Sic Itur Ad Astra – Thus The Way To The Stars : 143 years of astronomy
If you can see this message then you are using a browser (probably Internet Explorer) which does not support the international web standards used by the LAS website and many others. Click here for an example of how the site should look.
Please consider using an alternative browser - especially if you are on Windows XP which only supports the outdated Internet Explorer 8 browser - such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome which do have support for these web standards. As well as not supporting modern features and web standards, old versions of browsers - especially Internet Explorer - can expose your computer to security risks. The Browse Happy website has a list of the latest versions of all major browsers, including Internet Explorer (but remember Windows XP only supports up to IE8!)
If updating/changing your browser is not possible, do not panic - all of the LAS website is still available to you and we are working to make the layout compatible with outdated browsers.
British Summer Time is in effect from 31st March 2013 – times below are in UTC (GMT) except for those occurring after the clocks change!
(Click to enlarge) What’s visible in the sky above Liverpool in March 2013? Map is valid for: 1st March 2013 at 23:00 UTC 15th March 2013 at 22:00 UTC 31st March 2013 at 21:00 UTC / 22:00 BST
The Sun
2nd March 2013
7th March 2013
12th March 2013
17th March 2013
22nd March 2013
27th March 2013
1st April 2013
Sunrise
06:57 UTC
06:45 UTC
06:34 UTC
06:22 UTC
06:09 UTC
05:57 UTC
06:45 BST
Sunset
17:52 UTC
18:01 UTC
18:11 UTC
18:20 UTC
18:29 UTC
18:38 UTC
19:47 BST
Vernal (Spring) Equinox occurs on Wednesday, 20th March 2013, 11:02 UTC
The Moon
Last Quarter
New Moon
First Quarter
Full Moon
Last Quarter
Date
4th March 2013
11th March 2013
19th March 2013
27th March 2013
3rd April 2013
Time
21:53 UTC
19:51 UTC
17:27 UTC
09:28 UTC
05:37 BST
The Moon will pass close to Jupiter on March 18th – see the entry for Jupiter below.
Planets
Mercury
There is a morning apparition of Mercury during the middle of March however it will be extremely difficult to see from this latitude.
Venus
Venus is approaching Superior Conjunction (reaching it on 29th March 2013) and cannot be observed.
Mars
Mars is also unobservable at present, due to its approaching Solar Conjunction next month.
Jupiter
Jupiter is still in Taurus (the bull) and easy to spot. Even good binoculars or a small telescope will show its four largest satellites: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
As our own Moon crosses the sky over the month, it will pass about 2½° to the South of Jupiter at about 02:00 UTC on the night of March 18th 2013.
Saturn
Saturn recently passed its Greatest Western Quadrature in January 2013, and as a consequence the planet is tilted as viewed from Earth, and therefore so are its rings. When they ‘open’ to us at this angle, their shadow is cast on to the atmosphere of Saturn and this should be observable with a telescope. The planet can currently be found in the constellation of Virgo (the virgin).
Comets
Comet C/2011 L4 (Pan-STARRS) begins the month being a Southern Hemisphere object, however as March progresses it will steadily become easier to view from our latitude – assuming it is still visible at all. Due to their inherent (and poorly understood) structure, Comets are notoriously temperamental and predictions for brightness must be taken with a pinch of salt.
Pan-STARRS is not expected to be a brilliant comet however with luck it will be observable with binoculars later in March in the evening sky.
Once again the BBC Stargazing Live programmes on BBC2 have sparked massive interest in the hobby of astronomy throughout the UK. And, as last year, the Liverpool Astronomical Society has been heavily involved with the live Jodrell Bank TV programmes. Plus our own local activities with more to come later in the month.
If it’s January then it must be Stargazing Live month! Earlier this month the BBC ran 3 evenings of Stargazing Live, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 8th, 9th and 10th which saw a host of scientists and celebrities form the panels for each of the 3 evenings for Stargazing Live based in Jodrell Bank. There were the key presenters of the programmes; Dara O’Briain and Brian Cox of course and accompanying them were Brian May of Queen fame, Lucie Green, Tim O’Brian, Joanna Dunckley, Lewis Dartnell, Ed Copeland, David Baddial, Phill Jupitus plus others across the 3 nights. Chris Lintott made some appearances too and outside at the observing field was the BBC astronomer Mark Thompson.
Last year the TV audience figures hit around 3.6million each evening with a further 2.7million for the Back to Earth 2nd part. This year’s TV audience figures are looking even higher so well done to the BBC and all who made it such a success. During last years’ programmes telescope sales increased by a massive 500%. The society certainly saw a huge increase in interest and attendance at our events last year. With even more astronomy events being arranged we are all well prepared for another huge increase in interest during the next few months.
The LAS certainly fully participated in Stargazing Live again this year. We had our own event on Friday 11th January at Court Hey visitor centre. Despite poor skies, we estimated some 250 members of the public came along where they enjoyed several talks from Brendan and Geoff plus a glimpse of the night sky through many of the members’ own telescopes. The main object observed was Jupiter and it’s Galilean Moons. We had some 13 members taking part in a huge star party of 2,500 astronomers the previous evening at Tatton Park on Thursday 10th January. Poor skies did not detract from a great evening under the huge marque supplied by the BBC. The star of the show was undoubtedly the 30” telescope. On Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th January we had 32 members taking part in the Stargazing Live shows each evening from Jodrell Bank.
Tuesday and Wednesday was a great treat for a number of members and young astronomers as the LAS provided the educated audience both evenings of Stargazing Live from Jodrell Bank. We had 32 people in the observing field and then again as we moved into the live studio for the “Back to Earth” 2nd portion of the programme we provided the backdrop audience. Both evenings were greatly enjoyed by the members, adult and young alike. Once again the LAS adults and youngsters received many thanks and accolades from Jodrell Bank and the BBC for their cooperation and behaviour so may I add my thanks too on behalf of the LAS. The weather was pretty awful on the first evening with rain followed by thick cloud all evening but Wednesday evening turned into a wonderful observing evening with many objects observed through a variety of telescopes. M45, M42, M31 and Jupiter were the main objects observed. The Wednesday evening also had some youngsters showing how good they were with interviews on camera by Mark Thompson about the colour of stars and planets, very well done to them all. Everyone enjoyed meeting Prof Brian Cox, Brian May et al after the show had finished and we have plenty of photo’s to prove it.
(click to enlarge) What’s visible in the sky above Liverpool in February 2013? Map is valid for: 1st February 2013 at 23:00 UTC 15th February 2013 at 22:00 UTC 28th February 2013 at 21:00 UTC
The Sun
31st January 2013
5th February 2013
10th February 2013
15th February 2013
20th February 2013
25th February 2013
2nd March 2013
Sunrise
07:59 UTC
07:50 UTC
07:40 UTC
07:30 UTC
07:20 UTC
07:09 UTC
06:57 UTC
Sunset
16:52 UTC
17:03 UTC
17:13 UTC
17:23 UTC
17:33 UTC
17:42 UTC
17:52 UTC
The Moon
Last Quarter
New Moon
First Quarter
Full Moon
Last Quarter
Date
3rd February 2013
10th February 2013
17th February 2013
25th February 2013
4th March 2013
Time
13:57 UTC
07:20 UTC
20:31 UTC
20:26 UTC
21:53 UTC
The Moon will be close to Mercury and Mars for part of the month (see entry on Mercury below) and over the evenings of February 10th – 13th a very thin crescent moon will be visible nearby. On the 11th the Moon will lie approximately 4° North of Mercury, making it a useful guide to locating the planet in the sky.
Planets
Mercury
February sees an evening apparition of Mercury in the Western sky just after Sunset, peaking between the 15th and 20th February. As indicated by the table below, Mars and the Moon will also be close by in the sky, and on 8th February, a conjunction occurs with Mars being within 15 arc-minutes (¼°) of Mercury.
Mercury
Mars
Moon
Date
Time (UTC)
ALTITUDE °
AZIMUTH °
ALTITUDE °
AZIMUTH °
ALTITUDE °
AZIMUTH °
February 5th 2013
17:43 UTC
3.7°
243°
6.0°
242°
February 10th 2013
17:52 UTC
7.0°
245°
5.3°
246°
February 11th 2013
17:54 UTC
7.6°
246°
5.2°
246°
11.0°
249°
February 12th 2013
17:56 UTC
8.1°
246°
5.0°
247°
21.2°
242°
February 15th 2013
18:01 UTC
9.3°
248°
4.6°
249°
February 20th 2013
18:10 UTC
9.3°
253°
3.9°
253°
February 25th 2013
18:19 UTC
5.8°
260°
3.0°
257°
Mars
As noted above, Mars will be in conjunction with Mercury on February 8th, when they will be ¼° of each other. As the month progresses, Mars will be become more difficult to see as it approaches its Solar conjunction next month, and so will be lost in the glare of the Sun.
Jupiter
Jupiter is well placed, and can be easily spotted in the constellation of Taurus. On February 18th a conjunction will occur with the Moon (which is 1 day past 1st quarter) bringing the two objects about 1½° degrees apart.
Saturn
Saturn begins the month rising at about 01:00 UTC, and ends it rising at 23:20 UTC, making observations easier than earlier in the year. Saturn reached Greatest Western Quadrature at the end of January, so the rings are open as viewed from Earth, and you may be able to see their shadow cast on to the planet’s atmosphere.
Wednesday night’s Stargazing Live was even better than Tuesday night’s – we actually got to observe more than clouds!
Again, a huge thanks to Jodrell Bank and the BBC, including all the behind-scenes staff, of which there are many.
Everybody from both organisations was helpful and very polite, despite the pressure that a live broadcast entails.
Once again our Junior Members made us proud, with some taking part in a live chat with Mark Thompson.
Going back to earlier in the day, Wednesday afternoon was quite misty and as far as we could tell, cloudy across most of the North-West. When we arrived at Jodrell Bank in the late afternoon, the mist and fog had lifted but the sky was almost completely overcast.
My apologies for the quality of these images – they were taken in haste and without proper equipment!
The Lovell Telescope (facing away from the camera) at Jodrell Bank, Arriving at BBC Stargazing Live 2013, Wednesday 9th January 2013
There were a couple of small breaks where blue sky could be seen, but they were few and far between and didn’t stay for long.
The weather report indicated that the cloud wouldn’t be as thick as the night before, even if it didn’t clear completely, so we had hopes that we might at least get to see a glimpse of Jupiter and a couple of the brighter stars such as Sirius and Rigel. As sunset came and went, the sky cleared quite a lot – there was still some cloud but it was slowly moving, Jupiter was in a nice clear patch and the western sky was almost completely devoid of any cloud at all and glowed a nice orange as dusk set in.
The Lovell Telescope (floodlit at night, facing away from the camera) at Jodrell Bank, at BBC Stargazing Live 2013, Wednesday 9th January 2013
At that point we had to begin setting up equipment to be ready in time for the live broadcast, and refresh with tea, coffee and sandwiches. Many had had only a few hours sleep and some less than that, so this was gratefully received. During this setting up and refreshments period, the weather must have spotted the telescopes, realised that we were going to try and observe and promptly re-clouded the entire sky. The stars and even Jupiter were completely obscured again.
The cloud was now pretty low, and as the Lovell Telescope is flood-lit from multiple directions, so its shadow was cast onto the clouds in multiple locations. This was quite an eerie but beautiful sight. It’s a shame that there’s so much floodlighting, but at least something nice can come of it.
About 20 minutes before we were due to go live, small breaks began to appear in the clouds. Jupiter was visible for brief periods, as well as small parts of Andromeda, and the eyes of the Gemini twins peeked out for a minute or two. Over the next 15 minutes the sky was gradually revealed, and with less than 5 minutes to go it was almost completely clear of obscuring cloud, if a little hazy from the high mist.
As time progressed however, even this cleared enough to give us some lovely views.
The timing was fantastic. Perhaps one of the people who read yesterday’s brief report really does have a cloudbuster in the shed, or knows some special dance! If so, can we arrange some sort of schedule?
Back to the astronomy – I personally saw the Pleiades (M45), the Orion Nebula (M42 / NGC 1976) and Jupiter (plus the Galilean moons) through various people’s telescopes, binoculars and on screens where CCD imaging was taking place. Amongst others, one gentleman (I didn’t get his name I’m afraid, but I think he may have been with the crew) was using a narrowband Hα (Hydrogen-alpha) filter to image the Orion Nebula with a Starlight Xpress.
Also viewed by members were the Andromeda Galaxy (M31 / NGC 224), and leading on from the discussions of star colour in the programme, some of the more noticeably colourful stars.
I’m sure there were other observations going on and hopefully we’ll get some more event reports in from the members who were present (with photos if possible).
Many of us noticed noiseless, blue-white flashes coming from the towards the Eastern horizon every now and then, and although they brought to mind a passage from H.G. Wells “War of the Worlds” where each time a Martian Cylinder lands, there is a flash in the distance – a silent brightness like summer lightning – it transpired that it was more likely to be caused by the somewhat more mundane and significantly less apocalyptic railway electrics which are situated some distance away.
As the first programme of the evening finished, we hurried across to an indoor waiting area near to the studio in the buildings of Jodrell Bank, and most of us were then allowed to be part of the audience for the second programme of the evening. I don’t know if all the members present were able to take part, as everything happened very quickly (less than 90 seconds from the waiting area to the studio proper) and the studio isn’t a huge area so fire regulations come into play too.
Once in the studio we stood and watched the discussions taking place. I don’t think any of us had sat down for more than a few minutes, if at all, since we arrived, so standing still for the whole programme was a bit of a challenge, but very much worth it. I was lucky enough to be standing right at the front and I had a brilliant view of everything that was going on in the studio.
There were multiple times when I wanted to join in or ask a question, but of course that isn’t possible and you just have to strike the thought from your mind.
A plate of doughnuts (presumably representing a toroidal model of a finite universe) was present on the table, and remained there until almost the very end when they were passed around to the presenters and then handed to our part of the audience :-) There weren’t doughnuts enough for everybody to have to one, but they were an unexpected bonus for those of us that did, and quite tasty.
After the programme, many of the members briefly got to meet members of the cast. Many people think that when a programme finishes it, everything slows down – that’s definitely not true. There was still lots going on and people were very busy. I did get to quickly meet Brian Cox though which was the icing on the cake (or doughnut) for me. I hope everybody (especially all of our Junior Members) got to meet the people they wanted to too.
All-in-all, I had a fantastic night, and I’d do it again in a second. I’m very grateful that being part of the LAS allowed me the chance for this to happen.
We’ve had a great time with the BBC and everybody else tonight at Stargazing Live.
A big thanks to all who took part both in front of the cameras and behind the scenes. It was great to see some of our younger members get some camera time too :-)
The weather decided to be a little petulant, staying resolutely cloudy until just after the point where we needed clear skies, when it miraculously cleared (oh, how familiar that is!)
As we left the site the sky was, of course, beautiful!
Oh well – there’s always tomorrow! Keep your fingers crossed, do a little anti-rain/anti-cloud dance, dust off that weather-altering machine you’ve been keeping hidden in the shed: anything that might keep that water vapour in the atmosphere from condensing for a few hours!
Mercury is just about visible before dawn at the beginning of January (below and to the left of Venus), then again at the end of January just after sunset (below and to the left of Mars).
Venus
Venus is now becoming harder to spot as it ends its morning apparition and gets closer to the Sun in the pre-dawn sky. For the first half of January, look for it in the south-east at about an hour before dawn. During the second half of January it rises closer and closer to sunrise, until by the end of the month it will be lost in the glare of the Sun.
Mars
Mars can be seen low in the western sky after sunset at an elevation of about 10°.
On 12th January 2013, a slim crescent Moon (about 1-day old) can be seen nearby.
Jupiter
Jupiter is still very prominent in the evening and night sky this month, and can be found in the constellation of Taurus, near Aldeberan. It’s a good time to look at Jupiter as it’s high in the sky with an elevation of about 60°, and so is less affected by atmospheric haze.
A conjunction on the night of the 21st January 2013 will see Jupiter and the Moon less than 2° apart.
Saturn
At the start of January, Saturn rises at about 03:00 UTC and is in the constellation of Virgo, however by the end of the month it will have moved into Libra and be rising at about 01:00 UTC.
As Saturn reaches Greatest Western Quadrature (when it is westernmost of the Sun, as viewed from Earth) at the end of the month, it will be possible to see the shadow of the rings cast onto the planet’s disc.
The image below, and those in the link, was taken by Cassini and published by NASA/JPL back in November 2012, however I hadn’t seen them before today.
They show storms in the atmosphere of Saturn at an incredible level of detail and, due to the angles of the Sun and Saturn, and the angle that the orbiter was imaging the planet from, depth in the clouds can also be discerned.
Cassini image of a storm in Saturn’s atmosphere, taken 27th November, 2012
You can now log in to, log out of, or register your account from the main menu.
This means you no longer have to return to the homepage to perform these actions.
if you log in from somewhere other than the homepage (e.g. in the forum, or to comment on an article), once logged in you will be returned to the page you were at.
Please note: this only affects you if you use Internet Explorer.
Due to a bizarre bug in Internet Explorer I’ve had to remove the nice gradient shaded backgrounds in most places for those browsers. Due to the strange way Internet Explorer deals with gradients, certain unrelated items sometimes simply disappeared, e.g. parts of the account login/registration pages, plus sometimes scrollbars.
If you use an alternative browser like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox then you won’t have been affected by this, and you will still see the shaded backgrounds.
Edit: The layout of the menus has also been improved for users of older Internet Explorer browsers.
