Viewing Mercury at Its Best
by Monica Bobra
(Edited
from Sky and Telescope,
online, April 2003, by Jim Walker.) The planet Mercury has made its
best showing for 2003 during the month of April. To find this often-elusive
object, look low in the west-northwest about 45 minutes to an hour after
sunset (also see this month’s Star Chart).
Mercury will be sparkling and unmistakable; no other bright stars or planets
are anywhere near it in that part of the sky.
Like Venus,
Mercury mimics the phases of the Moon as it rounds the Sun. In order
to see these phases, however, you'll need a telescope. Right now
the planet's phase is thinning from fat and gibbous to a slender crescent.
Unfortunately, even with a scope, surface features won't be visible.
Still, Mercury's graceful arcing crescent makes it a worthwhile look.
Two More Moons for Jupiter Make 60
(Sky
and Telescope, online, April 14, 2003.) With Jupiter high
in the sky, astronomers are taking advantage. In the past few weeks
nearly a dozen new planetary moons have been discovered - two of which
were certified by the International Astronomical Union on April 12th and
14th. The latest pair, dubbed S/2003 J19 and S/2003 J20, were located
using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
J19 was spotted by a four-member group led by Brett Gladman (University
of British Colum-bia); J20 was identified by Scott S. Sheppard and
David C. Jewitt (University of Hawaii), along with Jan Klenya (Cambridge
University). Sheppard provides more information on Jupiter's satellite
family, including a tabulation of all known moons, at SkyandTelescope.com.
Two Eclipses in May
(Edited
from Astronomy and Sky
and Telescope, May, 2003.) An annular eclipse of the sun
will occur on May 30/31 covering as much as 97% of the sun. Unfortunately,
to see the greatest coverage of the sun, you would need to be somewhere
between Iceland and Greenland.
A total
eclipse of the moon on May 15/16 is readily accessible in our area.
The partial phase begins at 9:03 PM CDT; totality begins at 10:14, ending
at 11:06 PM; and the partial phase ends at 12:17 AM. For more information,
see the magazines noted above. |
