| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Apr 16 | Saturn 3°S of Moon |
| Apr 19 | Last Quarter |
| Apr 20 | Mercury at inferior conjunction |
| Apr 22 | Lyrid meteor peak |
| Apr 22 | Neptune 0.2°N of Moon |
| Apr 22 | Venus 5°N of Moon |
On April 20 Mercury will be at inferior conjunction. This means it will be have the same right ascension as the Sun. Mercury will then be able to be seen in the morning sky as it progresses towards its greatest elongation West on May 17.
The Moon will be sitting at Last Quarter on the 19th for those who wake up before the Sun. I am missing a waning gibbous Moon picture and hope to grab one in the next few days if the weather permits. I am still a little miffed that the Full Moon was covered by clouds several nights ago.
 |
| Last Quarter Moon, March 20, 2017 |
The Lyrids make their annual return and your
best bet to witness them will be the predawn morning of April 22. Around 5am look pretty much right about your
head. On average 10-15 meteors per hour
will seem to come from a location directly overhead.
Jupiter is in a great location for viewing. It rises a little before 7:30 in the evening and will be visible throughout the night. Just look for a bright object slowly transiting the sky across the South. If you have the opportunity take a look at it through binoculars to see if you can see the 4 Galilean Moons circling the big planet. In May there will be 7 opportunities to see a double shadow transit of a couple of the Moons across the face of Jupiter. I hope to host an event during one of these that coincides with a Great Red Spot transit. All that is required is the weather to cooperate!
Jupiter is in a great location for viewing. It rises a little before 7:30 in the evening and will be visible throughout the night. Just look for a bright object slowly transiting the sky across the South. If you have the opportunity take a look at it through binoculars to see if you can see the 4 Galilean Moons circling the big planet. In May there will be 7 opportunities to see a double shadow transit of a couple of the Moons across the face of Jupiter. I hope to host an event during one of these that coincides with a Great Red Spot transit. All that is required is the weather to cooperate!
Saturn is still a late night/early morning planet as it rises around 1:45am. Soon, however, it will rise at a decent hour for viewing and imaging. Our friends Uranus and Neptune will pull their way into the normal evening sky in a few months! My search for Triton, Neptune's largest Moon, will continue!
There will be an astronomy event taking place on April 20 at 7:30pm at the Kerby Centre Gymnasium. The monthly meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Calgary Centre will take place. There will be a presentation on using the stars during the Cold War years. After the presentation I will have a brief opportunity to discuss the observing I have done over the last year! See the Facebook Page for more details!
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