the Lunar exchange?
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And and how can people see it? The lunar x is what is known as a Claire obscure?
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It’s not an object it’s a it’s an effect with the it’s a play with this illuminated part of the moon and the shadow areas on the moon, and it can create some interesting things to observe one
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of them is this: Lunar X. So if if everything aligns up properly.
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You can see this x feature it’s not really a feature, but it’s this prominent x right along the terminator on April the eighth.
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Now, I assume, Chris, that this is probably just for Canada in the U. S.
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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. because excuse me, it is a It is a timed event, and it it only happens for a brief moment.
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So you know if you’re not in the right area like the right spot on Earth at the right time, you’re not going to see this.
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Now, also, the lunar X is not super Rare like this does happen periodically throughout the year.
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It is really neat to observe, though if you’ve never seen it.
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And even if you have it’s still a fun fun thing to check out, and whenever the lunar X is visible, there’s also a lunar v.
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That, I think, is north of the X. So look for that as well.
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Along the terminator cool all right. maybe yeah maybe we’ll talk next to April.
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The ninth we have the first quarter moon and then the straight walls, so maybe tell us a little bit about the straight wall.
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Yeah, So this is another sort of clear obscure effect there’s there’s a ridge on the moon.
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I forget the name of the ridge, but we again. when the timing is just right, it casts a shadow, and through a telescope.
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It really looks like a very straight line and it’s quite large and it’s quite dark.
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So when you’re if you’re out on the ninth and you’re observing the moon look for this dark, straight line, it is really neat, I observe that for the first time last, year and I was really blown
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away with with that feature so definitely check that out if You’ve never seen it.
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Yeah, try to look it up really quick. here. but I I couldn’t find it that that quick.
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But yeah, that’s kind of neat on those 2 nights.
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I think these are gonna represent 2 really good nights, because sometimes the the lunar X feature is is just catching one part of North America.
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But I think this time we are ideally suited here right in Central North America, and and then to the east and west, are well placed as well, so that this will be a pretty good night for us here, and then the following I could be able
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to see the straight wall, and could be, could be a good opportunity.
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So one thing one thing we mentioned so far in this episode chain is is that on the fourth and fifth, Mars and Saturn going to be about half a degree apart, and then on the third Uranus, and the crescent moon
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are going to be just over half degree apart. And so the so just maybe for people.
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I mean we just back up for a second, Maybe for people that are just sort of getting into astronomy.
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What’s what does this Half a degree business look like on the night sky like like like for somebody who’s just getting started?
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How, how can they know how close half a degree is, and maybe what it would look like through the I piece.
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Well, half a degree is is very close. so one of the methods of measurement in the sky that we always refer to as your fist.
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So if you make a fist and you hold that out at arm’s length and kind of cast that upon the sky, the width of your fist is 10 degrees in the sky, so now you know to extrapolate
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that down to half a degree, you can get a sense of how close those objects will be.
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Now through a telescope, or you binoculars.
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A half a degree, you know, is still quite close like it’ll be quite.
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It’s quite incredible to see these objects in the same field of view.
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Yeah. Exactly. so. the idea that half degree is a small measurement, something to keep in mind that 10 degrees is starting to get fairly large.
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A binocular average binocular will have about 5 degrees or more as its field of use, or just over half of the fist.
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And you know, once you get over about half a fist towards the the full size fist, then that that’s a distance for stuff that’s spread apart that it’s gonna be best to see just with your unaided eye alone But
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for these things, using binoculars or telescopes are definitely going to catch you right.
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In fact, half a degree, though you should be able to separate that with your eye like just at a quick glance.
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They’re almost gonna blend together. I think probably aren’t they like half a degree is pretty close just if you If if you gave a quick glance up like it’s gonna like just if you were get glancing around like this might even just catch your
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attention, even if you’re just really not that interested in astronomy at all.
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But you might say what the heck is that looks like a set of headlights up there in space, or something.
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Yeah. totally, Yep. agreed on that, Jupiter. on the twelfth April, the twelfth Jupiter is going to be as close.
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This is like almost hard to believe. point less than point.
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One degrees north of Neptune in the morning sky. So that is, that is exceptionally exceptionally close together.
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Yeah, Yeah, that is very, very, tight, Yeah that’ll be that’ll be very interesting to observe.
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Are you waking up for that one, too? Yeah, I think so.
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I you know. See what our conditions are like. and certainly it’s getting warmer.
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And these are things that yeah, I can see from my back deck and my back deck now has no snow on it. So i’m good to go there.
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And yeah, even in like a little telescope like like a my 60
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I could just leave it by the back door and just grab it and haul it out in 2 steps and and take a look.
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Yeah, this is gonna be really a neat neat month for seeing things paired up in the morning sky. and I’m just gonna look and see the one thing for people to remember is these are morning times.
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And so that’s key because sometimes people put these things in their calendar, and they think it’s gonna be in the evening.
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But most of these are in the morning, unless unless we specifically state so, and that is the morning of the twelfth.
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So you get a set. Your alarm nation early and get up and how that little telescope boat and take a peek.
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But yeah, I think i’m gonna get my little 60 right here with me, where i’m sitting and gonna get that all set to go by the back door for this month and just really use use these opportunities when these planets
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are paramount because I just think it’s it’s super cool, and these are easy observations to make you can find these things or their naked eye.
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You can see them But they’re unique because they’re sets of planets, and to our planet in the Moon super super close to the nighttime sky.
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It’s gonna be a very fun month. yeah no kidding great opportunities come in our way.
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Yeah, if you’re looking for something a little more challenging on the twelfth, and that is the weekend.
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So if if we do happen to have some some clear skies and and spending some time outside of the city asteroid, 8 flora is going to be at opposition, it’s not a great opposition, though and it’s going to
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be magnitude 9.7, so that that one could be worth hunting down.
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I got to start trying to get out and and hunting down some of these.
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Some of these, I guess. minor planets or or asteroids, so you know, should be, should be kind of a a need object to take a look at hopefully.
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Yeah, Yeah, I need to do the same. chris I don’t I don’t prioritize asteroids, and I need to, because I you know some of our listeners have written us about their observations of asteroids and
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minor planets, and it’s quite fascinating So I need to make a greater effort to observe this stuff.
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Yeah, yeah, i’m just trying to look up and see exactly where it is.
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But i’m not able to do that as as fast as I would like me to put that out.
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So yeah, yeah, probably best to because it’s almost tenth magnitude.
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You’re gonna want to look at this in your planetarium software So this isn’t something that I can just wheel out and say it’s in which constellation and then you’re you’re going to be able
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to find it really easily. you’re going to want to be able to look that up in your planetarium software, anyway, and and take a look at it.
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So sorry about that. but floor is kind of interesting it’s the innermost of the large mean asteroids then, and that means that it’s larger than 25 kilometers in diameter, and It can be brighter
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than eat magnitude during better oppositions than this. But there are some people out there, and the reason why i’m throwing this one out, even though it might be a bit of a challenges we do have lots of listeners that that do go and hunt these down
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take photographs of them, you know. make observations of them, and that’s pretty interesting.
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This one was discovered by Hind in 1,847, and it was John Herschel who proposed the name Flora, which is after the Latin goddess of flowers.
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So it’s not nice because here we are in April and I think we’re all looking forward to seeing some flowers after such a snowy winter. April showers.
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Bring. May flowers. Exactly exactly so. it’s also the parent body of the Flora family of asteroids and their rocky metal asteroids that are up there.
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Do you have any floors in your asteroid or meteorite collection?
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I do not. Well, I do have like rocky metal meteorites, but i’m not sure if they’re Flora, that this is new to me, so i’m not sure have to take a look all right moving on
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to April the sixteenth to eighteenth.
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So again. we have a beautiful lineup that’s going to shape up on on these mornings.
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It’s going to be up there for for these several days of Jupiter Venus, Mars, and Saturn.
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They’re gonna line up in the morning sky I think you know and I’ve read different dates at different sources.
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But you know the planets, although they move appreciably night tonight, like to your unaided eye they’re not moving, you know these huge distances every night, although they are moving huge distances in space when you’re just looking at them with
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your animated eye against the other planets that are up there in the morning sky.
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They’re gonna sort of appear to be. in this this lineup over the better part of a week there in that third week of start of the third week of of April.
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So that could be a pretty sight in the morning sky. Maybe if people take take a photo of a kind of arching over, not on, like, maybe some budding trees, or maybe some flowers or something like that.
00:18:15.000 –> 00:18:30.000
Could be pretty cool. Yeah, absolutely. the full moon also occurs I think on the sixteenth, and then on the seventeenth. Uranus is going to be 2 degrees south of mercury this one’s going to be in the evening
00:18:30.000 –> 00:18:37.000
sky, so that could be interesting because of course you’re in a is brighter than magnitude.
00:18:37.000 –> 00:18:41.000
6 mercury is fairly bright, but they’re going to be low on the horizon.
00:18:41.000 –> 00:18:54.000
But yeah, I think if you can get them in a telescope, I think you should be able to to see them like in my in my 4 inch I usually can get a 2 degree field of view, and some reasonable power and to
00:18:54.000 –> 00:18:56.000
be able to see Uranus and Mercury together.
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That would be pretty pretty cool, and we have all these planetary alignments There’s even some more coming up.
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It’s pretty awesome. Yeah, Yeah, it really is so April the 20, s and 20 third.
00:19:08.000 –> 00:19:22.000
This is, in my opinion, when meteor shower season starts and we have the lyrid meteor shower, and you can expect to see an average of about 10 meters per hour, and if you get some clear skies between
00:19:22.000 –> 00:19:35.000
the night and done That’s when you might stand the chance of actually seeing one of the surges of the lyrics where you might get even up to a 100 meters per hour. and I just love going out as we get into this sort of end of
00:19:35.000 –> 00:19:47.000
April time period, when the lyrics are are picking up, because then we can, you know, be out ofjoying, enjoying some observing props when it’s not below and and you’ll see these
00:19:47.000 –> 00:19:52.000
meteors streaking in and while it’s not like the most spectacular meteor shower.
00:19:52.000 –> 00:20:04.000
It really to me, anyway? Feels like sort of one of those quintessential, observing nights, just as as you’re starting to really be able to get out and enjoy some warmer weather and some longer observing sessions and
00:20:04.000 –> 00:20:14.000
be able to look through the telescope and as you sort of turn your eye away from the eye piece every once in a while you’ll catch a meteor when you’re out on those nights so makes makes for a really enjoyable
00:20:14.000 –> 00:20:28.000
time. Yeah, Yeah, you know april’s really shaping up to be a good month yeah, thankfully after after the period that we’ve gone through, which is really quite poor so fingers crossed us in better weather, and
00:20:28.000 –> 00:20:38.000
they’re on April. the 20 third we the last quarter moon, and on the 20 fourth we have Saturn about 5 degrees north of the moon in the morning sky.
00:20:38.000 –> 00:20:45.000
So yeah, within a binocular field you have Saturn and the moon in the morning sky, and the 20 fourth should be nice.
00:20:45.000 –> 00:20:55.000
And then on the 20 fifth, we have Mars 4 degrees north in the moon, in the morning sky, and this is starting to remind me of when we had the moon pairing up like with Saturn and Jupiter sort of month after month
00:20:55.000 –> 00:21:00.000
after month, like we did. Yeah, there over the past like in 2,022. Yeah.
00:21:00.000 –> 00:21:06.000
Yeah, that’s very that’s very cool and and like you said definitely.
00:21:06.000 –> 00:21:15.000
Well within a binocular field of view, and some wider field telescopes like, you know, some shorter focal length.
00:21:15.000 –> 00:21:26.000
Refractors can fit 4 or 5 degrees as well. So if you have a telescope that can achieve those fields of view, those will be some very nice sites.
00:21:26.000 –> 00:21:35.000
Yeah, And if you Don’t have a telescope on the 20 sixth of April, you’ll be able to see the moon halfway between Venus and Mars and kind of what’s Neat about all
00:21:35.000 –> 00:21:38.000
this, even even if you’re sort of following it along and maybe you don’t own it.
00:21:38.000 –> 00:21:41.000
Telescope, or maybe don’t prepare binoculars.
00:21:41.000 –> 00:21:45.000
You can actually use, like the moon, to kind of point out which of the planets.
00:21:45.000 –> 00:21:49.000
It’s close to on on these nights and and if you do a binoculars.
00:21:49.000 –> 00:21:55.000
Think you know, just dust those binoculars off and and take them, and you’ll be able to to take in and see some of the stuff for yourself.
00:21:55.000 –> 00:22:00.000
But yeah, on the 20 sixth yeah, the moon is going to sit right between being so.
00:22:00.000 –> 00:22:16.000
I think that’s going to be neat set as well, and then on the 20 seventh. This this is is really like the closest of close conjunctions that Venus is going to be point 0 one degrees south of uranus in
00:22:16.000 –> 00:22:22.000
the morning sky. So it is really it’s going to be really close down on the horizon.
00:22:22.000 –> 00:22:31.000
But that is basically on top of each other wow that is super close I’m: just what’s the arc second on that do 36 arc seconds.
00:22:31.000 –> 00:22:38.000
Okay. Okay, yeah. that is exceptionally close that’s like a decent double star.
00:22:38.000 –> 00:22:42.000
Yeah, you know, I could like an easy double stair. Yeah, would be.
00:22:42.000 –> 00:22:55.000
That would be a pretty easy double I think when Jupiter and Saturn were at their great conjunction in 2,021 wasn’t it like 7 arc seconds or something like that yeah, something But so, But this
00:22:55.000 –> 00:23:05.000
is. this is really Close that’s exceptionally close Yeah, yeah, this, This is a really, really close conjunction between between Uranus and and Venus.
00:23:05.000 –> 00:23:10.000
There in the morning sky. I think it might be tough to see I think it’s gonna be pretty low because you can see like Guinness and Mercury.
00:23:10.000 –> 00:23:22.000
We’re close together in the evening sky earlier in the month so I think this is close, but as well like most people track Venus during the day, so they’re they’re going to be very close you know for that day and if
00:23:22.000 –> 00:23:28.000
people are observing, and I know like I was observing with with 10 ho!
00:23:28.000 –> 00:23:36.000
Who’s a member of the astronomy one of The astronomy clubs here, and we were out, and we were observing Venus one day through his telescope.
00:23:36.000 –> 00:23:44.000
So people do track them down. Just get to be experienced at and make sure that you’re being safe around the sun, of course, because you never want to get the telescope Point anywhere near the sun.
00:23:44.000 –> 00:23:49.000
So there’s be ways to do that see all right and then the crescent moon.
00:23:49.000 –> 00:23:54.000
Meets up with Venus and Jupiter on that day as well.
00:23:54.000 –> 00:24:02.000
So, even if you can’t quite get venus and and Uranus together, you have that that set as well to take a look at.
00:24:02.000 –> 00:24:05.000
So there’s there’s just a lot going on in the morning sky.
00:24:05.000 –> 00:24:17.000
Basically, if you just get up in the morning in april you’re gonna have lots of planets and the moon to take a look at as we get towards the end of the month, it’s pretty cool. and then on the 20 ninth we have
00:24:17.000 –> 00:24:26.000
mercury at its greatest eastern elongation that means it’s visible in the west after sunset, and and it says on this night I’ve seen this in a few locations, says it’s going to be 2 degrees away from the
00:24:26.000 –> 00:24:31.000
Pleiades, which is the M. 45 star cluster up in tourists.
00:24:31.000 –> 00:24:40.000
But I think don’t know I mean vena mercury is so close to the horizon, and you know, with with the daylight extending into the evening.
00:24:40.000 –> 00:24:51.000
I think that it’s going to be a pretty tell order to try to see the Pleiades. I think just seeing Mercury alone is gonna be a pretty good achievement here towards the end of The month. Yeah, that would be a tough observation.
00:24:51.000 –> 00:24:54.000
It would be pretty neat if you could pull it off, though.
00:24:54.000 –> 00:24:58.000
Certainly I would love to hear about anybody that is successful on that one.
00:24:58.000 –> 00:25:01.000
Yeah, yeah, i’ll be i’ll be curious to see as well.
00:25:01.000 –> 00:25:10.000
But I I think, it’s a it’s a fairly tall order on the thirtieth. we have new moon, and that’s going to be, you know.
00:25:10.000 –> 00:25:14.000
Of course, a great time to start getting anything we try to play.
00:25:14.000 –> 00:25:18.000
They use off work at that time, maybe do some dark sky, observing hopefully.
00:25:18.000 –> 00:25:22.000
Things are much warmer, and I really hope the snow is gone by.
00:25:22.000 –> 00:25:31.000
Then I always have to remind myself that I have seen years where the snow wasn’t gone on the 3 of April. so I always have to keep that reality in mind.
00:25:31.000 –> 00:25:35.000
Yeah, it can still be chilly around here at that time.
00:25:35.000 –> 00:25:41.000
The another interesting side note is Grasslands National Park, where you and I like to do some real dark sky.
00:25:41.000 –> 00:25:45.000
Observing opens May first. So just in time for for the new moon.
00:25:45.000 –> 00:25:53.000
Oh, wow, I didn’t know they were gonna open that early this year off, and they don’t open until after or at the main long weekend, or sometimes the weekend before.
00:25:53.000 –> 00:26:04.000
So that’s awesome they’re gonna open earlier in earlier that’s that’s really good that must be coming some demand for it. all right end of april and into early May we have another conjunction with
00:26:04.000 –> 00:26:11.000
Jupiter and Venus meet in the morning sky, getting closer than a quarter of a degree.
00:26:11.000 –> 00:26:19.000
So again. I know that’s just so super tight some of these earlier ones seem really close when they’re half a degree.
00:26:19.000 –> 00:26:23.000
And you’re talking about using you know kind of modest power on a telescope.
00:26:23.000 –> 00:26:27.000
You know what like, Maybe, like a 120 power, you can.
00:26:27.000 –> 00:26:32.000
You can fit things into a half degree. field of view. but if things are only a quarter of a degree apart.
00:26:32.000 –> 00:26:36.000
I mean, you can use some pretty significant, like 150 power and a wide field.
00:26:36.000 –> 00:26:49.000
I piece will still give you these these 2 planets, Venus and and Jupiter together in that same high-power I piece field view that is an awesome conjunction.
00:26:49.000 –> 00:26:53.000
Opportunity to go and take a look at the Yeah. Yeah, it really is, Yeah.
00:26:53.000 –> 00:27:00.000
Be visible for several days together in the nighttime sky too kind of like how the great conjunction was again, and i’m not sure how these are gonna actually look.
00:27:00.000 –> 00:27:04.000
It’s always surprising. Once we get into the end of April.
00:27:04.000 –> 00:27:08.000
How much twilight we have both at both ends of the day.
00:27:08.000 –> 00:27:18.000
So kind of to conclude, sort of the main part of this there is a partial solar eclipse for so Southern South America.
00:27:18.000 –> 00:27:28.000
I know we have some Southern American or South American observers I’ve got to sure I don’t think it’ll be visible where I know that a couple of them.
00:27:28.000 –> 00:27:39.000
Live. But, but maybe if people are traveling to Southern South America, then they might be able to get a get a good view of of that partial eclipse.
00:27:39.000 –> 00:27:44.000
We got a annular eclipse coming up in 2,023, and then a big, you know.
00:27:44.000 –> 00:27:48.000
Total eclipse in 2,024 for for America.
00:27:48.000 –> 00:27:59.000
For the Us. Yeah, Yeah, both both events are pretty cool the annulars are are neat, but you know the total eclipse is, if you can observe one of those that is as absolutely incredible.
00:27:59.000 –> 00:28:05.000
Yeah, I don’t know why? they call them annulars because don’t they happen every 3 years, anyway?
00:28:05.000 –> 00:28:12.000
Yeah, we got some comments, public comments people can try looking at not too bright couples in your tenth magnitude.
00:28:12.000 –> 00:28:17.000
What do we got coming up, chain? We have c. 2,019 L.
00:28:17.000 –> 00:28:22.000
3 atlas. So this is an evening comet visible in small telescopes.
00:28:22.000 –> 00:28:26.000
It begins the month in Gemini at magnitude 9.7.
00:28:26.000 –> 00:28:34.000
So definitely. You know you definitely need optics for that, and a telescope is ideal.
00:28:34.000 –> 00:28:42.000
Coma is 3.5. is that arc seconds yeah it’s not for your big Yeah, Yeah.
00:28:42.000 –> 00:28:46.000
And then it it should feed by about yeah minutes.
00:28:46.000 –> 00:28:52.000
Okay, okay. it should fade by about half a magnitude by month’s end.
00:28:52.000 –> 00:29:00.000
So you know it will get a little bit dimmer as we get towards the end of April, and the other one to keep a on. your list is 19.
00:29:00.000 –> 00:29:06.000
P. Borelli, which I think we talked about last month during the what to observe episode.
00:29:06.000 –> 00:29:14.000
But this is another evening cognitive that’s visible in small telescopes, and it’s kind of similar to Atlas, and that it is magnitude 9.8.
00:29:14.000 –> 00:29:21.000
So they’re both about the same brightness but barely is in Aries, and it’s about a 3 arc minute coma.
00:29:21.000 –> 00:29:36.000
So again very similar in size to atlas however, Berelli will fade by about 1.3 magnitude by the end of the month, so that’s pretty substantial, and it will move into perseus as well by the end,
00:29:36.000 –> 00:29:43.000
of the month, so it might be neat to watch it move from Aries to Perseus, and and also to note the difference in magnitude.
00:29:43.000 –> 00:29:54.000
From the beginning of the month until the end. yeah and you have people looking for police, and they’ve they’ve got lots of these listed on the Skyhound.
00:29:54.000 –> 00:30:01.000
Web page. So that’s a good resource that I think we all use for for checking out what comets are are visible.
00:30:01.000 –> 00:30:07.000
But yeah, you know, 10 to 92 comets are starting to get kind of think so. I don’t think anybody’s getting too excited about these ones.
00:30:07.000 –> 00:30:14.000
But but again, just like with some of the fainter minor planets, there’s certainly people out there listening to this.
00:30:14.000 –> 00:30:20.000
I know that like to go and hunt up this stuff. so be interesting to read any reports that the people might have.
00:30:20.000 –> 00:30:27.000
So anything that you’re sort of looking to observe this month, Shane, are you looking at any doubles or anything like that?
00:30:27.000 –> 00:30:30.000
Or what do you have on your observing agenda?
00:30:30.000 –> 00:30:36.000
Well, so I usually have a couple approaches. One is my backyard observing, and then the other is my dark sky.
00:30:36.000 –> 00:30:49.000
Observing from the Backyard It’s certainly going to be a large double star focus, and I’m continuing continuing to work through the Ras, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
00:30:49.000 –> 00:31:03.000
They have a list for Double Star, observing so i’m just working my way through that, so that’s likely some of my backyard stuff. i’m really hoping to maybe catch a good night of seeing to try to split
00:31:03.000 –> 00:31:17.000
serious before it’s lost for the season. yeah and then the other hope that I have is just for us to get out to some dark sky, and do some of that observing i’m super excited that because you know i’ve
00:31:17.000 –> 00:31:30.000
been shut out from any observing for months with the winter that we’ve had just terrible Yeah, and while I thoroughly enjoy my backyard, observing I do crave dark skies and i’m excited to hopefully get
00:31:30.000 –> 00:31:33.000
out and do some of that kind of observing, Yeah, Yeah.
00:31:33.000 –> 00:31:42.000
So my yeah, really excited here to finally be able to to get out and and start taking a look at some stuff. i’m really excited to see.
00:31:42.000 –> 00:31:52.000
I like these close planetary approaches I do try to catch catch these when when it’s clear impossible, and i’m well suited like my yard, is forwardly like polluted.
00:31:52.000 –> 00:32:06.000
But on the on these sort of opportunities, early in the morning, when things are pairing up, then I can just grab a little telescope and put it on the back deck and take quick peak you know and then head back to bed or or get
00:32:06.000 –> 00:32:10.000
up for the day and maybe had to work early that morning or something like that.
00:32:10.000 –> 00:32:18.000
Yeah, yeah, Absolutely. all right. Cool? Well, without without further ado unless you have anything to add, Maybe we’ll wrap up here.
00:32:18.000 –> 00:32:21.000
No, that’s everything, Chris. thanks all right super well thank Gene.
00:32:21.000 –> 00:32:26.000
Thanks everybody for listening. Be sure to subscribe and your plot kitchen software, and we’re always excited to get observing.
00:32:26.000 –> 00:32:33.000
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
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