2018 Week 18: (April 29-May 5)

We are already on the 18th week of the year and it seems we have finally crawled out of Winter.  The snow is gone from the backyard and the telescope can come out and see the wonderful Spring sights!  As we progress into May there are a few things to keep an eye out for in the sky.

Date	Event
April 29	Mercury Greatest Elongation West
April 29	Full Moon
April 29	Jupiter 1.4°S of Moon
May 4	Saturn 1.7°S of Moon
May 5	Eta-Aquarid Meteors Peak
May 5	Ralph Klein Star Night (7-10pm)

Mercury will be at its greatest elongation West on the 29th which would normally mean having a good chance of seeing it the morning of April 30.  You can try.  The ecliptic is not angled in favour of a good sighting for us in the Northern Hemisphere.  We should have a good morning shot at the planet near the end of August 2018.

The Moon will be Full on April 29.  It felt quite full last night at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory.  It made looking for deep-sky objects quite difficult.  I could only make out 3 stars in the Little Dipper due to the near maximum illumination provided by our lunar neighbour.  The Full Moon will be good friends with Jupiter on the 29th and 30th as it will be very close to the large planet.

Several days later on the 4th the Moon once again becomes friends with Saturn with Mars closely following behind for those who like to stay up until 3:00am.

The Eta-Aquarid Meteor Shower will be peaking this upcoming weekend.  It is an early morning shower that is difficult to see as the morning twilight might eat a lot of the meteors.  Another problem will be a waning gibbous Moon will add to the light pollution this year.  This is typically a shower for those in the Southern Hemisphere.  The chart below shows the expected rate based on where you live.

City	Suburbs	Rural	Optimal
3	5	10	60

The radiant can be located in the 'Y' shape asterism within Aquarius as shown below.

Eta-Aquarid Radiant

The final thing to mention for the week is probably the most exciting.  There will be a great astronomy activity at Ralph Klein Park.  There will be many great events happening inside the facility and we will be setup with telescopes and binoculars outside.  The Moon will not be polluting the view and we should catch some favourite constellations!  Come see Leo, Venus, Jupiter, Virgo, Gemini, Boötes, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor!  Information for this event can be found at the link below.

http://calgary.rasc.ca/rkp_2018a.htm

This is certainly one of my favourite events of the year.  The facility is beautiful!

Ralph Klein Park Learning Centre

I hope to see you there!  Until then, enjoy the clear, warm Spring evenings!

2018 Week 17: (April 22-April 28)

We are finally getting some spectacular weather for astronomy here in Calgary.  The snow is stating to melt and the sky becoming clear!  We had quite a successful evening at the Fish Creek Environmental Learning Centre last night for the biannual Star Night.  Stay tuned for the upcoming Ralph Klein Park Star Night two weeks from now!

There are some great things happening in the sky this week.  The chart below highlights these great observing opportunities.

Date	Event
April 22	Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks
April 22	First Quarter
April 23	Moon 1.9°S of Beehive (M44)
April 24	Regulus 1.2°S of Moon
April 28	Rothney Astrophysical Observatory Open House

This evening (April 22) the Lyrid Meteor Shower will radiate from a location pointed at with a line drawn through Epsilon and Alpha Lyrae.  Lyra will be in the northeastern sky around midnight.  The best time to see meteors will be after the Moon sets and the constellation reaches a higher location in the sky.  If you are casually looking at the sky this evening all you need to know is look northeast and hope for a meteor sighting!

Lyrid Meteor Shower Radiant

Although not as prolific as some of the other major showers we may be lucky to see 5-10 per hour from suburban Calgary.  The table below shows the approximate hourly rate based on observing location.

City	Suburbs	Rural	Optimal
3	5	10	18

The Moon will be at First Quarter during the shower and will fortunately be setting in the southwestern sky as Lyra rises in the northeast.

As the First Quarter Moon sets it will be in the constellation of Cancer and be less than 2° from the Beehive Cluster (M44) described in detail by clicking on the link.  This will be a beautiful sight even with a pair of simple binoculars.  If you have binoculars, point them at the Moon Sunday evening!

Beehive Cluster (M44)

With an exciting evening things calm down for the rest of the week.  The Moon will once again do a dance with the ecliptic star Regulus as it transits through Leo this Lunar Cycle.  See if you can see both close together on Tuesday evening!

As Spring finally arrives there will be many opportunities to attend public observing evenings.  The Rothney Astrophysical Observatory is hosting an open house this Saturday, April 28.  A host of astronomers will have their telescopes pointed at the sky to show you the wonders that lie therein.  Details about this amazing event can be found at the link below.

https://ucalgary.ca/rao/event/2018-04-28/astrophysics-cutting-edge-open-house

The following week we will be setup at Ralph Klein Park for a great free event.  This event is certainly kid friendly and well worth coming out to this beautiful facility to view the sky and learn many new things!

2018 Week 16: (April 15-April 21)

This week may signal the end of the snow on the ground.  Although it is supposed to snow on Monday and Tuesday we seem to be in for double digit temperatures for the rest of April.

What do we have going on this week?  The most exciting thing will be the launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, also known as TESS.  The official NASA webpage for TESS can be found below.

https://www.nasa.gov/tess-transiting-exoplanet-survey-satellite

With state of the art CCD cameras TESS will search for exoplanet candidates based on the transit method.  As an exoplanet transits the face of its star it causes a measurable dip in the magnitude of observable light.  As an added bonus it will also seek transient stellar activity such as gamma ray bursts.  Nearly half a million stars will be analyzed and it is hoped that planets similar to Earth will be found in the habitable zone of the target stars.  TESS will also act as a prequel to the James Webb Space Telescope by developing a list of targets that will be examined further.

TESS (Image Credit: MIT)

TESS is scheduled to launch on Monday, April 16 at 4:32pm MDT.  Be sure you don't miss this great launch.  Tune in to the following webpage several minutes before the launch.

https://spaceflightnow.com/

Hopefully we will have clear skies later in the week to see some stars and planets.  Also, this upcoming Saturday, April 21, Fish Creek Park and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Calgary Centre will be hosting a star night.  This is a great free event for everyone.  My kids look forward to this every year.  With amazing exhibits inside and telescopes setup outside there is always something to do!  Join us for free crafts and a tour of the wonderful night sky!  See below for details!

http://calgary.rasc.ca/fishcreek2018a.htm

Fish Creek Star Night

For more details about getting the most out of these events check out my blog post from last October linked below.

Community Outreach

With all the events going on this week we should not forget about what is happening in the sky!  The chart below highlights our week!

Date	Event
April 15	New Moon
April 16	Falcon 9 Launch of TESS (4:32pm MDT)
April 17	Venus 5°N of Moon
April 17	Saturn Stationary
April 18	Uranus in conjunction with the Sun
April 19	Aldebaran 1.1°S of Moon

A new lunar cycle begins on Sunday so you should be able to start seeing a slim waxing crescent early in the week in the West.  If you look to the West on Tuesday you should see the Moon pairing up with our closest planetary neighbour -- Venus.  The same evening Saturn will be stationary and thus beginning its retrograde motion.

Uranus will be in conjunction with the Sun which means in the months ahead we should start seeing it in the morning sky. 

The angry red eye of Taurus is starting to set in the West early in the evening thus removing a great constellation from the evening sky for the year.  See if you can catch Aldebaran and the Moon in the same binocular or telescopic field Thursday evening.

Stay tuned for the Lyrid Meteor shower peaking next weekend.  There will be a blog post on this observing opportunity later in the week!

For those who are serious about astronomy the annual Royal Astronomical Society of Canada General Assembly is happening this year right here in Calgary, Alberta.  It will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of RASC with a lineup of great events and renowned speakers.  Learn more about this once in a lifetime opportunity below.

https://rascga2018.ca/

When the snow stops and the sky clears be sure to look up.  You may see some amazing transient event that you will remember for the rest of your life!

2018 Week 15: (April 8-April 14)

We just had another dump of snow last night which seems to be a continuing theme this year. March and April are usually my favourite months for astronomy but early Spring is quickly becoming a write-off.  There is not much going on this week in the sky so hopefully the weather will be warm enough to clear the snow for the following week.  The chart below highlights the sky this week.

Date	Event
April 8	Last Quarter
April 14	Mercury 4°N of Moon
April 14	Atlas V Launch (4pm-10pm MDT)

The conjunction of the Moon and Mercury will likely be invisible as the Moon rises a mere 3 minutes before the Sun.

An Atlas V rocket will take to the sky next Saturday carrying some military equipment.  If you haven't seen a live rocket launch this year it is well worth it.  Check out the following webpage during the launch window.

https://spaceflightnow.com/

Although I missed the Falcon 9 launch last Monday I was able to see it in orbit.  The International Space Station transited across the sky above my house Tuesday evening at 9:25pm MDT.  It was mainly cloudy with scattering of sucker holes (small regions between the clouds of clear sky).  The bright ISS was directly above our house and I observed it through 15x70 binoculars with a 4.4° field of view.  Within 5° of the ISS was a dimmer object moving at the same speed, chasing the space station.  This was the dragon capsule approximately 14km behind the ISS getting ready to dock with supplies.  Later that evening it successfully docked with the station.  The docking is shown in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yv3vRKApcQ

Dragon Capsule Docking (Image Credit: NASA)

However, not all is lost.  April has some great sights.  The Lyrid meteor shower will peak on April 22 and, assuming a clear sky, we should be able to catch some around that date.

Also, mark your calendars right now for the biannual Fish Creek Star Night taking place on April 21 from 7-10pm MDT.  This is one of our favourite events!  At this free event, there will be plenty of inside activities for children and hands-on crafts.  Outside, there will be members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Calgary Centre with Telescopes and Binoculars to showcase the wonderful Spring sky.  There are many great objects in the sky at this time of year so bring the kids out and enjoy a free night of learning.  Details are found below.

http://calgary.rasc.ca/fishcreek2018a.htm

Also, save the date on May 5 for the Ralph Klein Park Star Night.  This event pulls in many people for another free night of learning and sky viewing.  Details are found below.

http://calgary.rasc.ca/rkp_2018a.htm

Let's hope for the snow to clear and the weather to become seasonal so it will be easier to access the sky!  Stay tuned to our facebook page for the latest in space news and local astronomy activities around Calgary!

https://www.facebook.com/simonjastronomy/