The Night Sky in April 2007
Sunrise and Sunset Times for the UK
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Edinburgh Sunrise Sunset |
Manchester Sunrise Sunset |
London Sunrise Sunset | ||||
| April 01 | 06:42 | 19:51 | 06:41 | 19:45 | 06:34 | 19:35 |
| April 15 | 06:06 | 20:19 | 06:08 | 20:10 | 06:03 | 19:58 |
| April 30 | 05:31 | 20:48 | 05:36 | 20:36 | 05:34 | 20:22 |
Phases of the Moon (April)
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| New Moon Tuesday 17th |
First quarter Tuesday 24th |
Full Moon Monday 2nd |
Last quarter Tuesday 10th |
Click HERE to see the phase of the Moon on each day of the month.
What's happening in the April night sky?
Now that the clocks have gone forward an hour for British Summer Time (BST), the Sun does not set until quite late in the evening. By the end of the month, those in the north of Scotland will have to wait until nearly 10pm to have any chance of seeing the stars. As we continue into the summer there will be less opportunity for all of us to observe the night sky.
Maps of the current night sky can be seen by clicking HERE
April 22nd - Lyrid Meteor Shower
At certain times of the year, meteor showers provide us with a increased chance of seeing a meteor or 'shooting star'. Meteors are small lumps of rock or dust that enter and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, creating bright trails across the night sky similar to those seen in the image below.
Meteor Shower
Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through a trail of dust and debris that was left by a passing comet many years ago. In the case of the Lyrid meteor shower the culprit was Comet Thatcher, which was discovered in 1861 but passed through Earth's orbital path thousands of years ago - thankfully at a point in the year when Earth was elsewhere. In fact some historians have traced the history of this shower all the way back to 687 BC, when Chinese records of the time talked of "stars falling like rain".
Lyrid Radiant
The left-over comet trail is quite extensive; so although there's an increase in the number of meteors from the 16th April onwards, the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower this year should occur on the night of the 22nd April. If you are able to stay up after 11pm you could expect to see a few dozen meteors (10 to 20 per hour) from your garden before dawn. Thankfully the Moon will be low above the western horizon, giving a clear view of the eastern horizon and the shower's origin or radiant, i.e. where the shooting stars seem to start from. This radiant, not surprisingly, is close to the constellation of Lyra - see later for details of how to find Lyra as it is our constellation of the month.
What are the planets up to?
Click HERE and start the Electric Orrery to see where all the planets are today in relation to each other.
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Mercury - starts
the month as a morning object, sitting low above the east-southeast horizon for
no more than 30 minutes before sunrise. Because of the twilight, you will find it
hard to see Mercury with the naked eye but may be luckier with a telescope. By
the end of April, Mercury will be moving around behind the Sun ahead of reaching
superior conjunction (other side of Sun to Earth) on the 3rd of May, and will
therefore be lost in the Sun's glare.
Venus - remains the brightest planet and will be an evening object right through until August 2007 as it slowly catches us up on its inside orbit. At the start of March it can easily be found high above the western horizon for around 3 hours after sunset, shining far brighter than any other natural object. This increases to nearly 4 hours by the end of the month and sees Venus staying up until nearly midnight, giving us, and even the Liverpool telescope, plenty of opportunity to observe it. Mars - will also remain a morning object for some time to come. In early April, Mars rises in the east-southeast around 70 minutes before sunrise, which increases to nearly 85 mins by the end of the month as we continue to catch it up on our inside track. Mars is fairly easier to identify by looking for a reddish star shining more steadily (i.e. not twinkling as much) than the others. Mars is not yet a suitable target for the Liverpool Telescope and we will have to wait until June before we can get reasonable images. Jupiter - rises in the east-southeast around 1.20 am and can be found low above the southern horizon when the Sun comes up. This rising time moves forward a couple of hours by the end of the month, making Jupiter a good target to observe at the moment using Go Observing on the Liverpool Telescope. Saturn - is still our primary target for planetary observations, although Jupiter is not far behind. Saturn can be found high toward the south-southeast shortly after sunset and slowly crosses the sky during the night, setting in the west-northwest around 5:00 am. This will move forward to 3:00 am by the end of April as we start to move away from Saturn. Why not use the Electric Orrery to see how Earth starts to move away from Saturn in the coming months. |
Constellation of the month
Each month, a new constellation is highlighted for you to identify in the night sky.This month we are going to look for the lesser known constellation of Lyra, the Harp, which can be found low above the east-northeast horizon close to midnight. Lyra is not the most obvious of constellations and can only be found by locating its most prominent feature, the bright star Vega, which shines brighter than any of the stars around it.
April Night Sky
Vega is a brilliant blueish-white star about three times wider than our Sun and only 25 light years away. About 14,000 years ago Vega was our North Star, however, because the Earth's rotation axis wanders about, or precesses, it now points at Polaris. No doubt in few thousand years we will need to choose another North Star. As mentioned earlier, one of this month's highlights will be taking place close to Lyra. The Lyrid meteor shower will see an increased number of meteors appearing close to the shower's radiant, which is shown on the above skymap.
Mythology: Lyra
The lyre is an ancient musical instrument, similar to a small harp, that was invented by Hermes. When only a child, he pulled a cow-gut across a tortoise shell, and thereby created the lyre. Hermes gave this lyre to his half-brother Apollo (both were fathered by Zeus). As the god of music, Apollo became associated with the instrument.
Orpheus was given the instrument by Apollo when only a child, and the Muses taught him to use it. Even Nature herself would stop to listen, enraptured by his music. When Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus, died from a snake bite and was taken to the Underworld, Orpheus followed in hopes of bringing her back. His playing convinced Hades to release Eurydice, providing Orpheus didn't look back at her during the journey home - but just as he emerged into the sunlight Orpheus turned and gazed upon his wife, and lost her forever.
Many years later, Dionysus invaded Thrace, home of Orpheus, and his female followers killed Orpheus and threw his head into the river Hebrus, where it floated to Lesbos, singing the entire time. The lyre of Orpheus was also thrown into the river, and it too floated to Lesbos and beached near the temple of Apollo. Apollo convinced Zeus that the instrument should become a constellation. Zeus agreed, and placed the lyre of Orpheus between Hercules and Cygnus.
