The Planets for April 2016
Making a return to the evening twilight sky this month,
Mercury will be hard to spot for the entire month. It reaches
its greatest elongation east of the Sun on the 18th but
because of the very sharp angle of the ecliptic to the horizon
it will be hard to spot in the twilight sky, setting less than
one hour later than the sun. On the 9th the two day old
crescent Moon will be ten degrees to the east of Mercury and
much easier to observe than the planet. On the same evening
the 8.4 magnitude asteroid 4 Vesta will be 1.5 degrees to the
east of the Moon.
"Morning Star" rises 1 hour and 30 minutes before
the Sun at the beginning of April and best observed early in
the month as by the end of the month rises only 45 minutes
earlier than the Sun. The waning crescent Moon is five degrees
to the west of Venus on the 6th of the month.
The separation between these two planets does not alter
greatly for the entire month of April remaining no more than
nine degrees apart for the entire month. Mars begins the month
in Scorpius, moving into Ophiuchus where it joins Saturn on
the 3rd of the month, returning to Scorpius on the last day of
the month. The very subtle yellow tint of Saturn should help
to identify it whereas there is no mistaking the ruddy glow of
Mars. Don't confuse Mars with the Scorpion's brightest star
Antares which on the 26th is separated by less than five
degrees from the red planet, Mars being the brightest of the
pair. Antares gets its ancient Greek name because of its
similarity in colour to Mars the name meaning "rival of
Mars". Mars rises at 9:50pm A.E.S.T at the beginning of
the month, rising four minutes earlier each day as the month
progresses until by the end of the month it will rise at
7:50pm A.E.S.T. The waning gibbous Moon will be in the
vicinity of the pair on the 24th and 25th.
The giant planet will be high in the eastern sky after the Sun
has set at the beginning of April and continues on its
retrograde motion against the background stars in the
constellation, Leo. On the 18th the waxing gibbous Moon will
be just three degrees from the planet. It's a great exercise
to watch the changing positions of the Galilean moons over a
few nights and on the 12th and 13th a seventh magnitude star
will be posing as a fifth moon.
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The Planets for May 2016
Hidden in the glare of the western twilight at the beginning
of May, Mercury is on its way to transit the face of the Sun
on the 10th of the month. However this transit will not be
visible from Australia; the next transit visible in this
country will be in 2032. Mercury enters the morning sky after
the 10th but best observed toward the end of May when it will
be rising almost two hours before the Sun among the faint
stars of Aries.
close to the Sun for safe observation this month.
Still retrograding in Scorpius this month, Mars begins the
month five degrees from its rival the red giant star, Antares
and will be a full magnitude brighter than the star. The red
planet is at opposition with the Sun on the 22nd when it will
cross the meridian at midnight and makes its closest approach
to the Earth on the last day of the month. The near full Moon
will be close to Mars on the 21st a 22nd of the month.
Crossing the meridian around 8:30pm at the beginning of the
month, Jupiter is easy spot among the stars of Leo. Make the
most of the first half of the month as by the end of the month
the giant planet will be setting just after midnight. The
waxing crescent Moon and Jupiter will be just over one degree
apart on the 15th of the month.
The ringed planet is also in an ideal
position for observation this month lurking among the stars of
Ophiuchus-The Serpent Bearer. High in the eastern sky after
the Sun has set its magnificent system of rings are a sight
not to be missed in any moderate to larger telescope. The Moon
pays Saturn a Visit on the 22nd and 23rd of the month.
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The Planets for June 2016
This is an excellent month for the early risers to observe the
elusive Mercury as for the first half of the month it will be
rising two hours earlier than the Sun. It reaches its greatest
elongation west of the Sun on the 5th after which it starts
its journey back toward the Sun. On the 19th it will be less
than a degree from epsilon Tauri, the star marking the
northern eye of the bull. This star is an orange giant of
magnitude 3.5 which lies at a distance of 147 light years and
in 2007 the first star in an open cluster around which a
planet was discovered. The brighter eye of the bull is marked
by Aldebaran, a 0.9 magnitude red giant at the closer distance
of 68 light years that is not a true member of the Hyades
cluster but an unrelated foreground star. The waning crescent
Moon will rise thirty minutes before Mercury on the third of
the glare of the Sun this month and in conjunction with the
Sun on the 7th of the month. On this date Venus will be
occulted by the Sun for 46 hours after which it moves into the
Still in a great position for observation this month and even
a 100mm instrument will at times reveal its south polar cap.
Mars will appear stationary at the end of the month after
retrograding against the background stars since April spending
a few days from the 26th within half a degree of magnitude 8.6
globular cluster NGC 5897. It begins its eastward march early
next month taking it once more in the direction of Scorpius.
The Moon passes seven degrees to the north of Mars on the 17th
of the month.
The giant planet sits high in the northern sky after the Sun
has set early in June. It passes within 20 arcminutes of
Magnitude 4.7 chi Leonis on the 9th of May and is visited by
the Moon on the 11th and 12th of the month. It will be best
viewed early in the month as by the end of the month it will
be setting at 10:30pm.
The real star of the show, Saturn is
always a breathtaking sight when seen through even the
smallest of telescopes. It reaches opposition on the 3rd and
so is visible all night long among the stars of Ophiuchus. It
is less than seven degrees to the north of Scorpio's brightest
star, Antares and the colour contrast between the two should
be quite obvious. The Moon is in the vicinity on the 18th and
19th of June.
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