So, we're at Easter, kicking off the month of April this week. Allegedly, the nights are growing warmer and you can take off at least some of your layers while stargazing, but there is a trade-off here, actually a couple of trade-offs. For one thing, while the nights are getting warmer they are also getting shorter. Nights are not dark enough for decent stargazing until after 8:30 p.m. That makes it tough on an amateur astronomer, especially those like me who have a day job that starts at 5 a.m., but I love my job, just in case the bosses are reading this.
Another trade-off for the warmer stargazing is the fact that the best and brightest stars and constellations of the year, in my opinion, are starting to head for the celestial exits. The mighty constellation Orion the Hunter and his gang of bright constellations are a little farther to the west every night at the start of dark. The Earth, in its perpetual orbit around the sun, is gradually turning away from the great stars of winter. By mid-to-late May, they will be pretty much gone from our evening skies, not to be seen in the evening again until this fall.
The bright planet Jupiter is still among the stars in the constellation Taurus the Bull and is still the brightest star-like object in the night sky. Even with a small telescope, you can see up to four of Jupiter's brightest moons and maybe some of its cloud bands made up of ammonia and methane. The largest planet in our solar system is now a little more than 500 million miles away.
Don't get me wrong, even though the very best of the night sky is checking out in the west, there are still many treasures in the rest of the heavens.
Look in the high southeastern sky for a backward question mark that outlines the heart, chest and head of Leo the Lion. The semi-bright star Regulus, Leo's heart, is at the bottom of the question mark. To the lower left of the question mark is a small but distinct triangle that makes up the lion's rear and tail.
Very low in the southeast sky is the small constellation Corvus the Crow. Look for a lopsided diamond hovering just above the horizon. It looks nothing like a crow, but it's still one of my favorite little constellations.
The Big Dipper is as high as it gets in the sky right now, and it's upside down. Old lore about the upside down Big Dipper says we get more rain because the Dipper is unloading on us. It's easy to see how that rumor got started in the days of old because, at least in the upper Midwest, we get most of our rainfall in the late spring and early summer.
Use the "pointer stars" on the pot section of the Big Dipper opposite the handle to find Polaris, the North Star. Polaris is about three fist-widths at arm's length down from the pointer stars. The North Star is the last star in the handle of the much dimmer Little Dipper. Polaris is also a very important star in our sky. Since it shines directly above the Earth's North Pole, all of the stars in our sky appear to revolve around the stationary North Star once every 24 hours while the Earth rotates on its axis.
Over in the eastern sky, there's a sideways kite on the rise. It's the constellation Bootes, which according to the Greeks, is supposed to be a farmer. Seeing Bootes as a farmer takes one heck of a sense of imagination. I prefer the easy way out on this one. Look for the sideways kite with the bright orange tinged star Arcturus at the tail of the kite. Arcturus is easy to find. Not only is it the brightest star in that part of the sky, but you can also extend the arc made by the Big Dipper's handle to find it. Just arc to Arcturus!
If you stay up late enough, you'll see the planet Saturn rising in the low southeast sky. By the end of the month, Saturn will be high enough in sky to really get a good look at it with a telescope. Even with a small scope you should be able to see enough to resolve the planet's ring system and the gap between the rings and the planet. In April, Saturn is just under 820 million miles away. Can't get there in a weekend.
(Lynch is an amateur astronomer and author of the book, "Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations." Contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.)
