Typical Sky on 15th April 2020 at 5:30 am
(Dr Abhay Deshpande/Stellarium)Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the world has come come to a halt and most Indians, like the rest of the world, are spending much of their times at home. As we wait for the looming shadow of the deadly virus to pass over, we can make our 'stay home' time fun, especially if you are an astronomy enthusiast! We have a full sky-guide ready for you-to learn about the fascinating space world. Now, as the air quality has improved drastically, skies are much clearer and it’s a double delight to take a glimpse space wonders by just sitting at your home. So, gear up to see the beauty of the night sky.
Planets, Stars and constellations to look out:
The Leo: Look East at Sunset
(Dr Abhay Deshpande/Stellarium)This is the month of Leo (the Lion King!) and as soon as the Sun sets in eastward direction, one can catch a glimpse of sickle shaped Leo with bright Regulus star called Magha in Indian system. The other famous constellation visible will be Northern Bear or Ursa Major. It is also known as Saptarshi—in reference to the famous seven sages—and it point towards the North Pole Star. It will be seen after Sunset till near Sunrise hours in the North Direction. Look for Seven bright Stars!
The other important sky events lined up for April are as follows:
April 1, 2020
First Quarter of Moon at 3:15 pm: First day of April brings in the First Quarter of Moon. On this night, half Moon will be shining bright overhead, when the Sun is about to set. Moon is in Gemini constellation which is also the Zodiacal Sign called Mithun in many Indian languages. The bright pair of stars northwest of Moon is Castor and Pollux marking the heads of the twins! The South bright star is Procyon. The Sun, moon and all the planets pass in between these boundary lines. Hence, we call it as “Gate of Heavens”!
April 3, 2020
Venus with Pleiades (Kruttika)
(Dr Abhay Deshpande/Stellarium)Venus next to star cluster: This whole month is dominated by Venus. Maintaining its shining glory, Venus will outcast every object in the night-sky and can be seen next to the star cluster Pleiades or Kruttika. This open cluster consists of about hundred stars packed in close to each other-if you see using a binocular. With un-aided eye you can easily see 6-7 stars, nearby each other along with Venus. On this day’s night, Venus will be at edge of the Pleiades Cluster-a spectacular event to be seen. This happens once in 8 yrs. So if you want Venus to pass through Pleiades, you have to wait till 2028!
April 7, 2020
Moon at Perigee at 11:27 pm: Moon at perigee is the nearest position for Moon to Earth. We have seen last month, that when at perigee Moon will be closest to Earth. Other end, when at Apogee it will be farthest from Earth. On 24th March 2020 Moon was at farthest Apogee for this year and in the same cycle, on 7th April it will be at closest Perigee to Earth. In other words, in 2020 Moon will be closest to us on 7th April!
April 8, 2020
Full Moon Night at 08:05 am: Moon is closest to Earth and it is also a Full Moon. While, a Super moon occurs, when there is Perigee along with Full moon. Though we are just missing it but for Western nations, it is Supermoon! This is First Full Moon of New year and it is celebrated as Hanuman Jayanti, to mark the birth of legendary Great Hanuman from the epic Ramayana!
April 10, 2020
Venus at high latitude: On this day, Venus will be at its greatest latitude. This is also the day of Good Friday and the coming Sunday will be celebrated as Easter around the globe!
April 14, 2020
Moon in the Capricorn constellation: Early morning 04:26 am, the Moon reaches last quarter of first month of Indian calendar. Moon rises past midnight and shines in the constellation of Capricorn.
April 15, 2020
Planet gathering in the morning sky on April 15, 2020. Scorpius is right and Sagittarius is at center.
(Dr Abhay Deshpande/Stellarium)Jupiter, Moon, Saturn form a triangle: This is probably the day when you should get up early and see the eastern sky. It will look splendid with Moon, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars along with Sagittarius and Scorpios. Jupiter, Moon and Saturn form a triangle with Mars just below Saturn.
April 16, 2020
Moon next to Mars: Very next day you will find Moon immediately next to Mars. For all photographers, it is good time to capture Mars now. Size of Mars will start increasing each month. Mars is approaching opposition on in October 2020. It will be closest to Earth on October 6 and hence will be seen bright and big! From April 2020 to October 2020, the apparent size of Mars will swell up six times! This is easily noticeable using photographic tools or even telescopes.
April 16 to April 25, 2020
Lyrid Meteor Shower: Unlike some famous showers, this is not so strong but a weak shower with anywhere between 10 to 20 meteors may be seen. The light pollution has to be less and then only you can see these meteors. Exceptionally bright ones can be anyway seen from anywhere, but it is tough to predict such an event. As the name suggests, the initiation point called as ‘radiant point’ lies near bright star Vega (called Abhijit in Indian system) in Lyra constellation.
For our new readers, meteors are small rocks or dustballs roaming around in space. They get attracted towards Earth and enter our atmosphere. They burn while moving fast and create a lightning streak, which is generally referred to as ‘shooting or falling star’. On some nights around the year, many such meteors are seen falling and is called meteor shower. It is usually associated with some comet. In this case, Comet Thatcher is the culprit who has left lots of debris when it crossed our orbit. Peak for Lyrid this year is on 22 April, early dawn.
Incidentally, we celebrate the Earth Day on April 22.
April 23, 2020
Moon in direction of Sun: Moon has passed through farthest position, Apogee on 20th April and is now along the direction of Sun. Its New Moon time and we cannot see the Moon at all. Now it will be seen in setting sky after Sunset.
April 26, 2020
Venus view: Venus is at the peak of its brightness for this year. If you get chance to see in telescope, you will be amazed to see-as it is not seen as a round disc like full Moon, but rather like a half moon. It will further thin down and become a crescent by end of May 2020. This is best time to watch Venus. Just next to it is Moon crescent and further south is the bright Orion.
April 30, 2020
Quadrature Moon: The Moon will continue to rise higher in the setting sky and attend quadrature on 30th April. It is half Moon again and we are heading for next month when it will shine bright yet again.
As an astronomer, we always say this too shall pass and the coming era will be full of spectacular events! The coming months will bring more such celestial spectacles. Stay tuned!
This article was produced in collaboration with Khagol Mandal, a non-profit collective of astronomy enthusiasts who organise various sky observation programmes, lectures and study tours. Dr Abhay Deshpande is a Senior Scientist (Physicist) working for SAMEER, R&D Lab of MeitY, Government of India. He is also the Honorary Secretary of Khagol Mandal.
This article is a guest column reflecting the author’s opinions, and does not necessarily represent the official views of The Weather Channel.
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April 02, 2020 at 02:00PM
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Watch the Sky: A Guide for All Exciting Celestial Events in April - The Weather Channel
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