Star Gazing
Last chance to see Orion the Hunter in April
April is special. Spring has sprung — the daffodils are up, buds are growing on the trees and soon, the whole wonderful renewal of life will be here, busting and bursting forth.
For sky watchers in April, this is our last chance to really see Orion the Hunter as he disappears over the western horizon. We can still see him in the early darkness of evening, but even that will not be possible as spring comes further along.
But … even though an old friend disappears over the horizon, Leo the Lion and the Big Dipper will dominate the night sky around 9 p.m. in northern latitudes.
Leo will appear as a ‘reverse question mark’ — or at least his head will trace out that shape — at about two-thirds up in the night sky from the horizon. This constellation really does look like the shape of a lion if you can follow the stars that mark its boundaries. This isn’t always easy. I became an amateur astronomer when I was a young teen and I really wasn’t sure I had found it positively until I was an adult. This is because Leo the Lion has only one really bright star forming it — Regulus. For those of you who may be familiar with the magnitude scale, most of the stars seen with the naked eye marking out Leo are second or third magnitude. Orion is much easier to find because it has two first magnitude stars that pop out of the night sky like lanterns and because it has such a distinctive shape.
Leo is fun to find in itself. However, just behind Leo, if he had a tail traced in stars, is the so-called Realm of the Galaxies. For several degrees across the sky, directly east of Leo, is the closest galactic cluster. This cluster lies at about 50 million light years from us and it contains about 4,500 galaxies. Surprisingly, many amateurs have seen up to about 100 of these galaxies with their amateur telescopes. A six-inch ‘scope will show some of them, but a 10-inch will reveal dozens. These are always faint, only detectable with a telescope. What is exciting to many amateurs is the ease with which they can see galaxies so far away! If you were traveling at near the speed of light, it would take more than 50 million years for you to arrive at one of the nearest ones. It would be a good idea to pack a lunch …
Most people have had the Big Dipper pointed out to them from childhood, providing the skies were dark then. Fewer and fewer people see any of the constellations at all, even the Big Dipper. Part of this may be lack of interest, but another part, especially if one lives in a brightly lit city, is the inability to see nearly anything in a ‘light-polluted’ part of the sky.
The Big Dipper has some wonders of its own just within its borders. Some of the galaxies in the Realm of the Galaxies are scattered within the enclosure of the Big Dipper stars. One must be a fairly advanced amateur to find them — they are faint — but the hunt is worth it. Also, the middle star in the Dipper’s handle is a triple star and two of the members are bright enough to see with the naked eye. Binoculars would make seeing the double quite easy and a telescope would show all three members.
April is also special because there are more clear nights than there are in the previous winter months. Certainly, there will be rainy nights and cloudy nights and there might even be some snow. But … on average, April presents more clear skies at night.
Venus can be seen at dusk near the horizon after the Sun sets and she will be higher and higher in the sky as spring comes on. Jupiter will just be visible at midnight at the end of the month. Soon, it will be an evening object — a real wonder!
Get outside at night and look at the night sky. It may change your whole perspective …