Thursday, April 25, 2013

The Sky This Week, 2013 April 23 - 30

The Moon slips into the morning skythis week, diving southward along
the ecliptic as she goes. Full Moon Az 6.7 degrees Alt -66.5 degrees
Phase 99.9 percent; April's Full Moon is popularly known as the Grass
Moon, Fish Moon, Growing Moon, or Pink Moon among various cultures.
This month's Full Moon is characterized by a very small partiallunar
eclipse which will be visible throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and
Australia. At its maximum just over one percent of the Moon's discwill
be covered by Earth's umbral shadow. This is the final umbral eclipse
in saros number 112, which began in the year 859 and will end in the
year 2139. Those of us here in North America can watch the FullMoon
rise about four degrees away from golden-hued Saturn on the evening of
the 25th. On the previous evening Luna's bright disc may be found just
one degree south of the bright star Spica.
Bright moonlight all but washes out the fainter constellations of
spring,but there are still a few starry sights to capture your gaze as
we wait for darker nights to return. This is now the prime time of the
year to spot the Big Dipper high in the northern sky during the late
evening and early morning hours. The seven stars that make up this
distinctive asterism are bright enough to be seen from urban skies and
make a convenient guide to other interesting objects. Five of the
seven stars form a physical association known as the Ursa Major Moving
Group. Fainter stars in the constellation bring the group's core
population to about 14members, and another two dozen stars scattered
around the northernsky also seem to share the same characteristics of
motion and composition. The two stars at the end of the Dipper's
"Bowl" point theway to Polaris, the North Star, while the curve
generated by the stars in the Dipper's "handle" invite you to "follow
the arc to Arcturus". This star is the fourth-brightest star in the
sky and the brightest in the northern hemisphere. Its rosy tint tells
us that it is an evolved star with a relatively cool red surface. It
is one of the closer stars to Earth just under 37 light-years distant.
Light from Arcturus struck a photo-sensitive tube whichtriggered the
ribbon-cutting mechanism to open the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. At the
time the star was thought to be about 40 light-years away, which was
the elapsed time since the 1893 World Columbian Exposition that was
also staged in the Windy City. If we continue the "arc" from the Big
Dipper past Arcturus, we can"speed on to Spica", another
first-magnitude star of the springtime sky. Spica offers a nice color
contrast to Arcturus, beaming with an icy-blue tint. Spica receives a
close visit by the Moon on the nightof the 24th.
Bright Jupiter is still visible in the early evening sky, but his
altitude above the horizon is being whittled away with each passing
night. The giant planet now sets at around 11:00 pm, so getting a good
look at him with a telescope is becomingproblematic. Low-power views
will still show his four bright moons, buthigher-power examination of
his turbulent cloud belts will be thwarted by the turbulence in
Earth's atmosphere. The best time to look is just after sunset when
the planet pops out in the gatheringtwilight sky.
Saturn is ready to take Jupiter's place, although his position in the
sky isn't as favorable as it was for Old Jove. The ringed planet
reachesopposition on the morning of the 28th when the Earth passes
between Saturn and the Sun. This isa very interesting time to observe
the planet with a telescope. For about a day on either side of
opposition you'll notice that the planet's rings seem anomalously
brighter than they do at other times. The smaller Saturnian moons also
seem a bit easier to see, gaining perhaps half a magnitude in
brightness. This effect is known as the "Seeliger Opposition Effect"
and is caused by the lack of shadows on the rough surfaces of the
moons and rings as seen from our vantage point around the time of
opposition. This is why the Moon appears so bright at the time of
FullMoon and why we sometimes see a"halo" around our heads when we
look at our shadows on a sandy beach. The effect on Saturn is
particularly noticeable when the rings are tilted at a wide angle
toward us, as they are this year. See if you can spot it for yourself
this week!

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