The Sky This Month

April 10 to May 8

Naked Eye Highlights

• Mercury low in the West at sunset, getting higher towards the end of April.

• Venus almost halfway up in the West at sunset throughout April.

• Mars low and to the right of the crescent moon on April 19.

• Jupiter high in the Southwest at dusk.• Saturn rising at 10:00 PM towards the end of

April.

Some Telescopic Opportunities

Topic tonight is telescopes.Saturn’s rings are tilted almost at a maximum for visibility.Jupiter has several interesting features:1. A moon can be “in plain view” but invisible in

Jupiter’s shadow.2. The Great Red Spot rotates into view every

10 hours.

Sky and Telescope’s Wavy Lines of Jupiter

• A slice from April 9 -14.• Time is given in UTC.

• Universal Time Coordinated – 8 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time– 7 hours ahead of Daylight Saving Time.

• What does “ahead” mean? – UTC starts a new day 7 hours BEFORE we do. – Viewing 9 PM to Midnight tonight, April 10 means– 4 AM to 7 AM April 11 UTC.

BUT FIRST: UTC

• Between the lines is 4 – 8 AM April 11 UTC or 9 PM to 1 AM tonight.

• Towards 1 AM Io, the innermost moon will appear from nowhere.

The Great Red Spot

• Its been going for centuries.• Its fading.• So am I.

• UTC again.– Look for a time between 4 AM and 7 AM on the

Skyand Telescope GREAT RED SPOT list.• April 19 5:20 AM UTC

– 50 minutes on either side of the time given.• April 18 at 10:20 PM ± 50 minutes

• Don’t bother if the stars are twinkling madly.• Light Blue or Green Filter helps• That’s It For this Month