The Lyrids Meteor Shower update

Its looking a wee bit overcast out there! But here's hoping...

Moon (& Mars) sets around at 3am, Due East is the Summer Triangle comprised of Vega, the radiant of the lyrids, Altair & Deneb.





Star hopping to Vega...

Find the big dipper, now imagine that there is a person holding the pan by the handle, Vega will be roughly eye level, on a tall person anyway. If you are familiar with the surrounding constellations, draco is in between Lyra and the big dipper.

Here is a pic with the constellation lines showing the big dipper and Lyra, Vega is indicated with the crosshairs.





Here's a pic with the constellation art...





And without lines or art... nearer to the real thing...




Best viewing of the shower is in the dark hours between moonset and sunrise approximately 3am. Happy Star Gazing, hope you have clear dark skies where you are, that you keep warm and have someone to share it with, good night!

New Moon in Pisces 14th April

New Moon, when the Moon and the Sun is in conjunction. At this time we can't see the Moon, its between us and the Sun. Some perceive this exact conjunction as the dark of the moon and the actual New Moon, the moment we can see it's first slither of a crescent. If we could see the location of the Sun & the Moon in terms of the surrounding constellations we would see its in the Pisces constellation symbolised as 2 fish swimming in different directions, the big V between which the Sun and Moon are nestled. Venus is not far away, but of course we can't really see this either. The moon is indicated by the red cross hairs and the black spot.

If you have come across references to this months new moon being in Aries, this source must have been using astrology software instead of astronomy sources. Please google precession of the equinoxes or vedic astrology & the moving point to understand more about this. Although I think I shall tackle this in a blogpost sometime soon I haven't resolved all the kinks yet. Its an obvious difference when looking at the Full Moon, because you can quite literally look at the full moon, not only can we not see the Moon during its new phase we can't see the surrounding constellations either. But you can now, thanks to the beauty of technology, this picture was a screenshot from Stellarium program a free download availble from Stellarium.org. Please follow the astronomical link on the right column to find out more about this program. It's an easy to use desktop astronomy prgram which will enable you to understand so much more about astronomy than just looking at the night sky (which of course is my favourite bit!) There are also a number of iPhone applications which will fill you in on so much about astronomy, even while you're out and about.

Enjoy your New Moon, look out for the first slither!

The Lyrids Meteor Shower

The Lyrids – the April showers… 21st/22nd April
Ok, so the Lyrids aren’t (usually) the most blazingly brilliant meteor shower, at about 10-20 fast showers per hour. BUT, occasionally the Lyrids have a huge outburst of about 100-150 & we don’t really understand why. It can’t be predicted (so far) so it may just be that this year there will be a huge light show. After a quiet few months only seeing a few random stray streaks, I love this shower because it heralds the coming of more regular night shows. The Lyrids have been seen for almost 2500 years, perhaps because it has such a sharp peak & the absence of activity during the winter. This makes us believe that the mother comet, Thatcher has been on this present course for over 2500 years.

The moon will be in the 1st Quarter, so there will be a little light interference but not too much. Whilst you’re skywatching you can check out Mars near the moon and the Beehive cluster (M44). On the "other side of the sky" you will find the constellations Lyra, Hercules and Cygnus and locate the radiant. Spot Vega. The Lyrids are very fast, so you may have to chase them backwards. Here’s hoping that’ll it’ll be an unpredicted large display!

Best viewing time is between Midnight & Dawn on the Thursday 22nd April, although the day before or after may also have some meteors too. Enjoy the show!

If you're out the night of the 21st or the wee hours of the 22nd before the moon sets you will be able to check out the moon and mars in the cancer constellation. Between them is the beehive cluster. If like most folk, Orion is your nearest anchor point in the sky, track from Orion to Gemini, to Cancer (a fairly faint constellation, with moon and mars), Leo and Virgo with Saturn above Spica.

If you only go out Skywatching one night this month - the evening of the 21st, into the wee hours of the 22nd is the night for you. Dress warmly, find a dark skies spot and try and get in a position that takes in as much of the sky as possible. A camp bed or blankets to lie and view the whole sky is the best spot. Company and a hot drink, possibly with added warming qualities such as a hot toddy or my favourite at the moment - chai with lemocello. Enjoy.

The Naming of Moons - April

April's Moon

Egg Moon, Pink Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Fish Moon, Seed Moon, Waking Moon.

My favourite is from the song of Hiawatha – the moon of bright nights.

If the full moon were to fall before the 14th it would be Alder, if after the 14th like this april it’s a Willow moon, according to the new fangled version of the ancient Celtic tree lunar calendar. But some sources will just group April with Alder, without the split mid month. I believe the best way to celebrate any type of tree lunar calendar is to watch the trees, depending on where you are, the temperature and weather you’ve been having the trees leaves will emerge at slightly different times. The weeping willow’s leaves have just emerged in the last week, I would watch, observer and see what emerges with the new and full moons and celebrate those links rather than those laid out by any arbitrary system.

Other names – planting moon, growing moon & moon of utility.

Any other names where you are? In different cultures?

Pink Moon by Nick Drake (from his final album, the bleakest)

Saw it written and I saw it say
Pink moon is on its way
And none of you stand so tall
Pink moon gonna get ye all
And it’s a pink moon

I saw it written and I saw it say
Pink moon is on its way
And none of you stand so tall
Pink moon gonna get ye all
And it’s a pink moon
Yes, a pink moon

April Moon a poem by Walter M Lindsay

This April moon will tempt thee forth
To stand beneath the sky;
No Gloomy shadows of the night
Upon the meadows lie.
A veil of beauty robes the earth.
The distant waters are
Unto her breast a silver shield.
Encrowned by the star
She sleeps, and God above
Keeps watch with his eternal love.

Thine eyes are on the earth and heaven.
Thy silent thoughts outpour
In solitude the breath of prayer.
In life can e’er restore
The grace, which unto nature clave,
When angels sang on high
The beauty of the new born world,
Thy spirit draweth nigh
Unto the type, created when
God walked among our fellow men

I can’t hope that in the calm
Of thy deep thoughts, there came
Remembrance of my love, or yet
A murmur of my name.
But if the wandering spirit may
Its nearing presence tell,
My soul has whispered to thy ear.
I trust the words may sell
The current of thy heart above
Its shores, and deepen it to love.

May angels guard thy rest tonight
Thy childlike sleep shall seal
Thy vision to the things of earth;
But slumber shall reveal
The land, in which thy spirit dwells.
I may not enter there;
And yet I trust thy lips, in dreams
Will breathe an earnest prayer,
That in this world, and that to come,
We both may find a common home.

Skywatching in April

Interesting deep space objects
seen with naked eye or binoculars

M44 Beehive cluster in Cancer
M81 & M82 Galxies in Ursa Major
Mizar & Alcor double in the plough
M51 Whirlpool galaxy in Ursa Major
M35 cluster in Gemini
Hyades loose cluster in Taurus
M36, M37 & M38 Cluster in Auriga

Astronomical Events in April

3rd April - Disseminating Moon 18:23 in Scorpio near Antares
4th April – Mercury near Venus
6th April - 3rd Quarter 09:36 in Sagittarius
9th April - Balsamic Crescent 3:52 in Capricorn
11th April – Moon near Jupiter (morning sky)
14th April - New Moon 12:28 in Pisces
17th April – Moon near Pleiades evening sky
17th April – Mars near Beehive cluster (M44)
19th April Crescent Moon 10:20 in Gemini
21st April - 1st Quarter 18:19 in Cancer
22nd April - Lyrids Meteor Shower Peaks at 17h UT
The Lyrids are are active between the 16-25th April
22nd April – Moon near Beehive cluster (M44) in evening sky
22nd April – Moon near Mars in evening sky
23rd April – Moon near Regulus in the Evening Sky
24th April - Gibbous Moon 0:39 in between Leo & Sextans
25th April – Venus near Pleiades in the evening sky
25th April – Moon near Saturn (Evening Sky)
27th April – Moon near Spica (Evening Sky)
28th April - Full Moon 12:18 in between Virgo & Libra
30th April – Moon near Antares in the Morning Sky