2017 Week 17: (April 23-29)

The following week does not have anything too exciting in the sky.  Venus, now in the morning sky, will be close to the Moon on Sunday morning.  You will be able to see it in the same binocular field with most average sized binoculars.   The chart below shows the few events occurring throughout next week.

Date	Event
Apr 23	Venus 5°N of Moon
Apr 26	New Moon
Apr 28	Aldebaran 0.5°S of Moon

The Moon starts a new lunar cycle on Wednesday and by the end of the week you will be able to see a beautiful thin crescent on the western horizon.  This begins a new round of trying to pick out impact craters as the terminator slowly makes its way across the face of the Moon.  Also by Friday, Aldebaran will be nearly occulted by the Moon as the two objects will almost seem to converge.  If you live in eastern Canada you will actually be able to see the occultation!

Jupiter is probably the best thing in the sky this month as it lights up the southern sky in the constellation Virgo.  I'm hoping for a clear sky on an evening the Great Red Spot is facing the Earth to snap a picture!

The peak of the Lyrid meteor shower occurs on the Saturday preceding this week and you may be able to catch a few for a few days after.  Look straight above your head around 4:30 in the morning toward the constellation Lyra for a chance to glimpse some meteors.

Last night I gave a quick preview presentation on the Explore the Universe certificate at the general RASC meeting for Calgary Centre.  If you would like to view the powerpoint presentation please click the image below.

Explore the Universe Preview

Tonight will be an evening at the observatory and if the sky remains clear I would like to spend my time learning more about Virgo and the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.