TRG – Telescope Review Guide

What can you see this month? A lot! So get out your best telescope or best binoculars and get to viewing!

May Sky on YouTube

Jupiter becomes more easily visible this month as its elevation in the pre-dawn sky is getting higher – about 23 degrees above the horizon by month’s end.   During May its separation from the Sun increases from 77 degrees to 101 degrees, and its magnitude slowly increases from -2.3 to -2.5.   It will lie just below the the last quarter Moon on the 17th in the pre-dawn sky.

Mars still remains low in the pre-dawn sky this month, but as it rises increasingly earlier than the Sun as the month progresses will become easier to spot.   It has a magnitude of +1.2.   By the end of the month, the angular separation from the Sun has increased to 40 degrees. We will have to wait a month or so until it will be seen easily in the pre-dawn sky.

Venus passed betwen the Earth and Sun in March so is now visible in the pre-dawn sky.   It will only lie 12 degrees above the horizon as the Sun rises on the first of May, so will be easier to spot later in the month.   It is at magnitude -4.4 at mid month, up and to the right of Mars.   In the middle of May, a small telescope will show a crescent phase equivalent to just before a first quarter Moon.   An interesting fact about its brightness is that it stays pretty constant at about -4.4 for most of the time that it is visible even though the apparent phase changes greatly.   When the phase is thin, Venus is nearer to us and the effective reflecting area of Venus as seen from Earth remains pretty constant.

Saturn is now high in the southern sky after nightfall in the constellation of Leo.  It lies well below the body of Leo.   It starts the month at magnitude +0.8 with an angular size of ~18.8 arc seconds and these fall to +0.9 and 18.1 as the month progresses.  Saturn is significantly less bright this year than it sometimes is: the rings are very close to edge on (as shown in the Hubble image of Saturn) and thus there is less apparent reflecting area.   During May they are at an angle of ~4 degrees from the line of sight.   The rings will be seen (or rather – not seen) edge-on later this year and it will not be until 2016 that they will be at their widest again.  A small telescope will easily show its largest moon, Titan, and show some bands around the surface.

We have yet another new comet coming into view! Jointly discovered by amateur astronomers in South Korea and the United States, this comet is named Yi-SWAN; for the South Korean amateur astronomer who found it March 26 and the SWAN instrument aboard NASA’s solar satellite SOHO. It is not yet known whether Yi-SWAN will be a recurring comet or if it’s one and done.

Cassiopeia

Where can you find Yi-SWAN? Right now it’s flying through Cassiopeia. It’s still small and dim but you should be able to spot it with a backyard telescope such as the Orion SkyQuest XT8.

Orion SkyQuest XT8

It should appear as a small fuzzy green ball. It has not been observed to have a tail but that should change as the wanderer nears the Sun. After April 20, look for Yi-SWAN to be in Perseus. Yi-SWAN should be visible until mid-May when it will be too close to the sun to be seen by most observers.

My last article reviewed my second five most amazing sights in the night sky. This article will conclude with the Top 5!

5. The Andromeda Galaxy

The Andromeda Galaxy

The Andromeda Galaxy is a sister galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy. The light you see coming from it took 2.5 MILLION years to get here! It’s one of the most distant object most folks can see with the naked eye. Another reason it makes such a good target for binoculars is that it is orbited by 14 dwarf galaxies so there’s a lot to look at in the Andromeda Galaxy.

4. The Pleiades

The Pleiades

The Pleiades is a small star cluster that is also known as the Seven Sisters, probably because it looks like seven stars to the unaided eye. Train your binoculars on them though, and you can easily see many, many more than seven stars! It is indeed a sight worth seeing.

3. The Lagoon Nebula

The Lagoon Nebula

Nebulas are  star nurseries, places where gas is condensing under the force of gravity to form stars. The Lagoon Nebula is one of the most amazing nebulas visible from Earth. Look for it during summer in the constellation Sagittarius.

2. The Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula is located in the Hunter’s Sword of the Orion constellation. It is only 1270 light-years from Earth making it our nearest nebula.

1. The Milky Way Galaxy

The Milky Way Galaxy

Yes, our own home is so big that we can actually see part of the spiral arm where our own Earth is located! May be tough to spot behind city lights but get out away from them and the Milky Way is a visual treat not to be missed nor soon forgotten.

Bonus Sight

There is one other reason many amateur astronomers get into the field and use binoculars as their observation tool of choice – COMETS! Yes, astronomy is one of the view sciences where amateurs can make significant contributions and where amateur astronomers really excel is finding new comets. Many new comets are discovered by amateur astronomers and many of those discoveries are made using binoculars. So get your observation binoculars and get out away from city lights and start studying the night sky. Who knows? The next comet you see may be named for you!

So now you have a brand spanking new pair of Bushnell or Zhumell binoculars. Now what? Just what can you expect to see with them? You’d be surprised! What follows is sights 10-6 of my Top 10 list of things to see.

10. Meteors and Satellites

Find someplace where you have an unobstructed view of the sky. Try to pick a night with a new or crescent moon. Lay on a chaise lounge or even the ground. Be comfortable! Scan the sky with your binoculars. Before too long you should be rewarded by the flash of a shooting star! Most months have at least a minor meteor shower. April has the Lyrids which, as I pointed out in me last article, could put on a good show this year since the moon will be crescent during the peak of the shower.

Satellites are perhaps even more fun to view with your binocular than meteors since they don’t flash across the sky in an instant as meteors do. I will never forget the first time I saw the International Space Station fly over, Space Shuttle attached! Sure I could see it with my unaided eye but when I trained my Bushnell on them, I swear I could count the rivets! Simply breathtaking. Satellite hunting doesn’t have to be a hit or miss proposition either. Sebastian Stoff has a wonderful cardware program called Orbitron that will tell you when you’ll have a satellite viewable from your location.

9. The Beehive Cluster

The Beehive Cluster

The Beehive Cluster is an open star cluster found in the constellation Cancer. It should be on your list of must sees because it was one of the first things Galileo viewed with his telescope.

8. The Double Cluster

The Double Cluster is two clusters located close together. Located in the constellation Perseus, the Double Cluster makes an attractive target because it’s fairly large and telescopes have a hard time imaging both clusters at once. With your binoculars, you won’t have any trouble seeing both clusters!

7. Jupiter

Jupiter and the Galilean moons as you might see them with your binoculars

Sure, your friend with the telescope might be momentarily miffed at your ability to simultaneously image both clusters of the Double Cluster but he will soon turn his ’scope to Jupiter and challenge you to beat him. Of course, you probably won’t be able to but you will be able to reproduce Galileo’s efforts and watch the four largest moons of Jupiter, the so-called Galilean moon’s, in their nightly waltz around that gas giant!

6. The Moon

The Moon

Sure you can see the Moon, and plenty of it, without any aids at all. You haven’t really seen it though, until you’ve seen it through binoculars! Don’t try to view when the Moon is full, or nearly full, as the brightness will wash out the fine details and may be too bright to be comfortable for your eyes. Instead, view when the Moon is half or smaller. The shadows will reveal mountains and valleys like you’ve never dreamed! Look at the Sea of Tranquillity and imagine Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking across that dusty surface. Has it really been 40 years since that amazing feat?

 Check back soon for my Top 5 list of things to see with your Bushnell or Zhumell binoculars!

What is in the night sky during April? The Moon, planets and even a meteor shower are on tap this month.
The Moon is especially noteworthy this month. It passes near all five of the naked-eye planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn plus as well as the stars Regulus and Antares. On the 22nd it will eclipse Venus as seen from most of the continental United States. 

Regulus, the brightest star of Leo, stands a little to the left or upper left of the Moon at nightfall on the 5th. The planet Saturn is below them.

Saturn aligns quite close to the Moon on the evening of the 6th, with Regulus above them.

Moon and Saturn by spaceritual

Antares, the brightest star of Scorpius, is close to the Moon on the 12th. It is close to the Moon’s lower left as they rise after midnight, and even closer at first light. As seen from Hawaii, the Moon will briefly eclipse Antares on the morning of the 13th.

 Jupiter stands a little to the lower left of the Moon at first light on the 18th. They are low in the southeast.

 The Lyrid meteor shower is at its best on the night of the 21st, especially with the Moon appearing as a thin crescent.

The Moon, Venus, and Mars congregate low in the east the morning of the 22nd. The Moon will eclipse Venus, briefly hiding the planet from view.

The Moon, the Pleiades, and the planet Mercury align low in the west-northwest as night falls on the 26th. The Pleiades star cluster is a little below the Moon, with Mercury about the same distance below the Pleiades. Mercury looks like a fairly bright star. Binoculars will enhance the view.

Venus is getting close to the Sun and is hard to spot right now. In  about a week it will become a morning object. Early risers can witness Venus in all of its glory for most of the rest of the year.

Saturn has just passed opposition but is still near its brightest for the year. Unfortunately the rings are nearly edge on right now and so are not very visible. Disappointing as that is, Saturn is still an impressive target and you should be able to pick out some of its moons even with a smaller telescope.

Mars and Jupiter are close together in the early morning sky with Jupiter being the far brighter of the two. A good

Jupiter and the Galilean Moons

telescope should pick able to image the Great Red Spot as well as at least four of the 63 known Jovian moons. The four largest moons are called the Galilean moons as they were first observed by Galileo on January 7, 1610 when he trained his home made telescope on Jupiter.

There’s a new comet passing nearby and it’s name is Lulin. This is when and how to find it.

On the night of February 23rd, in a moonless sky and near its peak brightness, Comet Lulin passes 2° south-southwest of Saturn.

Lulin’s closest approach to Earth, 61 million km, occurs on February 24th, when the comet may be at a peak of magnitude 5.0. By now it’s high up by late evening.

On the night of February 25th the comet goes through opposition, nearly 180° from the Sun in our sky. This means there mght be an “opposition effect”

brightening of its dusty coma and dust tail!

Path of Comet Lulin during February

After that Lulin moves away from both Earth and the Sun, fading quickly. The evening of February 27 will see it at about 6th magnitude within 1° of Regulus. Moonlight starts interfering again around the 28th.

Tails and Antitails

Because the comet stays nearly on the ecliptic, its tail (which points away from the Sun) aligns with the ecliptic and with the comet’s own direction of motion across the sky.

Moreover, because Earth remains in the comet’s own orbital plane, we see the comet with a very thin tail and an antitail, a spike pointing in almost the opposite direction from the main tail. Why? In three dimensions a comet’s dust tail is often wide but it’s always thin, confined to the comet’s orbital plane. When we are in or near this plane, we can sometimes see parts of the wide, thin dust tail on opposite sides of the comet’s head. We pass through most comets’ orbital planes briefly. This time, the situation will last and last.

A comet’s blue-green gas tail, on the other hand, always points nearly in a straight line away from the Sun in space. Cometary gas is blown directly away from the Sun at high speed by the solar wind.

MARCH: Following Lulin Out

Comet Lulin crosses from Leo into Cancer at the beginning of March and, having passed opposition, is now better seen in the evening than the morning hours however observers will have to contend with moonlight from about March 1st through 11th.

As Comet Lulin recedes, its passage across our sky will slow.  By May’s end it will be lost in the afterglow of sunset.

Comet Lulin won’t return again to the inner solar system for more than a thousand years.