The Sky This Week 2004 April 30 – May 7

The Moon lights the night sky this week. The Full Moon occurs on May 4th at 4:33 pm Eastern Daylight Time. At this time the Moon undergoes a total eclipse that should be a great show for folks in Africa, Middle East, India, and most of Europe. Unfortunately we don’t get much of a view here, but we will get a great look at a similar event that will occur on October 27th. In the meantime, look for Luna near the bright star Spica on the night of May 2nd. She rises just before 10:00 pm on the night of the 5th in the company of the ruddy star Antares, brightest star of the summer constellation of Scorpius.

May 1st brings us to yet another marker in the astronomical year. May Day is still widely celebrated in many parts of the world as the international workers’ holiday, but its roots actually benefited employers over employees. In Medieval times this was one of the Cross-Quarter days that marked the mid-point of the astronomical seasons. On these days, as well as on the equinoxes and solstices, serfs paid their rent to their feudal masters. In Celtic regions these days were celebrated with great feasts and were regarded as the first days of a particular season. May Day thus brought in summer, which lasted until Lammas, celebrated on August 1st. We still unwittingly observe two of these special days here in the U.S. What year would be complete without Halloween and Groundhog Day?

Venus, Mars, and Saturn continue their slow dance in the western sky as evening twilight fades to darkness. Venus is by far the easiest planet to spy in this part of the sky, and this week she attains her greatest brilliancy for the current evening apparition. Right now it seems that she is an almost permanent fixture in the sky, but during the month of May she will plummet like a rock toward the Sun. Enjoy her dazzle now, because before you know it she’ll be gone.

Mars has faded to second magnitude, and he is barely distinguishable from a dozen stars of similar brightness in his part of the sky. However, he moves perceptibly from night to night, gradually pulling further ahead of Venus and closing in on the yellowish hue of Saturn. He will overtake the ringed planet in a couple of weeks, then make a run at Jupiter as summer hits full swing. He may not be bright, but he sure covers a lot of sky!

Saturn is now well past the meridian as twilight deepens to night. You have perhaps an hour or two to get a decent look at him through the telescope before he settles into the more turbulent air above the horizon. The Cassini space probe is closing in on the ringed planet and will enter orbit around him in July. We’ll get some great views then!

Jupiter straddles the meridian at around 9:00 pm, offering good telescopic viewing for several hours. He’s worth taking a peek at through almost any kind of telescope, but a six- or 8-inch will really start to bring out the detail in his turbulent cloud belts. Wait for moments of steady air to see the delicate shadings in his pastel cloud bands.

For information on ASTRONOMY DAY ACTIVITIES this Saturday, click
here or here.

For information on MARS ROVER ACTIVITIES this week, click
here.

For information on BRIGHT SATELLITES passing over Washington, DC this week, click
here.

For more information eclipses, click
here.

For more information on meteor showers, click
here.

For more information on observable comets, click
here.

For pictures of Comet Hale-Bopp, click
here.