Astronomy Just Great Music!
Sky Notes for Early Spring Brought to you by Roy Gre on, Vice Chairman and Journal Editor of The No ngham Astronomical Society. Everyone is welcome to a end the Society’s monthly mee ngs which take place at The Gotham Memorial Hall, No ngham Road, Gotham, No s. NG11 0HE on the first Thursday of each month. Contact details are on Soar Valley Life’s Website, or go directly to the No ngham Astronomy website: h ps://no nghamastro.org.uk/ What’s that bright star? That’s a ques on you may be asked any evening this spring. The answer is Venus, the nearest planet to Earth, and by far the brightest in our sky. Alfred Lord Tennyson imagined what it would be like to stand on one of our neighbouring planets and see the bluewhite Earth hanging majes cally in their sky, when he wrote, “...Venus – were we na ve to that splendour, or in Mars, we should see the Globe we groan in, fairest of their evening stars. Could we dream of wars and carnage, cra and madness, lust and spite, Roaring London, raving Paris, in that point of peaceful light?...” Space research over the last halfcentury supports Tennyson’s warning that appearances can be decep ve, for as we gaze at our apparently serene sister planet, we are now aware that Venus is indeed a hellish place, with clouds of sulphuric acid dri ing over a surface hot enough to melt lead. Venus is o en thought of as Earth’s twin, especially in terms of size, as it is 7500 miles across compared with Earth’s 7900 miles. But that’s about as far as the likeness goes, for Venus suffers a runaway greenhouse effect, resul ng in that blistering temperature. At the No ngham Astronomical Society mee ng at Gotham Memorial Hall at 7:30pm on June 4th, Dr Richard Ghail will be speaking on ‘VENUS why so different?’ Do come along if you would like to learn more. The Planets in March and April As already noted, Venus is the standout object this spring, par cularly in March and April. You will see it shining with a steady light (not twinkling) high in the west a er the Sun has set. Through a telescope it will show a ‘phase’ rather like the Moon: gibbous un l late March, then a steadily thinning crescent throughout April and May. Looking west Mercury, a much more elusive planet, will become visible low down in the west a er sunset in the second half of May. Meanwhile, the superior planets (those further from the Sun than we are) con nue to be poorly placed for observa on from the UK, as they remain south of the equator throughout the spring. However, a
Page 54
fascina ng spectacle awaits those willing to rise early (before 5am) between midMarch and midApril, as all three planets will be close together in the morning sky. Mars will swoop past the other two during this period, and around March 26th it will be midway between Jupiter and Saturn, in the constella on of Sagi arius. But to see them you will need to pick a spot with a clear south eastern horizon – no houses or trees to spoil the view! A nakedeye comet? This spring a comet is swinging past the Earth on its 350,000year orbit around the Sun. Comet C/2017 T2 Panstarrs will reach its closest point to the Sun on May 4th, and around that me should be at its brightest. Having said that, comets are notoriously difficult to predict, and while this one may become visible to the naked eye, it may also fall short, and require the use of binoculars. A good resource for tracking the comet can be found at h ps://www.heavensabove.com
Phases of the Moon for March and April 2020 Phase First Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter New Moon
Date March 2nd March 9th March 16th March 24th
Date April 1st & 30th April 8th April 14th April 23rd
The arrow poin ng to the bo om right of the crescent moon photo points to the posi on of the Sun. This moon indicates that the Sun has set and shows a new moon be fore its first quarter approximately 4 days old
WE NEED A NEW COMMERCIAL SPONSOR FOR OUR ASTRONOMY PAGE! Talk to Steve on 01509 813125
