THE APRIL 4 TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON
A very special treat is in store for stargazers in the
western USA as well as most of the south Pacific, Australia, etc. The full moon on April 4 will undergo over 9
hours in various stages of eclipse by the earth's shadow. Those living WEST of Arkansas Sky Observatory
will be able to view the eclipse all the way into totality, but for ASO and
points east, the moon will be setting just as totality begins on the morning of
April 4. For full details and a map of
the path of the earth's shadow, see the NASA site:
The Solar System in April 2015 :
An excellent month for
planetary viewing, with Jupiter and Saturn ruling the skies!
Mercury - Although VERY close to the sun and in strong
twilight in April, watch for Mercury to climb into the western sky a bit higher
each night after April 20; from the 21-24, watch as tiny bright Mercury moves
eastward past the ruddy red planet MARS - in ARIES
Venus - Very bright and high in western April skies this
2015, in the constellation of Taurus.
This is a very favorable time to view Venus, with its disk about 75%
illuminated as we see it from Earth and at magnitude -4.1 brighter than any
object in the sky except for the sun and moon! - in TAURUS.
Jupiter - Our
mightiest of planets, Jupiter, will be directly overhead at dark this month, a
very dominating yellow orb straight up for northern observers; although the
planet is a bit farther from us than last month, it is still a wonderful
telescopic object. . - In CANCER
Saturn - The
ringed planet will be rising at about 11 p.m. local time and will dominate the
skies this month and through the summer.
This remarkable planet is very favorably placed with the rings tilted
favorably toward earth this month - in
LIBRA
APRIL METEOR SHOWERS:
Observe when the moon does not interfere and attempt to
observe AFTER midnight for most meteors to be seen! For April, there are no less than NINE meteor
showers, some of which provide for wonderful spring sky shows, provided that
the light of the moon does not interfere.
However, as with a months and times during the year, observers should
always be aware that new sporadic meteor showers can occur at anytime from
seemingly unknown sources and radiants.
NOTE: one of the most interesting
of all meteor showers is the odd "April Fireballs" (see below) which
occur this month.
April 4 - Kappa Serpentid Meteors - This is a
one-week-duration meteor shower, from April 1 through 7, with somewhat of a
mild peak about midway through that period; look for the radiant to rise in the
constellation of Serpens about 8 p.m local time just south of due east and be
nearly overhead for observers in southern latitudes of the northern hemisphere
at about 2 a.m. Several meteors per hour
should be seen from this minor radiant in normal years, and this year is poor
since the moon will be full at this peak and dominate the sky all night long
April 7 - Delta Draconid Meteors - With no particular
peak to speak of, this is one of those "circumpolar" meteor showers
for northern hemisphere observers that will be in the sky pretty much all
night; it is a very long duration shower from late March until about April
17. Found only in 1971 in the
constellation of Draco, the meteors are conspicuously slow and leave very fine
trains in their wakes; to view the most meteors from this now-annual shower,
set up about 10 p.m. local time and face somewhat northeast; as the night progresses
the meteors will be originating more and more from very high northern
skies....thus after midnight direct your sights to nearly directly overhead,
the ZENITH. Note that the moon, slightly
less than full and very bright before midnight will hamper observations during
the course of the night
April 10 -Viginid Meteors - This is the first of THREE
meteor showers which appear to emanate from the constellation of VIRGO during
the month of April each year. A two-week
display, the meteors can be seen coming from just south of overhead (northern
hemisphere) from April 1 through 15 with no definite peak; to differentiate
THIS shower from the other two, the radiant is centered at near right ascension
12h 24m / declination 00 degrees. This
year the moon is strongly gibbous and its light will interfere until just
before dawn, so this will be an unfavorable year for this meteor shower..
April 14 - THE APRIL FIREBALLS - A particularly good year
for this interesting shower in early morning hours because the thin crescent
moon will be rising well after midnight and should not hamper observations on
this date!....., but then again being bright fireballs, these can be seen in
spite of even city lights! As its name
suggests, this can sometimes be a pretty spectacular display if the conditions
are right and the skies are dark; however, during times of the new moon - as it
was in 2010 - , these huge and bright fireballs come streaking clearly across
our crisp and clear springtime skies along with countless fainter meteors that
are associated with no identified meteor swarm.
This unusual display lasts for the last two full weeks of April....there
is no known radiant or seeming point of origin for this curious group, and they
can be seen originating from just about any part of the dark night sky. They likewise are not - or appear to not be -
associated with any other known major or minor meteor shower group. The April Fireballs are characterized by
tremendously bright meteors, nearly all of which demonstrate beautiful and
long-lasting trails through the sky.
Even with the bright moon however, with their brightness, the light
should not interfere for observing these very spectacular meteors. Always look for the April Fireballs late in
the night, preferably after midnight.
Because of the late nature of the peak of these unusual meteors, 2015
should be a favorable time to try to
catch a few of these. NOTE: several of these renegade meteors have been
known to reach the ground as meteorites!
Heads UP!
April 17 - Sigma Leonid Meteors - The Sigma Leonids are
no longer "in" Leo....they have migrated it seems into Virgo to
become one of our three Virgo showers for April. The radiant is up early, just due south of
overhead about 9:30 p.m. local time; this is a minor shower with only a few
members seen on dark nights per hour.
The nearly new moon will be absent from the sky all night so it should not interfere with observations
of this shower
April 22 - The Lyrid Meteor Shower - Other than some
spectacular fireworks from the April Fireballs (see above), this is April's
most dependable meteor showers and typically one of the best of each year; this
year the first quarter moon will not interfere with any observing of meteors
meteors after midnight, typically the best time to view the greatest number of
Lyrids. This shower is comprised of
cometary debris from Comet Thatcher, a very famous comet last seen in
1861. Although this associated comet
was not identified until only 100 or so years ago, this meteor shower from it's
demise is one of the oldest known on record, being recorded by the ancient
Chinese stargazers first in 687 B.C. As
with many meteor showers - and the comets they come from - this one seems to be
waning with every encounter with the earth however. It is no longer the sky spectacle as recorded
by those earliest sky watchers. Look for
the meteors to emanate from a point on the Hercules-Lyra border, very near the
brilliant blue-white star Vega. The
radiant rises about 7:30 p.m. local time, but the best time to see the most
meteors each year is always around midnight when the radiant is nearly directly
overhead at midnight for northern hemisphere observers.
April 25 Mu Virginid Meteors - This is our third of three
meteor showers within the constellation of Virgo for the month of April, and is
south of overhead about 1 a.m. local time, far in the eastern realms of the
large Virgo constellation; it takes dark, moonless skies to see the few - only about 7 per hour - meteors from this
annual minor display. The quarter moon
will set shortly after midnight, so you might wait until late for this one!
April 23 - Grigg-Skjellerup Meteors - Here is an oddity
just by its name...the only annual meteor shower known by the comet from which
the meteoroid cloud came! It also is
unique in that it is a "localized" meteor shower, visible only in
certain parts of the world, but not others, on each pass. For example, there was a brilliant display of
these meteors seen in New Zealand in 1977....but not one in the United States. If visible, they will be seen early in the
evening, originating south of overhead.
At right ascension 07h 48m / declination -45 degrees, these will appear
to be coming literally from the south horizon for northern hemisphere
observers, perhaps the only way to differentiate them from the other meteors
showers in the same direction of sky each April. This year is a poor year for this unusual
meteor shower since the quarter moon will dominate the early evening period in
which this shower should be seen.
April 28 - Alpha Bootid Meteors - Coming from a point
very near the bright "alpha star" Capella in the constellation of
Bootes, this radiant is in the sky from dusk until dawn, and nearly overhead at
about 1 a.m. Look for these meteors to
be few, BUT those that are seen are typically very fine fireballs moving slowly
across the sky and leaving beautiful "smoky trails" behind them. Observers will be hampered by moonlight for
this shower in 2015 - the radiant rises about 3-4 hours after sunset, and the
moon will be dominant in the sky for this meteor shower in 2015
