* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

Saturn's satellite positions

Blobrana · L

RE: April 2007

Blobrana · L

Astronomy Day occurs worldwide each year on a Saturday between mid-April and May, near or before the first-quarter moon.
This year Astronomy Day is April 21. The Shenandoah Valley Stargazers Club will have a display set up from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day across from Sunspots in the Wharf parking lot. In case of rain, they will be on the second floor above Sunspots at 202 Lewis St.
In the afternoon there will be solar viewing at the Frontier Culture Museum. These telescopes will be equipped with filters that make viewing the sun in perfectly safe. Never try this without proper supervision from an experienced astronomer.
At night the Stokesville observatory will be open from 8 p.m. to about midnight. Viewing Saturn and its rings through the observatory's large telescope at this time of year is breathtaking. There are no charges for these events, but a donation to support the club is appreciated.

Read more

Blobrana · L

Blobrana · L

This month sees the arrival of the Lyrids and the Virginids. Neither meteor shower is very intense, but they do provide good examples of shooting stars with different speeds: the fast Lyrids compared to the slower Virginids.
The peak of the April Lyrids (from the constellation of Lyra, the Harp) is on the 22nd, 23:00 UT, when you could see a maximum of about 15 meteors an hour. The Moon is just over last quarter and may interfere with the shower.
The Virginids are active until the 18th, peaking on the 11th with 10 meteors an hour. Unfortunately the light of the nearly Full Moon will washout most of the meteors.

Blobrana · L

Blobrana · L

Apr ?? -STS-117 Launch, Space Shuttle Atlantis
Apr ?? - Rosetta, Deep Space Maneuver #3 (DSM-3)
Apr ?? - Hai Yang 1B (No. 2) CZ-2C Launch (China)
Apr ?? - Cosmos (Tselina-2 N23) Zenit 2 Launch
Apr ?? - Cosmos (Parus N97)/ Orbcomm-CDS 3 Cosmos 3M Launch
Apr 01 - Asteroid 7392 Kowalski Closest Approach To Earth (1.414 AU)
Apr 01 - Asteroid 88292 Bora-Bora Closest Approach To Earth (1.602 AU)
Apr 02 - Full Moon, 18:15.0 UT
Apr 02 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #102 (OTM-102)
Apr 02 - Comet C/2006 T1 (Levy) Closest Approach To Earth (1.495 AU)
Apr 02 - Comet Schuster Perihelion (1.556 AU)
Apr 02 - Comet C/2006 U7 (Gibbs) Perihelion (4.433 AU)
Apr 02 - Asteroid 38701 (2000 QB66) Occults HIP 107901 (6.2 Magnitude Star)
Apr 02 - Asteroid 253 Mathilde Occults TYC 1318-00431-1 (9.6 Magnitude Star)
Apr 02 - Asteroid 6279 (1977 UO5) Occults HIP 62103 (5.9 Magnitude Star)
Apr 02 - Asteroid 2007 FY20 Near-Earth Flyby (0.014 AU)
Apr 02 - Asteroid 64070 NEAT Closest Approach To Earth (1.938 AU)
Apr 02-04 - Workshop: XEUS - Visions of the Extreme Universe, London, United Kingdom
Apr 03 - Asteroid 3 Juno Occults TYC 0307-00203-1 (11.9 Magnitude Star)
Apr 03 - Asteroid 1613 Smiley Occults TYC 7328-01718-1 (7.3 Magnitude Star)
Apr 03 - Asteroid 2007 EJ88 Near-Earth Flyby (0.080 AU)
Apr 03 - Asteroid 2074 Shoemaker Closest Approach To Earth (0.927 AU)
Apr 03 - Asteroid 30785 Greeley Closest Approach To Earth (1.618 AU)
Apr 03-04 - 7th British Gravitational Conference (BRITGRAV 7), Cambridge, United Kingdom
Apr 04 - Comet Machholz 1 Perihelion (0.125 AU)
Apr 04 - Comet Comas Sola Near-Jupiter Flyby (0.311 AU)
Apr 04 - Comet C/2007 E1 (Garradd) Closest Approach To Earth (0.497 AU)
Apr 04 - Asteroid 256 Walpurga Occults HIP 105107 (7.8 Magnitude Star)
Apr 04 - Asteroid 9937 Triceratops Closest Approach To Earth (1.916 AU)
Apr 05 - Asteroid 3061 Cook Closest Approach To Earth (2.589 AU)
Apr 05 - Kuiper Belt Object 136108 (2003 EL61) Closest Approach To Earth (50.279 AU)
Apr 06 - Asteroid 1094 Siberia Occults TYC 1332-00286-1 (6.2 Magnitude Star)
Apr 06 - Asteroid 5281 Lindstrom Closest Approach To Earth (2.401 AU)
Apr 07 - Soyuz TMA-10 Soyuz FG Launch (International Space Station 14S)
Apr 07 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #103 (OTM-103)
Apr 07 - Asteroid 2002 OY21 Near-Mars Flyby (0.045 AU)
Apr 07 - Asteroid 1776 Kuiper Closest Approach To Earth (2.116 AU)
Apr 07 - Asteroid 4370 Dickens Closest Approach To Earth (1.635 AU)
Apr 08 - Easter Sunday
Apr 08 - Asteroid 951 Gaspra Closest Approach To Earth (1.594 AU)
Apr 08 - Asteroid 2620 Santana Closest Approach To Earth (2.068 AU)
Apr 08-12 - Conference: Exploring the Solar System and the Universe, Bucharest, Romania
Apr 09 - Asteroid 2007 EL88 Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU)
Apr 09 - Asteroid 8120 Kobe Closest Approach To Earth (1.802 AU)
Apr 09 - Asteroid 5663 McKeegan Closest Approach To Earth (1.832 AU)
Apr 10 - Last Quarter, 19:04.2 UT
Apr 10 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
Apr 10 - Anik F-3 Proton M Launch
Apr 10 - Asteroid 2007 FO3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.053 AU)
Apr 10-12 - Meeting: Bilbao Encounter on New Standard Cosmology (BICOS 2007), Bilbao, Spain
Apr 10-13 - Meeting: Dusty Visions - New Venues in Dust Research, Heidelberg, Germany
Apr 12 - Asteroid 31664 Randiiwessen Closest Approach To Earth (1.516 AU)
Apr 12 - Asteroid 12760 Maxwell Closest Approach To Earth (2.266 AU)
Apr 12-13 - International Congress: Experiments in Space and Beyond, Brussels, Belgium
Apr 13 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #104 (OTM-104)
Apr 13 - Asteroid 3 Juno At Opposition (9.7 Magnitude)
Apr 13 - Asteroid 1994 GL Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU)
Apr 13-15 - 2007 Southern Mendoza Star Party, Argentina
Apr 13-15 - South Pacific Star Party, Wiruna, Australia
Apr 14 - Asteroid 438 Zeuxo Occults HIP 85521 (7.2 Magnitude Star)
Apr 14 - Asteroid 9 Metis Occults TYC 6858-00340-1 (7.6 Magnitude Star)
Apr 14 - Asteroid 2007 DS84 Near-Earth Flyby (0.042 AU)
Apr 14 - Asteroid 9885 Linux Closest Approach To Earth (1.410 AU)
Apr 14-18 - School On Noncommutative Geometry Field Theories, Oran, Les Andalouses, Algeria
Apr 15 - Asteroid 991 McDonalda Occults HIP 22013 (6.9 Magnitude Star)
Apr 15-20 - European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2007, Vienna, Austria
Apr 15-22 - 6th International Workshop on Data Analysis in Astronomy, Erice, Italy
Apr 16 - Comet C/2005 YW (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (1.978 AU)
Apr 16 - Comet 186P/Garradd Closest Approach To Earth (3.481 AU)
Apr 16 - Asteroid 5750 Kandatai Occults HIP 79874 (7.1 Magnitude Star)
Apr 16 - Leonardo DaVinci's 555th Birthday (1452)
Apr 16-17 - ESA Telecom Information Days 2007, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Apr 16-20 - (RAS) National Astronomy Meeting 2007, Preston, United Kingdom
Apr 16-20 - 1st Stars Workshop, Copenhagen, Denmark
Apr 17 - New Moon, 12:36.0 UT
Apr 17 - Sinosat 3 CZ-3A Launch (China)
Apr 17 - Egyptsat 1/ Saudisat 3/Saudicomsat 3-7/ AKS 1 & 2/CP 3-4/CAPE 1/Libertad 1/Mast 1-3/CSTB-1/Aerocube2 Dnepr 1 Launch
Apr 17 - Asteroid 23977 (1999 GW6) Occults HIP 45999 (6.5 Magnitude Star)
Apr 17 - 40th Anniversary (1967), Surveyor 3 Launch (Moon Lander)
Apr 18 - Agile/AAM PSLV Launch
Apr 18 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #105 (OTM-105)
Apr 18 - Asteroid 3803 Tuchkova Occults HIP 112347 (7.6 Magnitude Star)
Apr 18 - Asteroid 411 Xanthe Occults HIP 43103 (4.2 Magnitude Star)
Apr 18-20 - Symposium: The Nuclear Region, Environment of Active Galaxies, Huatulco, Mexico
Apr 18-20 - 29th ESA Antenna Workshop, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Apr 19 - Soyuz Return To Earth (International Space Station)
Apr 19 - Comet 2P Encke Perihelion (0.339 AU)
Apr 19 - Asteroid 2606 Odessa Occults HIP 19736 (6.3 Magnitude Star)
Apr 20 - Asteroid 1232 Cortusa Occults HIP 29775 (7.7 Magnitude Star)
Apr 20 - Asteroid 324 Bamberga Occults HIP 59807 (7.4 Magnitude Star)
Apr 21 - Asteroid 461 Saskia Occults HIP 62915 (6.6 Magnitude Star)
Apr 21 - Asteroid 1052 Belgica Occults HIP 57990 (7.9 Magitude Star)
Apr 21 - Asteroid 18106 Blume Closest Approach To Earth (2.110 AU)
Apr 22 - Lyrids Meteor Shower Peak
Apr 22 - Comet Kowal 1 Closest Approach To Earth (3.727 AU)
Apr 22-27 - 5th Potsdam Thinkshop: Differential Rotation, Meridional Flows, Potsdam, Germany
Apr 23 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #106 (OTM-106)
Apr 23 - Asteroid 3345 Tarkovskij Occults HIP 66656 (5.6 Magnitude Star)
Apr 23-24 - ESA Investment Forum, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Apr 23-26 - AIAA Dynamics Specialists Conference, Waikiki, Hawaii
Apr 23-27 - 2007 ESA ENVISAT Symposium, Montreux, Switzerland
Apr 23-27 - Conference: Pathways Through an Eclectic Universe, Tenerife, Spain
Apr 23-27 - Workshop: Astrophysics in the LOFAR Era, Emmen, The Netherlands
Apr 23-28 - 14th Young Scientists' Conference on Astronomy and Space Physics, Kyiv, Ukraine
Apr 24 - First Quarter, 7:35.5 UT
Apr 24 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Dione and Telesto
Apr 24-25 - 2nd Workshop on GNSS Signals & Signal Processing, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Apr 24-25 - 18th Workshop of the EACE (European Aerospace Working Group), Frascati, Italy
Apr 25 - AIM Pegasus XL Launch
Apr 25 - Comet C/2007 E2 (Lovejoy) Closest Approach To Earth (0.042 AU)
Apr 26 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
Apr 26 - Genesis 2 Dnepr 1 Launch
Apr 27 - Asteroid 9949 Brontosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.206 AU)
Apr 28 - Asteroid 2003 WW26 Near-Earth Flyby (0.096 AU)
Apr 29 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #107 (OTM-107)
Apr 29 - Comet Helin-Roman-Crockett Closest Approach To Earth (3.239 AU)
Apr 29 - Asteroid 10221 Kubrick Closest Approach To Earth (1.416 AU)
Apr 29 - Asteroid 3905 Doppler Closest Approach To Earth (2.100 AU)
Apr 29 - 13th Annual Meeting of the SETI League, Little Ferry, New Jersey
Apr 30 - NFIRE Minotaur Launch
Apr 30 - Asteroid 2002 FB3 Near-Mercury Flyby (0.016 AU)
Apr 30 - Asteroid 2003 FU3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.082 AU)
Apr 30 - Asteroid 3355 Onizuka Closest Approach To Earth (1.290 AU)
Apr 30 - Asteroid 4969 Lawrence Closest Approach To Earth (2.682 AU)

-- Edited by Blobrana at 18:51, 2007-03-30

Blobrana · L

As the sky darkens in early evening during April, the first thing to catch your eye will be bright Venus, gleaming large and white in the west about a third of the way from the horizon to straight overhead.
Venus at dusk is one of the sky's prettiest sights. The brilliant planet will be visible even before sunset if you mark the place where it appears one night using a nearby tree or other object as a reference point. Then look again slightly higher the next night about a half hour before sunset and see if you can spot Venus in daylight.
Venus and the Pleiades star cluster will have an especially beautiful encounter in the west on April 11. Binoculars will reveal this spectacle as the planet passes just below the famous Seven Sisters.

Saturn will be high in the south as darkness falls on April evenings, one of the first "stars" to appear. The bright yellow planet will still be a fine sight in any telescope. It will be visible much of the night in the constellation Leo the Lion, to the right (west) of Leo's brightest star, Regulus. Saturn's famous rings will begin closing soon and won't be this open again for five years.

Jupiter will rise around 1 a.m. at the beginning of April and two hours earlier by month's end. Wait until the brilliant white object is high in the southern sky and then use binoculars to see its four largest moons, which Galileo discovered with one of the first telescopes. These tiny bits of white light are strung out in a straight line on both sides of Jupiter, and they seem to slide back and forth along the line from one night to the next as they orbit the planet. You may need to steady your binoculars by resting your elbows on a surface to keep the image from wobbling. The only times you won't see all four moons are when one or more are crossing in front of the planet or behind it.

Mars will be very low in the east-southeast before sunrise, difficult to see in the brightening sky, as it has been since January.

Mercury will be lost in the glow of dawn during April for most observers in the Northern Hemisphere. Those in the Southern Hemisphere will be able to see the small planet shining below Mars in early morning twilight for the first half of the month.