A GOOD TIME TO GET OUTSIDE AND LOOK UP

This year, Although not observable at the moment, Saturn is doing something unusual.

The Moon

I’ll start with the Moon. From about the beginning of April the new Moon will be very low in the west and will be higher in the sky on each successive night. So, why do I say that it is terrific to observe when there’s only a little bit showing? Most people who are new to astronomy assume that a full moon is best to look at, simply because you can see all of it. The problem with a full moon is that all the Sun’s light is going directly at the surface, there are few, if any shadows. A new Moon has the sunlight hitting it at an angle, this highlights all the surface features making them stand out so much more. You can see this effect for yourself by standing in front of a mirror in a dull or dark room with a torch. Shine the torch directly at your face, then move the torch to the side, so much more detail shows.
If you do get outside to do some moon watching, don’t just look and think how pretty it is, take the chance to identify what you’re looking at. There will be some famous seas and craters to find, and the south pole is well lit. The south pole is where many of the latest moon landers are headed because of the signs of water hidden there.

The Night Sky

Both Mars and Jupiter are very easy to find in the west, Jupiter is a little lower in the sky and is the brighter of the two. If you have a small telescope this is a good time to get it out and find the vast cloud belts that circle Jupiter, you’ll also see some of the four inner moons often called the Galilean moons, because Galileo was the first person to see them. If you look again the following night, you’ll see how far they have moved as they circle this enormous planet. Why not try and identify each one? A few minutes with a book or the internet will help you tell them apart.

The constellation Orion I’ve mentioned many times before so I won’t go on about it again, but why not take this last chance to look at it before it disappears from our view until the autumn.

I’ll finish with Saturn, with its glorious ring system. It is too low in our sky to be visible to us until later in the year. When it reappears it will be unrecognisable to most people, the rings will seem to have disappeared. This is all part of the natural change in the viewing angle from our perspective and they’ll reappear, just about, in 2026. You’ll have to wait until 2032 before they are at a perfect angle again though.

Charles Oates, Vega Baja Astronomy Group.

● To find out more about observing and astronomy why not join our group, email us at vegabaja.astronomygroup@gmail.com to find out more.