2019 Week 15: (April 7-April 13)

This is going to be a very exciting week for astronomy!  There are two public events scheduled that you may be interested in attending!

Date	Event
April 9	Mars 5°N of Moon
April 9	Venus 0.3°S of Neptune
April 10	Jupiter Stationary
April 11	Mercury Greatest Elongation West (28°)
April 12	First Quarter
April 13	Moon in Beehive Cluster (M44)

We have quite the week in the sky with mainly clear skies early and late in the week.  Mars will be in conjunction with the thin waxing crescent Moon on Tuesday.  Look to the southwest sky to take in this sight.  Jupiter will be stationary and then begin its retrogade motion in the sky as it will appear to move east through the background stars in Ophiuchus.

The first quarter Moon will delight us on Friday and provide great viewing of amazing craters along the terminator line.  The next day the Moon will transit through the Beehive Cluster and appear just to the east of it later in the evening.  This is a perfect opportunity to get out to Fish Creek Park and see this through the many telescopes setup for your enjoyment.

First Quarter Moon

There is only one rocket launch schedule for this week and it is the Falcon Heavy.  Postponed from last week it will takeoff just before dinnertime on Wednesday, April 10.  This will be the second time the Falcon Heavy has flown, the first being February 2018 when it took a Tesla Roadster into space.  Live launches can be seen at the following website: https://spaceflightnow.com/

Date	Event
April 10	Falcon Heavy - Arabsat 6A (16:35)

There are two public events happening this week that you are not going to want to miss.  The TELUS Spark is hosting a science fiction night for adults.  There are many great activities and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada will have a booth, so stop by and say hi!

Date	Event
April 11	TELUS Spark Adults Only Night - Science + Science Fiction
April 13	Fish Creek Park Star Night

Two nights later there will be a free public star night in Fish Creek Park.  Between 7pm and 10pm bring yourself and your kids or friends to have the opportunity to look at the sky though many telescopes.  You will see the fine details on a first quarter Moon and catch a glimpse of some wonderful star clusters.  At this phase, Plato should be visible along with the Alpine Valley that bisects the Lunar Alps.  You can see these features in the picture I took from the backyard below.

Plato and Vallis Alpes

Links to these events can be found below.

TELUS Spark Science Fiction Adults Only Night

http://sparkscience.ca/experience-telus-spark/events/science-and-science-fiction/
https://www.facebook.com/events/785686118462618/

Fish Creek Park Star Night

https://calgary.rasc.ca/fishcreek2019a.htm
https://www.facebook.com/events/1983770341752439/

We hope to see you out enjoying the wonders of the universe!