March 28 – April 4
With Easter happening next weekend let us look for signs of it in the night sky. Lambs have long been associated with spring and Easter, so we can start with Aries the Ram low in the west. For many the symbol of Easter is Peter Cottontail, the Easter Bunny. When darkness sets in we can see Lepus the Hare below the feet of Orion. I see the constellation as three vertical pairs of stars, with the brightest pair in the middle and the widest to the right. With a reasonably dark sky you can see the bunny ears between the widest pair and Orion’s brightest star, Rigel.
In Germanic mythology Ostara, the goddess of spring, found a wounded bird and changed it into a hare so that it could survive. This animal was allowed to run as fast as it could fly and it retained the ability to lay eggs, which it did in spring to honour its rescuer. The Saxon name for the goddess was Eostre. I think the best symbol is seen on the Moon when it is full or nearly so. When it rises in spring, look for the dark bunny ears to the upper right. With them identified, it isn’t difficult to picture Peter Cottontail clutching a giant egg.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:06 and sunset will occur at 7:42, giving 12 hours, 36 minutes of daylight (7:12 and 7:47 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:53 and set at 7:51, giving 12 hours, 58 minutes of daylight (6:58 and 7:56 in Saint John).
The Moon is below Regulus on Sunday evening, full on Wednesday and near Spica Thursday. Venus sets around 9:30 pm this weekend, becoming more prominent now as it climbs up the steep angle of the spring ecliptic. Jupiter is high in the southwest at sunset, and this Saturday telescope users might see its moon Europa disappear behind the planet at 9:54. Mercury is a challenging binocular target, rising 50 minutes before sunrise this weekend but not gaining much altitude before twilight gets too bright. Saturn and Mars are too close to the Sun for observing. Beginning late in the week rural observers might see the subtle glow of zodiacal light in the west 60 to 90 minutes after sunset.
Tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of Astronomy by the Bay. The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre at 7 pm on April
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at [email protected].
March 21 – March 28
Although Orion and his two dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor, are slipping into the sunset, they are not the only pooches in the night sky. The small constellation of Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs is generally seen as a pair of stars well below the handle of the Big Dipper. They assist their master, Boötes, in chasing the celestial bears around the pole.
In one tale from mythology Boötes is Icarius, a vineyard owner who was taught the art of winemaking by Bacchus. He introduced his shepherd neighbours to his product, and when they awoke with a hangover the next morning they thought they had been poisoned. In retaliation they killed Icarius and threw him in a ditch. His dogs, Chara and Asterion, sensed something was wrong, and when they eventually found their master they jumped into the ditch to die with him.
The brightest star in Canes Venatici is a double star called Cor Caroli, which means the Heart of Charles. Edmond Halley coined this because it was said to have shone brightly when Charles II returned to London after his defeat by Cromwell. The other naked eye star in the constellation is Chara, from the Greek word for joy. Halfway between Cor Caroli and Arcturus, the brightest star in Boötes, you can see a fuzzy patch with binoculars. This is the globular star cluster M3 from Messier’s catalogue. Galaxy M94 lies just north of the midpoint between Cor Caroli and Chara; and the much-imaged Whirlpool Galaxy is within the borders of Canes Venatici, despite being near the handle of the Big Dipper.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Fredericton is at 7:27 and sunset will occur at 7:40, giving 12 hours, 13 minutes of daylight. Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:14 and set at 7:49, giving 12 hours, 35 minutes of daylight.
The Moon approaches the Pleiades on Sunday evening, and it is at first quarter on Wednesday with the Lunar X in view for a while. Thursday evening it passes between Jupiter and Pollux in Gemini, and next Friday it buzzes the Beehive star cluster. Venus sets around 9:10 pm this weekend and 9:30 next weekend. Monday evening telescope users might see Jupiter’s moon Io disappear behind the planet at 9:30, and on Tuesday it will reappear from a transit at 8:55 while its shadow is in transit until 10:11. Neptune is in conjunction with the Sun on Sunday, and Saturn reaches that point on Wednesday.
Tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of Astronomy by the Bay.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at [email protected].