The spring star is springing up in the east these evenings. Arcturus is the third or fourth brightest star in the sky and the second brightest we can see from New Brunswick. It is a tad brighter than Vega, the summer star, which rises around 9:30 pm this week. The winter star, Sirius, sets after midnight and Capella, the autumn star, never sets in southern New Brunswick. The discrepancy over whether Arcturus is third or fourth brightest depends on how you define it. Alpha Centauri, in the southern hemisphere, appears brighter but it is a close double star – too close to split with the naked eye – and Arcturus is brighter than either but not both.

Arcturus anchors the constellation Boötes (bo-oh-teez) the Herdsman, and the star’s name means “bear driver.” Boötes is seen chasing the two bears, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, around the celestial North Pole. To many people the constellation resembles a tie, a kite or an ice cream cone. The head of the herdsman, at the tip of the constellation opposite Arcturus, is the star Nekkar, which sounds somewhat like necktie.

Halfway between Arcturus and the hind leg of Ursa Major is the star Cor Coroli in Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs. Use binoculars to look for a fuzzy patch halfway between Arcturus and Cor Coroli. This is a globular cluster called M3, the third entry in Charles Messier’s 18th century catalogue of things that resemble a comet but aren’t. This cluster contains half a million stars at a distance of 34,000 light years, nearly a thousand times farther than Arcturus.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:13 am and sunset will occur at 7:38 pm, giving 12 hours, 25 minutes of daylight (7:18 am and 7:42 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:59 am and set at 7:47 pm, giving 12 hours, 48 minutes of daylight (7:05 am and 7:51 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is near Mars on Tuesday and at first quarter phase on Wednesday. For Earth Hour this Saturday turn off your lights and have a look at the Moon passing near the Pleiades star cluster. On Monday Mercury can be found just to the right of Jupiter, setting between 8:30 and 8:40 pm. Venus garners most of the evening attention, and on Friday it sits two degrees above Uranus.  Over Wednesday and Thursday evenings Mars makes a scenic binocular pairing with the M35 star in Gemini. Saturn rises an hour before the Sun this weekend, and lengthens that gap by 15 minutes over the week.

The Saint John Astronomy Club meets at the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre on April 1 at 7 pm. All are welcome.

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, Mar 18 – 25

Around 1930 the International Astronomical Union finalized the official constellations and their boundaries to cover the entire sky. Oddly, 22 of those 88 constellations begin with the letter “C.” Around 9 pm we can see 11 of those and parts of three others, so rather than deep sea fishing let’s go high C hunting. Starting in the west we might catch the head of Cetus the Whale before it sets, and toward the south Columba the Dove hugs the horizon below Lepus and Orion. Meanwhile, Cygnus the Swan flaps a wing above the northern horizon as it never sets completely for us.

Higher in the north the house of Cepheus the King is upright for a change. To his west we see the W-shape of his wife, Cassiopeia the Queen, and above them we might have to strain to see Camelopardalis the Giraffe. Looking southwest, to the left of Orion are his faithful big and little dogs Canis Major and Canis Minor. Barely visible above the little dog is Cancer the Crab, nestled nicely between Gemini and Leo. In the southeast we have Corvus the Crow and Crater the Cup, both of which piggyback on Hydra. Tailing Leo high in the east is Coma Berenices, the locks of distressed Queen Berenice II of Egypt, and dogging Ursa Major is Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs. Finally, lower in the east, we see the Northern Crown, Corona Borealis.

This episode of Sky at a Glance was brought to you by the letter C and the number 14. As you find each C constellation, count out loud like the Count (One! That’s one C constellation, ah ha ha!), and for each one you find you can reward yourself with … COOKIE!

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:26 am and sunset will occur at 7:28 pm, giving 12 hours, 2 minutes of daylight (7:31 am and 7:33 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:13 am and set at 7:38 pm, giving 12 hours, 25 minutes of daylight (7:18 am and 7:42 pm in Saint John). On Monday at 6:24 pm the Sun crosses the equator to begin the spring season in the northern hemisphere.

The Moon is new on Tuesday and the razor-thin crescent appears to the left of Jupiter in evening twilight on Wednesday. Around 9 – 10 pm Friday Uranus might be seen with binoculars two moon-widths to the left of the crescent Moon, with Venus about a fist-width below them. Mars makes a reddish-orange triangle with equally bright Aldebaran and brighter Betelgeuse during the week. Mercury has moved to the evening sky, setting 45 minutes after sunset by next weekend. Saturn rises 50 minutes before sunrise this weekend, a challenging binocular target a fist-width upper left of the waning crescent Moon on Sunday morning.

On Sunday evening at 8 pm, tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show via the Facebook page or YouTube channel of Astronomy by the Bay.

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, Mar 11 -18

As darkness settles in this Friday evening, go out and raise a glass to the southwest and toast the constellation Orion, the mighty sky-hunter who on this day signs his name as O’Ryan. And if you had dusted off an Irish Rovers record during the day, perhaps you will be hunting the sky for some animals in their signature tune written by Shel Silverstein, “The Unicorn.”

You will have no luck finding green alligators, chimpanzees, rats and elephants. There is no humpy-back camel, either, but there is the large and faint Camelopardalis in the seemingly blank sky high in the northwest between Polaris and bright Capella. The name means camel-leopard or giraffe.  Cygnus the Swan is waving part of one wing above the northern horizon, hoping to be picked for a long necked goose. If you check Cygnus out in the morning there is a faint constellation below its head called Vulpecula the Fox. Nineteenth century star maps depicted the fox with a goose in its mouth and the constellation was labelled as Vulpecula and Anser. Cats? Well, there is Leo the Lion in the east, tiny Leo Minor between it and Ursa Major, and elusive Lynx above Ursa Major.

This Week in the Solar System

Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:39 am and sunset will occur at 6:19 pm, giving 11 hours, 40 minutes of daylight (6:44 am and 6:24 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:26 am and set at 7:28 pm, giving 12 hours, 2 minutes of daylight (7:31 am and 7:33 pm in Saint John). Timepieces jump ahead one hour at 2 am Sunday to begin daylight time. Note that 12 hours of daylight occurs on March 17-18 rather than on the equinox. Sunrise and sunset times are based on the top of the Sun rather than the middle, so that adds about two minutes of light to the day. Also, refraction of sunlight through the atmosphere can make the Sun appear to be sitting on the horizon, when rising and setting, when it is actually just below it, adding about four minutes. Therefore, 12 hours of daylight occurs two to three days before the spring equinox and after the autumn equinox.

The Moon is near the bright orange star Antares in Scorpius on Tuesday morning and it reaches third quarter phase that evening. Venus dominates the early evening sky as Jupiter begins sinking into twilight, with Venus setting an hour later than Jupiter on Sunday and stretching that by half an hour over the week. Mars passes between the horn tips of Taurus this weekend, making an equilateral triangle with similarly coloured Betelgeuse and Aldebaran late in the week. Mercury is at superior conjunction on Friday, while Saturn is lost in morning twilight. Rural observers might see the zodiacal light in the western sky 60 to 90 minutes after sunset.

On Sunday evening at 8 pm, tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show via the Facebook page or YouTube channel of Astronomy by the Bay.

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.