Deep Space Objects – Skywatching with binoculars

Last chance this year to a get a good view of the M81 & M83 galaxies in Ursa Minor & the M51 whirlpool galaxy, But on the other hand the Epsilon Lyrae (double double) is just coming into a good focus as is the M13 great cluster in Hercules.

Partial Lunar Eclipse 26th June

First Lunar eclipse of the year - On June 26th, a partial Lunar Eclipse seen from Eastern Asia, Australia, Pacific Ocean & Western America at 11:38 (UT). The maximum eclipse was 54% approx. There are a few vids out there, but all the ones I've seen are animations of the projected eclipse. I'll be in France at this time (all going well and I won't be able to see it from there!) I'll check youtube for any footage of it afterwards... i'm looking forward to winter solstice this year as we will be able to a total lunar eclipse from here (Ireland) if I'm here... It will be seen from Asia, Australia, Pacific ocean, America & all of Europe, so chances are I may see it?? 8:16am in the morning, so here's hoping for clear skies that day.

Astronomical Dates in June

2nd June - Disseminating Moon in Capricorn at 4:14
4th June - 3rd Quarter Moon on the border between Aquarius and Pisces constellation
7th June - Balsamic Moon in Pisces at 14:30
12th June – New Moon in Taurus at 11:14
16th June – Crescent Moon in Leo at 12:27
19th June – 1st Quarter Moon in Virgo at 4:29
21st June – Gibbous Moon in Virgo at 12:16
26th June – Full Moon in Sagittarius at 11:30

Astronomical Dates in May

1st May – Mayday, however the exact cross quarter point is 5th May
3rd May – Disseminating Moon 10:57 in Sagittarius
4th/7th May – Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower peaks evening of the 5th
East after midnight 10 per hour, mild shower
6th May – 3rd Quarter Moon in 4:14 on the cusp between Capricorn and Pisces
8th May – Balsamic Moon 22:10 in Pisces
14th May – New Moon 1:04 in Aries
16th May – Occultation of Venus (81%) 10:16UT, visible from Ireland
18th May – Crescent Moon 17:06 in Gemini
20th May – 1st Quarter Moon 23:42 in Leo
23rd May – Gibbous Moon 6:17 in Virgo
27th May – Full Moon 23:07 in Scorpio

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.