Stargazing this Week
The Eta Aquariids
Another week, another meteor shower! This one is perhaps best seen by our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, but in northern latitudes they’ll be visible near the horizon in the predawn morning. This particular shower has a broad peak of activity, so you might look to the morning sky on Tuesday and Thursday as well. The Eta Aquariids radiate from the Aquarius constellation, just south of east on the horizon. The moon will rise nearby shortly before dawn, potentially interfering with early attempts to see the shower. Happily, it rises later each morning, and will give us plenty of viewing time on Wednesday the 5th.
The Eta Aquariids are associated with junk strewn about from Halley’s Comet, who’s orbit last intersected with ours in 1986. These projectile calling cards will have to do for another 40 years. Remember friends, shower viewing is an exercise in patience, as the meteors often appear in punctuated clumps, rather than being evenly distributed with time. Give yourself an hour with a blanket and perhaps a thermos.
Gas Giants are Back
If you’re up early to view the meteor shower, you’ll be able to spy Jupiter and Saturn in their vicinity. Jupiter will be the one brighter, lower and closer to Aquarius. If you can’t quite make it up before dawn, grab your sunrise cup of coffee and look for the waning crescent with the two gas giants serving as morning stars.
Asteroids in Leo
If early mornings aren’t your thing, Leo the Lion is high in the sky after sunset and well into the early evening. Two major asteroids in our solar system will be passing through Leo this month, Vesta and Amphitrite.
To find Leo, look to the west. It’s telltale asterism is its sickle-shaped head, with its heart - Regulus the bright star at sickle’s base.
Vesta - officially 4 Vesta - is the second largest asteroid in our solar system’s main belt, after Ceres which is practically a planet. Unlike ceres, Vesta is too small to consolidate into a spheroid, and thus remains oblate. It is too dim to see without binoculars. Vesta will traverse the midsection of Leo this week, so your best bet for identification is a careful study of that patch of sky each night to see what moves.
29 Amphitrite is just outside of Leo near the star Regulus. A bit fainter than magnitude 10, you might need to pull out a small telescope to see it, but if you’ve got dark skies and a large pair of binoculars you might as well have a go! Amphitrite will actually pass over Regulus next week (May 13th), so keep your eyes in Leo’s direction.
As always, if you’re looking to learn more about the night sky, why not experiment yourself? Check out Stellarium - an Open Source Planetarium you can use at home!
