Out with the hunter, in with the lion
It’s stargazing turnover time!
Nighttimes are shrinking in Butler, and you’re forced to wait longer into the evening to begin your stargazing. The good news though is that the nights are getting warmer.
To kick off April, the new crescent moon will be keeping some really good company. On Tuesday, in the low western sky, it’ll be close and personal with the Seven Little Sisters, otherwise known as the bright Pleiades star cluster.
With the unaided eye, most folks can see six to seven stars that resemble a tiny Little Dipper. With binoculars or a small telescope, you can see many more. The sisters are waving at us from over 400 light-years away.
On Wednesday, the slightly higher and fatter crescent moon flirts with the very bright planet Jupiter, one of the bright evening planets available this month. The moon will be hanging just above and to the right of the behemoth of our solar system. Take a small telescope and check out Jupiter’s four brightest moons that flank the great gaseous planet and circle around it in periods of two to 17 days.
On April 5, it’s Mars’ turn to get a lunar cling on with the first quarter moon just to the upper right of the red planet in the high southwestern sky.
April is the month that the constellations of winter, like Orion the Hunter, begin to make their last great stand in the western sky, while Leo the Lion and other spring constellations continue their ascension in the eastern heavens.
The mighty constellation Orion the Hunter is surrounded by a posse of bright stars and constellations. Early in the month, Orion and his gang appear after evening twilight in the west, but as the month continues, they start the evenings closer and closer to the horizon. As it orbits the sun, the Earth is gradually turning away from the direction in space occupied by the great constellations of winter.
Meanwhile the spring constellation Leo the Lion appears to be chasing Orion out of the sky. Look high in the southeastern evening sky for a distinct backward question mark of stars. That question mark outlines the celestial lion's chest and head.
Leo’s brightest star, Regulus, marks the heart of the lion at the bottom of the question mark. A small but distinct triangle to the lower left of the question mark depicts the lion’s derriere and tail.
In the northern evening sky, you’ll easily spot the upside-down Big Dipper very high in the heavens. Although many people think the Big Dipper is a constellation, it’s not. Instead, that shape is the brightest part of the very large constellation Ursa Major, the Big Bear. The Big Dipper outlines the rear end and extended tail of the bear.
To find Polaris, the North Star, use the “pointer stars” on the side of the Big Dipper’s pot, opposite the handle. Polaris is about three fist-widths at arm’s length from the pointer stars.
The North Star lies at the end of the handle of the much dimmer Little Dipper, more formally known as Ursa Minor, the Little Bear. In the Northern Hemisphere, Polaris is an important star in the sky because it shines directly above the Earth’s North Pole. As the Earth rotates on its axis, the North Star is nearly stationary, and all of the other stars revolve around it every 24 hours.
With your mind’s eye, extend the arc made by the Big Dipper’s handle beyond the end of the handle, and you’ll run into a super bright orange-tinged star in the eastern sky. That’s Arcturus, the fourth brightest star in the night sky and the brightest star in the constellation Bootes the Herdsman. Bootes, however, looks much more like a kite rising on its side with Arcturus at the tail.
Keep extending that arc from the Big Dipper’s handle, and you’ll eventually run into the bright star Spica.
If you happen to be up super early anytime this April you’ll be greeted by the very bright planet Venus, rising above the eastern horizon during morning twilight. Through a telescope, the heavily cloud-covered planet will resemble a thin crescent moon.
Near Venus in the low eastern twilight will be Mercury and Saturn, but honestly, they’ll be really tough to see in the twilight.
Enjoy everything the April night skies have to offer, from sunset to sunrise!
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is also the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at adventurepublications.net. Contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.
