Sic Itur Ad Astra – Thus The Way To The Stars : 143 years of astronomy
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Mercury becomes a favourable object again. Looking to the North of West some 40 minutes after Sunset this elusive planet will be at its best between the 11th and the 26th. With the crescent Moon paying a visit toward the end of that period you should stand a good chance of locating the solar systems innermost world.This table (link removed as URL is invalid) describes the apparition as it progresses. Jupiter and Saturn, in their hasty journey towards the Sun, offer further pointers although it has to be said that Saturn is pretty unfavourable. Mercury is brighter during the first half of May.
VENUS.
Venus does a little double take, stopping its motion along the horizon and increasing its altitude slightly. It is quite low down in the morning twilight but it will soon improve.
MARS.
Mars, rising at midnight at the end of May, is visible for most of the night in southern Ophiuchus. In January its apparent diameter was a mere 5.2″ of arc but it now sports a healthy 14-19″ disk as it heads towards next months opposition. On the 10th the Moon passes 1.5° north of Mars at 01hrs
ASTEROIDS.
1 Ceres is in Sagittarius at Mag 8.5 ( Opposition next month).
2 Pallas is at opposition on May 27th at mag 9.2 in Hercules.
7 Iris is at opposition on May 9th at mag 9.6 in Libra.
15 Eunomia is at opposition on May 23rd at mag 9.9 in Lupus.
Jupiter quickly heads towards the Sun in the evening sky and becomes unfavourable.
Launched in October 1989, the Galileo Jupiter Probe entered orbit around the great planet on December 7th 1995. The Project Galileo Homepage will give you up-to-date information and the very latest images returned.
SATURN.
Saturn is at solar conjunction on the 25th, thus is unfavourable for observations. It reappears in the morning sky in July.
URANUS and NEPTUNE.
Uranus is starting to become favourable among the stars of Capricornus. It shines at Mag 5.8.
Positions for the 1st May:
R.A. DEC TRANSIT TIME MAG
21h:48m:12s -14°:01':08" 07h:23m 5.8
Bluish Neptune is also in Capricornus at this time,less brigher than Uranus. Both should be seen in dark sky location with clear skies.
Positions for the 1st May:
R.A. DEC TRANSIT TIME MAG
20h:44m:35s -17°:55':17" 06h:20m 7.9
PLUTO.
Best time to look for the almost 14 mag planet is around New Moon. The dates below will be a guide for planning observations.
Positions for May are when pluto's elongation angle is greater than 90°.
DATE R.A. DEC TRANSIT TIME
May 11th 16h:57m:53s -11°:52':23" 01h:52m
May 21st 16h:56m:53s -11°:50':28" 01h:12m
May 31st 16h:55m:50s -11°:49':04" 00h:31m
On June 3rd Pluto at 13.8 Mag reaches opposition in Ophiuchus. It can be found between Zeta Ophiuchi Mag 4 and 20 Ophiuchi mag 4.7. You will need an 8-inch or larger telescope and the best time to see Pluto is when the Moon is not around.
It is best seen between May 15th – May 29th.
Mercury is not favourable to view this month being at Superior conjunction on the 23rd.
VENUS.
Venus lies VERY low down in the early morning sky moving from east-north-east to east by April’s end. It will remain only slightly favourable until late May when it starts a swift ascent.
MARS.
Mars, drawn by Ken Clarke, as viewed through a 10″ F4.3 Reflector 308x,432x. w=14.4, seeing 3-5, at 00:00 UTC on November 4th, 1990
Mars remains a morning object but it won’t be long until its brightness and diameter start to increase to make it worthwhile telescopic object. At the start of the month Mars rises at 02h and crosses the meridian an hour before Sunrise. Still lying in Ophiuchus its eastwards apparent motion starts to slow. At 01hr on the 13th the Moon passes a mere 34′ north of Mars.
ASTEROIDS.
29 Amphitrite is at oppostion at 9.3 in Virgo on April 6th/7th.
532 Herculina is at oppostion at Mag 9.1 in Bootes on April 22nd.
2 Pallas is at oppostion next month but can be found in Hercules at mag 9.4 on April 1st. Stationary on April 10th.
Jupiter sets at midnight in the middle of the month and is therefore nicely placed for observations soon after Sunset.
Launched in October 1989, the Galileo Jupiter Probe entered orbit around the great planet on December 7th 1995. The Project Galileo Homepage will give you up-to-date information and the very latest images returned.
SATURN.
Saturn, lying slightly to the west of Jupiter, lies 6° South of the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus on the 24th. The Moon slides 2.5° South of Jupiter at 01hr on the 27th and 2° south of Saturn at 19hr on the 24th.
URANUS and NEPTUNE.
Uranus is slowly recovering from its February solar conjunction, and can be seen at Mag 5.9 in Capricornus.
Positions for the 1st April
R.A. DEC TRANSIT TIME MAG
21h:44m:15s -14°:20':15" 10h:17m 5.9
Like Uranus, Neptune is recovering from its solar conjunction in January and at mag 7.9 the approaching twilight will hinder chances of locating this outer planets.
Positions for the 1st April
R.A. DEC TRANSIT TIME MAG
20h:42m:57s -18°:01'24" 09h:16m 7.9
PLUTO.
Pluto can be found on the border of Ophiuchus and Scorpius, below and to left of the 4th magnitude stars zeta and 20 Ophiuchi. The best time to look for the planet is around New Moon. The dates below will be a guide for planning observations.
Positions for April are when pluto's elongation angle is greater than 90°.
DATE R.A. DEC TRANSIT TIME
April 1st 17h:00m:54s -12°:02':53" 05hr:32m
April 11th 17h:00m:08s -12°:00':04" 04hr:52m
April 21st 16h:59m:33s -11°:57':17" 04hr:12m
Pluto is best seen between April 15th – April 30th.
METEORS.
April 12th VIRGINIDS & alpha Virginids (6 per hour) UnFavourable
April 22nd APRIL LYRIDS (15-20 per hour) Favourable.
April 28th ALPHA SCORPIIDS (5 per hour) Favourable.
COMETS.
10th April Comet Metcalf-Brewington at Perihelion (2.605AU).
29th April Comet P/2000 T2 (Kushida-Muramastu at Perihelion (2.752AU).
Plus these pages will give daily and weekly reports of this and other Comets progress.
The Liverpool Astronomical Society Observatory – Pex Hill
Cronton, Widnes,
Merseyside.
Please Click Here for Map.
Please note for those with walking difficulties or wheelchair users, that access to the Observatory is via a stairway, but the lecture room and toilets, (disabled toilet on site) are situated on the ground floor.
All meetings listed below take place on Friday evenings unless otherwise stated.
November 3rd 2000
7:30pm – 9:30pm Public Open Night. Details TBC.
December 1st 2000
7:30pm – 9:30pm Public Open Night. Details TBC.
January 5th 2001
7:30pm – 9:30pm Public Open Night. Details TBC.
February 2nd 2001
7:30pm – 9:30pm Public Open Night. Details TBC.
March 2nd 2001
7:30pm – 9:30pm Public Open Night. Details TBC.
April 6th 2001
For more information contact: The North West Water PLC Pex Hill Visitors Centre on (Contact details removed as no longer valid) or (Observatory Director – Liverpool Astronomical Society): Mr Geoff Regan (Contact details removed as no longer valid)
On the 7th the Moon is at minimum perigee (closest to the Earth) this year for 2001 at a distance of 356,852km.
THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.
MERCURY.
Mercury is at inferior conjunction on the 13th and is therefore unobservable.
VENUS.
Info Sheet: Venus in the Evening Sky, January – March 2001
Venus is still obvious in the evening sky just south of west half an hour after Sunset. By the end of the month its altitude drops slowly and soon it will be lost in the glare of the Sun. It reaches its greatest brilliancy on Feb 22nd at Mag -4.6 Before it does so the crescent Moon lies a wide 11° south of Venus at 17hrs on the 26th.
MARS.
Mars is still a morning object rising at 02:00 at the end of the month and has moved from Libra into Scorpius, lying a mere 3′ south of the bright star beta Scorpii. On the 15th at 13h the Moon passes 1.5° north of Mars.
ASTEROIDS.
1 Ceres is in Sgr at Mag 9.1. It is close to Moon on 18th February.
2 Pallas is in Ser/Oph/Her border at Mag 9.7.
3 Juno is in Aqr at Mag 9.9. It is close to Moon on 25th February.(No Opposition this year)
4 Vesta is in Cap/Aqr border at Mag 8.1. It is close to the Moon on 24th February.
Jupiter is still riding high in the evening sky. At the start of the month Jupiter is moving in retrograde motion i.e. east to west against the background stars of Taurus. Around mid-February it halts its respective motion in Right Ascension and at the end of the month it will return to its prograde – west to east – apparent motion. Jupiter eventually passes from Taurus into Gemini by August. The Moon is 3.5° south of Jupiter on the 2nd.
Launched in October 1989, the Galileo Jupiter Probe entered orbit around the great planet on December 7th 1995. The Project Galileo Homepage will give you up-to-date information and the very latest images returned.
SATURN.
Saturn, Please see Jupiter text above, but Saturn moves with Jupiter as indicated. Saturn’s ring tilt of 23° means that its Southern hemisphere is presented towards us. Saturn, unlike Jupiter remains in Taurus for the whole of 2001. On the 2nd at 10hrs the Moon passes 3° South of the ringed planet.
URANUS and NEPTUNE.
Uranus and Neptune are both close to Solar conjunction, (Uranus on Feb 9th). It will be May when both planets begin to improve and become observable.
PLUTO.
Pluto will be out of view until after April in morning skies.
METEORS.
February 6th – 9th Alpha Aurigids ZHR is 12 per hour. ( UnFavourable) Full Moon on 8th.
COMETS.
Comet McNaught-Hartley (link removed as URL is invalid) in Hercules during February.
February 7th: Comet Mueller 4 at Perihelion (2.647AU).
February 19th: Comet Reinmuth 2 at Perihelion (1.890AU).
February 25th: Comet Spiter at Perihelion (2.127AU).
February 27th: Comet Kohoutek at Perihelion (1.787AU).
Plus these pages will give daily and weekly reports of this and other Comets progress.
Phil Harman’s report and images of the total lunar eclipse of January 9th, 2001 are available on his website following this link: http://harpeople.net/moon/
Mercury is at its greatest Eastern elongation on the 28th at an angle of 18° from the Sun. From the 21st look low down in the South West using this TABLE (link removed as URL is invalid) and the Moon and Venus as guides for location. On the 26th the Moon and Mercury are 3.5° apart. Mercury’s phase changes from a 79% gibbous with an apparent diameter of 5.9″ on the 21st to a 16% crescent on February 5th. Its brightness diminishes accordingly throughout the appartion from -0.9 to +3.0 so the best chance of sighting it will be between Jan 21st and 31st.
VENUS.
Venus is superbly placed in the evening sky and is by far the frist object (apart from the Moon) to become visible soon after Sunset. Venus reaches greatest Eastern elongation on the 17th at an angle of 47° with a phase of exactly 50% and sports a disk 25″ across. On the 28th at 19hrs Venus is a wide 6.5° North of the moon.
MARS.
Mars is purely an early morning object now and for the next few months.
Unusually, there is no opposition of Jupiter this year. Last year it was on November 28th and the next one won’t be until January 1st 2002. However Jupiter is well placed in the evening sky in Taurus.
Launched in October 1989, the Galileo Jupiter Probe entered orbit around the great planet on December 7th 1995. The Project Galileo Homepage will give you up-to-date information and the very latest images returned.
SATURN.
Saturn joins Jupiter in the evening sky in Taurus. Saturn is less bright and to Jupiter’s upper right.
URANUS and NEPTUNE.
Both Uranus and Neptune are at or near solar conjunction and are unfavorable for observations until June.
PLUTO.
Pluto will be out of view until after April in morning skies.
METEORS.
January 4th Quadrantids ZHR is 80 per hour. ( Fairly favourable)
COMETS.
January 6th – Comet Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak at Perihelion (1.052 AU).
January 6th – Comet Ashbrook-Jackson at Perihelion (2.305 AU).
January 15th – Comet Smirnova-Chernykh at Perihelion (3.546 AU).
January 27th – Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 at Perihelion (0.937 AU).
January 27th – Comet C/2000 01 (Koehn) at Perihelion. (5.922 AU).
Plus these pages will give daily and weekly reports of this and other Comets progress.
There are several occultations during the total lunar eclipse on the 9th, the brightest being at 20:29 when 63 Geminorum is only just occulted from the latitude of Liverpool. Observes at latitudes lower than +53.4° may see the Moon pass just North of the Star. Full details of the stars which are occulted is given on pages 7-8 of the 2001 LAS Astronomical Events Booklet.
