OAS Academy
April 2020 Easter Edition
Acknowledgements As always, I would like to thanks Starry Night Planetarium software for the ongoing use of their software in our webinars. https://starrynight.com/
Also, I would like to credit the following useful resources we use, once of which also lends the front cover and background to the periodical Www.heavens-above.co.uk (use of the background and front cover
Phillips Stargazing Nigel Henbest and Heather Couper
Astronomy Yearbook Brian Jones FRAS.
Note from, Alastair Leith It is without doubt there are more pressing dangers to our night sky. Light Pollution has always been a problem. Now we have the dangers presented by the likes of SpaceX and its Starlink project. For me, I trust in the masses that the international community will not tolerate tens of thousands of satellites up in the night sky potentially ruining our view of the universe for us. I have my own opinions on this I will keep from this periodical. Nevertheless, I still see the night sky as I did some 35 years ago since I took up astronomer. A place of wonder, delight, and somewhere a childs imagineation can really run free. To this end, with SpaceKidets, I always tried to veer away from the desire to image the night sky that many seem to follow. Each module is not built with a particular age limit in mind, if a kid can read it, they can follow it. That is the point, read, learn, challenge, and question. Hence the purpose of this months magazine, not too different from previous editions, but here we have our Easter Egg hunt, read on to learn more!
The Easter Egg hunt Yes, we’ve all done the hunt, reading clues to find those treasures, but this time, we follow the stars to reveal the cosmic treasures that exist in our night sky.
This challenge is in two parts A)
We follow the clues to find the object in a list
B)
We try to sketch the object
C)
We learn what we can about the object.
That is our Easter Egg hunt.
What will now follow are a list of objects, all within eye, binocular, or small telescope range. They could be planets, stars, star clusters, nebulae, or galaxies. We are going on a hunt to search for those hidden delights.
Parents, please print off key parts of this to help! So before we go first A)
wrap up, its cold out there!
B)
Grab a hot drink, keep warm
C)
Red torch (so as not to upset the eyes
D)
Pencil or pen
E)
Lets go!
At the time of the year Orion is sadly long past its best, so our hunt will concentrate on the following.
Venus Taurus, M45 Aldebaran Moon Lyrids International Space Station Leo, the Lion, Virgo, the Virgin The Plough
Venus Planet Venus, the Goddess of love, could be Earths twin. All but the same size and with a thick atmosphere! But there is where the similarities end. It has a Carbon Dioxide atmosphere which is why it is so bright. It is also, at 460 degrees C the hottest planet in the solar system. Has been gracing our skies for some months now. Look for it as a bright evening star in the west. It is unmistakable. This will be your first easter egg you can tick off—Well done!
Do you own a small telescope? Try taking a look at Venus, before sunset, you will make out the crescent feature and maybe some atmosphere!
Moon Always graces us most months, we will not go into much detail here about the Moon. But if you note the date you saw it and sketch how it looked below? We’ll say that’s another Easter egg found!
International Space Station The multi national space station orbits above the Earth at a height of over 500 km! Orbits 16 times a day, so it see’s 16 Sunrises in a day! The space station is itself an easy object to spot tends to pass west to east. Download and install the ISS spotter onto either an iphone or iPad this will tell you when it is forecast to pass.
Did you get to see it? Count it as another egg!
Lyrids –Meteor shower Meteors are tiny fragments of dust which burn up in the atmosphere of the Earth causing a streak of light. They seem to radiate (come from) a constellation in the night sky. In this case the Lyra.
Look out for these between 22nd / 23rd April Spot one? Give yourself another tick!
Chart courtesy of: Starry Night images provided courtesy of Simulation Curriculum Corp. www.starrynight.com.
Aldebaran In the constellation of Taurus, also known as the “Eye of the bull�. Sometimes it red colour is mistaken for Mars, so worth getting aquainted with it to save on future confusion.
Look just down the way from the M45, Pleiades to see it.
Chart courtesy of: Starry Night images provided courtesy of Simulation Curriculum Corp. www.starrynight.com.
Starting south High up in the southern sky is another constellation that does not look a lot different from what its supposed to be, Leo , the Lion, you can see it below.
Chart courtesy of: Starry Night images provided courtesy of Simulation Curriculum Corp. www.starrynight.com.
Following the sickle of Leo down, you meet , Regulus, brightest star in Leo. Move to the left, you meet another star, Chertan chort. These small galaxies are viewed reasonably easily in dark skies through a small telescope. To find it Use the finder to come down from Chort and Iota Leonis into the same view. Then through the main telescope the galaxies should be there�
Chart courtesy of: Starry Night images provided courtesy of Simulation Curriculum Corp. www.starrynight.com.
M65, M66 check off Well done, your first cosmic Easter eggs! Slightly easier now Move to the rear of Leo, you meet another constellation, Virgo
Chart courtesy of: Starry Night images provided courtesy of Simulation Curriculum Corp. www.starrynight.com.
Virgo—The Virgin
During the course of this Easter Egg hunt, we have already met some galaxies. In this constellation is a massive cluster of them. Believe It or not, they are visible as small smudges in a small telescope.
Have a look, I have reproduced the map here for your reference!
Chart courtesy of: Starry Night images provided courtesy of Simulation Curriculum Corp. www.starrynight.com.
Did you see any? Give yourself a tick, well done! Another bunch of eggs found! Well done!
Easter Egg Check list, check each off as you see them
Venus, Taurus, M45,
Aldebaran. Moon, Lyrids, International Space Station,
Leo, the Lion:
M65
Virgo, the Virgin The Plough
M66
Stop Press!
Comet Atlas 2019 Y4 is in our skies, not very bright at the moment, but its in the region of the Plough (which we discussed earlier in the Easter Egg hunt. The map below shows where it is mid March as it moves away from the Plough Chart courtesy of: Starry Night images provided courtesy of Simulation Curriculum Corp. www.starrynight.com.
April / 10pm