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General Information April 2016 This Month: The winter constellations are sinking fast in the western sky, as those of spring come to dominate the view. Except for Mercury’s appearance low in the west from the 6 th to the 20 th, Jupiter is the only major planet in the sky before midnight. Among minor planets, Vesta sets early, while Juno enters the night sky on the 9 th and continues gaining altitude throughout the month. The North Galactic Pole (located in Coma Berenices) rises higher each night, offering an evening portal for viewing the Realm of the Galaxies (in Leo, Virgo and Ursa Major). Take note Messier-ers! Sunset Range: 7:43 p.m. (April 1st) to 8:09 p.m. (April 30 th ) End of Astronomical Twilight (Full Darkness* – Sun 18° below horizon): 9:12 p.m. (April 1st) to 9:47 p.m. (April 30 th ) * Usually dark enough for observing about a half hour before this.

Moon Phases April 2016 Thurs., April 7 th – New Moon (Observing at Cahas on April 8 th and 9 th ; note that the Moon sets at 10:38 p.m. on the 9 th ) Thurs., April 14 th – First Quarter Moon Fri., April 22 nd – Full Moon Fri., April 29 th – Last Quarter Moon (Observing at Cahas on April 29 th and 30 th ) Roughly speaking: First Quarter Moon is highest at sunset and sets at midnight Full Moon rises at sunset and is in the sky all night Last (or “Third”) Quarter Moon rises at midnight and is highest at dawn New Moon sets at sunset and is absent from the sky all night

Celestial Events April 2016 Thurs., April 7 th – Moon at perigee; Earth-radii distance (nearly the closest perigee in 30 years; closest in 30 years is on Nov. 14, 2016). Thurs., April 8 th – Mercury about 7° to lower right of thin crescent Moon 30 minutes after sunset (8:19 p.m.) – Binocular activity? Fri., April 15 th – Equation of Time is 0. Sun., April 17 th – Jupiter about 3° above waning gibbous Moon. Photo op? (More on this in a moment.) Thurs., April 21 st – Moon at apogee; Earth-radii distance. April 22 nd – Lyrid Meteor Shower (unfortunately, it’s Full Moon). Alert: Comets P/2016 BA14 and 252P/LINEAR passing by Earth today and tomorrow.

April 15 th, 9:00 p.m. (~30 min. before full darkness) March 15 th, 9:00 p.m. (full darkness) Meridian Moon N W Meridian S E Moon Jupiter E S W N Mercury mag. –1.9 mag. –11.5 Dimmest mag. (+)30 Brightest mag. –27 Pollux Castor Directly Overhead (“zenith”)

Plane North Galactic Pole NGC 4565 – The “Needle Galaxy” South Galactic Pole Barred spiral galaxy (~ 40M ly away) seen edge-on.

Stellarium

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