Dundee Astro - Sky Notes

The Moon was New on February 28th, and the very narrow young crescent will become visible low in the west after sunset from Saturday March 1st onwards. On that evening the Moon will lie to the upper right of the planet Mercury and to the lower left of Venus; on the following evening, Sunday 2nd, the crescent Moon will have moved to the upper left of Venus.

First Quarter is on Thursday March 6th, when the half Moon will appear high among the stars of Taurus, to the upper left of Jupiter.

Two nights later, on Saturday 8th, the gibbous Moon will lie immediately to the upper right of Mars in Gemini.

March’s Full Moon falls on the morning of Friday 14th. The Moon rises in the east almost an hour before sunset on Thursday 13th, and is in the south at midnight. The Moon sets again in the west around sunrise on the 14th, but before it does so it passes into the shadow of the Earth and there is a lunar eclipse (see below for more information).

Late on the evening of Sunday 16th, the waning gibbous Moon rises just below the bright star Spica in the constellation of Virgo.

Last Quarter is on Saturday March 22nd. The half-illuminated Moon rises in the early hours of the morning and is very low in the south at dawn.

The waning crescent Moon may be seen low above the south-east horizon for the next couple of mornings before it disappears into the bright dawn twilight.

New Moon is on the morning of Saturday March 29^th, when the Moon will cross the Sun’s disc and there will be a partial solar eclipse - see below for details. The thin young crescent can be spotted low above the western horizon after sunset from the following evening, Sunday 30^th, onwards.

Mercury is a morning object during April, reaching its greatest elongation from the Sun on Monday 21st. However it will be rising only shortly before the Sun throughout the month, and will remain hidden in the bright dawn twilight.

Venus is also a morning ‘star’ this month, and it too is low in the east at dawn, reaching no more than 10º above the horizon at sunrise. Although shining brightly at around magnitude -4.7 it may not be easy to find against the bright sky background without the help of binoculars.

Mars moves rapidly eastwards this month, crossing from Gemini into the neighbouring constellation of Cancer on Saturday 12th. On the evening of Thursday 10th, the planet will appear almost exactly in line with Gemini’s bright stars Castor and Pollux, and by the end of April it will lie just to the upper right of the Praesepe or Beehive star cluster in Cancer. Mars also fades noticeably, from magnitude 0.4 at the start of the month to 0.9 by the end.

Jupiter is now lower in the west as the sky grows dark, shining at magnitude -2.1 about 10o above the ‘V’shaped head of Taurus with its bright orange star Aldebaran. By the end of April Jupiter will be setting soon after midnight BST.

Saturn is another dawn planet this month, though as it too rises only shortly before the Sun it will be hard to spot in the bright morning twilight.

Uranus lies about 6º south-west of the Pleiades star cluster and sets before midnight.

Neptune is also rising just ahead of the Sun this month and will not be visible.

As the sky grows dark on April evenings, the winter constellations are low in the western sky while the stars of spring stand high in the south and east.
Orion is still just visible above the western horizon, slowly sinking feet-first into the twilight. To the right of Orion is the V-shaped head of Taurus the Bull and little star cluster of the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. Brilliant Sirius, the ‘Dog Star’, twinkles strongly to the lower left of Orion.
Above Taurus are the constellations of Perseus and Auriga, with Gemini the Twins to the left. A chain of bright stars, running from Aldebaran in Taurus up through Capella, Castor and Pollux then down to Procyon and Sirius, seems to encircle Orion as he sets in the south-west.
Round in the south is the prominent spring group, Leo the Lion. Leo’s head is represented by a hook of stars rather like a backwards ‘?’, popularly known as the ‘Sickle’, with the bright white star Regulus at the bottom. To the lower right of Regulus is another bright star, yellow in colour. This is Alphard, brightest star in the constellation of Hydra; Alphard lies in a barren region of sky, and its name, appropriately enough, means ‘the Solitary One’.
To the lower left of Leo is another member of the zodiac, Virgo. The main stars make up a pattern resembling a ‘Y’, with its brightest star, Spica, at the tail. High in the east is the orange star Arcturus, brightest star in the northern sky, which makes a striking colour contrast with Spica and Regulus. Arcturus belongs to the kite-shaped constellation of Boötes the Herdsman; to the left is the semi-circle of stars forming the distinctive pattern of Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown.
Almost directly overhead on April evenings is the familiar pattern of the Plough or Big Dipper. The two stars at the end of the ‘bowl’ of the Dipper are called the ‘Pointers’, and they show the way to the Pole Star. The curve of the handle of the Plough or Dipper leads round first to Arcturus then on to Spica.
Low in the north are the ‘W’ shape of Cassiopeia, and her rather fainter husband Cepheus. The bright stars Vega and Deneb are low in the north-east.
On spring evenings the Milky Way curves low across the sky from south-west to north-east, and is easily hidden by streetlights or haze near the horizon.

THE SKY AT 10 PM BST IN MID-APRIL
The map above shows the night sky as it will appear from central Scotland at the time and date shown. The point in the sky directly overhead is at the centre of the map; the outer circle is the horizon with the cardinal compass points in the direction shown.

The map shows the brighter stars that are visible to the unaided eye. Some of the more distinctive constellations are outlined. The positions of the planets are plotted for the middle of the month.

Map created using TheSky X ©