the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
Psalm 8:3,4
(From Astronomy and Sky & Telescope Magazines)
Mars passes 0.04° south of Neptune at midnight EDT. NGC 1502 forms the “base” of a famous asterism called Kemble’s Cascade, which resembles a flow of water cascading down into a pool. The star cluster is often envisioned as the spray at the end of the line. From NGC 1502, you can trace the rest of the Cascade “backwards” to the source along 14 or so 7th- to 9th-magnitude stars to the northwest. NGC 1502 sits at the southeast end of the Cascade, which stretches about 2.5° in total.
Monday, April 29
Now let’s home in on Mars and Neptune, some 12′ apart in the pre-dawn sky. Mars is
magnitude 1.1, visible to the naked eye in a dark sky, but Neptune is so faint — magnitude 7.8 — you’ll need at least binoculars. The pair of planets rises around 4:30 A.M. local
Tuesday, April 30
Tonight, let’s look for a famous variable star in Leo the Lion: R Leonis. Leo is still 70° high in the south an hour after sunset. Look for the Lion’s brightest star — this is magnitude 1.4 Regulus, which marks the big cat’s heart. R Leonis is nearby, some 5° west of Regulus.
Wednesday, May 1
The Moon reaches Last Quarter at 7:27 A.M. Although it's May now, wintry Sirius still twinkles very low in the west-southwest at the end of twilight. It sets soon after. Hint: Find Sirius far below Procyon and a bit left. Procyon is the bright star lower left of Pollux and Castor.
Asteroid 4 Vesta is passing close to magnitude 3.1 Epsilon (ϵ) Geminorum tonight. You’ll find the magnitude 8.3 minor planet about ½° southeast of this star — an easy signpost to spot one of the main belt’s largest and most massive members. Vesta sits directly below Gemini’s two brightest stars as the Twins set: Castor (on the right/west) and Pollux (on the left/east) mark the brothers’ heads.
Friday, May 3
Moon passes 0.8° south of Saturn at 7 P.M. EDT. Early this morning when the two are visible well above the horizon an hour or so before sunrise, the waning Moon stands just under 8° to the right of Saturn. The Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks in just two days, but early this morning there could be a brief increase in the number of meteors visible in the pre-dawn sky. After sunset, use binoculars or a wide-field telescope to try for a last look at Jupiter. It's just above the west-northwest horizon in moderately bright twilight, as shown below. If you succeed, you will be among the last few people on Earth to see the giant planet so close to the end of its 2023-24 apparition.
Saturday, May 4
The Eta Aquariid meteor shower, bits of the rubble stream shed by Halley's Comet, often presents the best meteor display of the year for the Southern Hemisphere. But for us northerners the shower's radiant point is still quite low even as dawn begins. Nevertheless, meteor watchers in the southern U.S. may catch the brief death streaks of a few Halley bits before dawn on May 5th and 6th.
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