Looking UP

Mid-April to Mid-May 2023

By Greg Smith

The Evening Sky the summer of 2020. It was a naked eye comet even here in Longview. We now wait for the next glorious comet to come our way.

What is the next big astronomical event being talked about?

How about an annular eclipse on October 14th, 2023 (a Saturday morning). In an annular eclipse, the moon crosses in front of the sun just like a full eclipse, but the Moon is at its far point in its orbit of the Earth. So the image of the moon is not quite as big as it is when you have a full eclipse. The moon goes in front of the sun and leaves a “ring of fire” (see above). It will be visible across the Southwestern U.S. starting on the Central Oregon coast down to Texas. Eugene, Oregon will see the annular eclipse beginning at 8:06am with full annularity at 9:16am, lasting for four minutes.

Here in CRR territory, we are not in the path of the annular eclipse, but we are close; we will get an 85 percent bite of the sun taken out in Longview. So get out your solar viewing glasses from the last eclipse, because you WILL NEED THEM. The sun’s 15 percent showing will still be too bright and will damage your eyes if you look without these glasses.

Or, use a pin hole projector to display an image of the sun onto a blank sheet of white paper. The Longview Public Library will be holding an informational talk in mid-September on what an annular eclipse is and how to view it.

Friends of Galileo, will be involved in this program and sharing how to view it with demonstrations on making a pin hole projector. They will also let you view the sun with solar protected telescopes and binoculars. Be on the watch for the announcements about this event.

Moon Phases:

New: April 19th

1st Quarter: April 27th

Full: May 5th

3rd Quarter: May 12th

End of twilight - when the stars start to come out:

Sat., April 15th, 8:29pm

Mon., April 26th, 8:45pm

Sat., May 6th, 9pm

A clear open low western horizon is needed. Mars, Venus and Mercury are visible. April 20th Mars will be traveling up the center of Gemini. Venus will be very close to the horns of the bull Taurus. Just the week before, Venus was very near the star cluster known as the Pleiades. On April 20th, Mercury will be just three fingers’ width above the western horizon halfway between west and northwest. Thus, you will have seen three of the five planets visible this month. You may need binoculars to pull Mercury out of the glare of the setting sun, and the first sliver of a growing crescent one day old moon. Mercury will be gone by the end of April. The other two (Jupiter and Saturn) are morning planets.

The Morning Sky (cloudless eastern horizon sky required)

On April 20th, Saturn will be rising about 5:15 in the morning in the southeast. May 20th in the east Jupiter will be rising about 5:10 a.m., along with the on- day-old moon. Jupiter will be eclipsed by the last bit of the moon at moon rise. The next day (the 18th), Jupiter will be free of the moon and be rising at 5:00 a.m. A surprise will await the diligent as Jupiter rises. Mercury returns to the sky low on the horizon near Jupiter.

Night Sky Spectacle: M13 Hercules Globular Cluster. A cloud-free evening is a must.

This is one of the easiest globular clusters to see. A pair of binoculars will be useful. On April 18 just around 9:30 p.m. the cluster will be rising in the east, on the top side of the trapezoid shape of the body of Hercules. When looking through binoculars it will be a bright fuzzy ball of stars. This is a fun object to view especially if you have even a small telescope. Aim it at this cluster and you will see a mass of stars. Enjoy this wonderful object of the night sky. Maybe you’ll wonder what it would be like to be on a planet orbiting a star in a cluster like this. You will be able to observe this cluster all summer and into October as well.

April 22nd – 23rd will be the peak of the Lyrids meteor shower. They will appear to be coming from just below the constellation Hercules in the constellation Lyra and its brilliant star Vega around 2-3a.m. Lyra will be about halfway up in the eastern sky at 2 a.m.

All of these plus M13 will make a great night out if it is clear.

Fostering musicianship, four strings at a time

The 13th Tenor Guitar Gathering will be held in Astoria, Oregon on June 2 –4 and includes workshops, jam sessions, two evening concerts, and the always-popular ride on the waterfront trolley while playing and singing.

The event will see a mix of familiar performers and teachers, along with new ones. The four performers integral in the history of the event include John Lawlor from Philadelphia; Grant Flick from Bowling Green, Ohio; Tim May from Nashville; and Tyler Jackson, who now calls Oklahoma home. These four are well known and respected as mainstay performers, top notch soloists who make magic when they play together.

Returning performers include Pat MacSwyney of California; Paul Gabrielson, a bassist from Washington; Gerry Carthy of New Mexico; and Alison Helzer, a Gerry Carthy prodigy, from Oregon.

A new performer this year is August Watters, a part-time resident of Astoria. He is described as a multi-stylistic, improvising mandolinist. An arranger, he is a former professor of ear training at Berklee College of Music, Boston. The Tenor Guitar Gathering, sponsored by Tenor Guitar Foundation, fosters musicianship four strings at a time. Performers and teachers will utilize the mandolin, tenor guitar, banjo, violin and embrace multiple ways of tuning and varied genres of music.

Daytime Jam sessions, Workshops and Concerts will be held in the Charlene Larsen Center for Performing Arts and the host lodging is the Astoria Riverwalk Inn.

Ticket information, performer biographies, workshop descriptions and more information may be found on the website: TenorGuitar.org For additional information, please contact President, Harriott Balmer at 253-9884036 or hbalmer@comcast.net