Earth continues its catch-up with the outer planets as spring goes on. Mars passed Jupiter and Saturn at the end of March and all three planets are lined up before sunrise in the southeast, from left to right: Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. You can watch Mars continue to pull away from Saturn for the rest of May. There will be an interesting passage of the waning last quarter Moon below Jupiter and Saturn on the morning of May 12 and passing Mars two days later.
Venus is heading into the finale of its 2020 evening show. It begins to move increasingly quickly towards the Sun as it catches up to the Earth and it will pass between us and the Sun, also known as inferior conjunction, on June 3. It will be visible lower every day in the northwest immediately after sunset. If the 21st is clear, at about 10 p.m. you can also see Mercury pass just below within one degree of Venus. That’s about the width of your index fingernail at arm’s length. The two planets are moving in opposite directions, however; Venus is headed between us and the Sun moving west while Mercury is coming out from behind the Sun moving east. That date – May 21 – is also about the last safe time for trying to see a crescent Venus with binoculars. It is possible to see Venus in daylight but using binoculars when it’s so close to the Sun isn’t worth the risk. If using them, the Sun MUST be below the horizon for safety. A fraction of a second looking at the Sun through binoculars WILL cause permanent damage to your eyesight!
Trending Stories
The moon is at perigee again – almost as close as in March and April – the morning of May 6, followed 18 hours later by a full moon. So, like the last two months, that means predicted tide ranges for a few days will about 25 per cent larger than normal.
Regrettably, that potentially bright Comet C/2019 Y4 ATLAS seems to have fizzled out. As of April 2, the nucleus appeared to have broken into at least four pieces and the whole assemblage has faded well below any chance of naked eye visibility. As one astronomer whose name I forget said, “Comets are like cats; they have tails and they do whatever they want.”
The heavens-above website has a list of current comets with finder charts for each.
This and all of the movements of moon and planets described can be checked out on the web at: www.heavens-above.com. The Sunshine Coast Centre of the RASC has its website at sunshinecoastastronomy.wordpress.com
On May 8 at 7 p.m. our monthly meeting will be held online using Zoom. The topic will be astrophotography and how you can get started, without a telescope or camera. All are welcome to attend. Please register by sending a request to info@coastastronomy.ca
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMidGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNvYXN0cmVwb3J0ZXIubmV0L2NvbW11bml0eS9mZWF0dXJlcy9uaWdodC1za2llcy1mb3ItbWF5LWZhcmV3ZWxsLXRvLXZlbnVzLWFuZC1hLWNvbWV0LWZpenpsZS0xLjI0MTI3MDgy0gEA?oc=5
2020-05-02 13:05:00Z
52780760796621
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar