The Sky This Week: March 28 – April 3

The Sky This Week: March 28 – April 3

A comet grows surprisingly bright, Jupiter’s moons put on a shadowy show, and Taurus the Bull becomes a prime target.

Monday, March 28
The waning gibbous Moon passes 4° north of Mars today, and the two make a pretty sight in the southern sky before dawn. You won’t have any problem identifying the planet because it’s the brightest point of light in this part of the sky and glows with a distinctive ruddy hue.

Tuesday, March 29
The Moon’s eastward motion relative to the background stars carries it into Ophiuchus this morning, where it slides 3° north of Saturn. The pair lies approximately 30° high in the south just before dawn starts to paint the sky. You’ll definitely want to spend some time observing magnitude 0.4 Saturn through a telescope this week, though better views come once the Moon leaves its vicinity. The planet’s disk measures 17″ across while the beautiful ring system spans 39″ and tilts 26° to our line of sight.
North American observers have a great opportunity this morning to watch the shadows of two moons cross Jupiter’s bright cloud tops. At 2:09 a.m. EDT, Io’s shadow first touches the jovian atmosphere; Europa’s shadow joins it at 3:00 a.m. The black dot cast by Io lifts back into space at 3:55 a.m. followed by Europa’s at 4:24 a.m. Any telescope will provide excellent views of these shadow transits.

Wednesday, March 30
This is a good week to look for Sirius in the evening sky. The night sky’s brightest star (at magnitude –1.5) appears in the southwest after darkness falls. It then lies about one-third of the way from the horizon to the zenith from mid-northern latitudes. (The farther south you live, the higher it appears.) If you point binoculars at Sirius, look for the pretty star cluster M41 in the same field of view, just 4° below the star.

Thursday, March 31
Last Quarter Moon occurs at 11:17 a.m. EDT. You can find the half-lit orb rising in the east along with the background stars of Sagittarius around 2 a.m. local daylight time; it hangs relatively low in the south-southeast as twilight begins.

Friday, April 1
The variable star Algol in the constellation Perseus reaches minimum brightness at 12:09 a.m. EDT on April 2 (9:09 p.m. PDT this evening). Because Algol lies fairly low in the northwest in early evening and sets around midnight, your view this evening differs depending on where you live. Observers in eastern North America can watch the star fade as evening progresses, while those out west can see the first signs of brightening as it dips low in the sky. At minimum, Algol shines at magnitude 3.4.

Saturday, April 2
If you head outside after darkness falls tonight and look due west, you’ll see the stars of Taurus the Bull nearly halfway to the zenith. The tip of the V-shaped Hyades star cluster, which forms the Bull’s face, points straight toward the horizon. To the right of the Hyades lies the spectacular Pleiades star cluster (M45) and to the left are the glittering jewels that form Orion the Hunter’s shape.

Sunday, April 3
Mars crosses the border from northern Scorpius into southern Ophiuchus today, but that’s not the only milestone it reaches this week. The Red Planet now rises before midnight local daylight time for the first time during this apparition and appears highest in the south (about 30° up from mid-northern latitudes) as dawn starts to break. Mars shines at magnitude –0.6, which makes it the second-brightest point of light in the morning sky after Jupiter. When viewed through a telescope, Mars appears 12″ across and should display a prominent north polar cap as well as more-subtle dark markings.

Source

Richard Talcott
Astronomy Magazine