Download 1704 chart front - Adventure Science Center

To use this chart: hold the chart in
front of you and turn it so the direction
you are facing is at the bottom of the
chart.
Bright Stars
Medium Bright Stars
Faint Stars
CASSIOPEIA
CEPHEUS
DRACO
Double
Cluster
URSA
MINOR
Polaris
Scan dark skies
with binoculars:
M-44: The Beehive Cluster
Castor
BOOTES
Pollux
Arcturus
LEO
CANCER
VIRGO
M-42
Rigel
Sirius
HYDRA
Full Moon
Apr. 11
CANIS
MAJOR
CORVUS
Last Quarter
Apr. 19
S
Download monthly star charts and learn
more about our shows at adventuresci.org
Betelgeuse
Procyon
Regulus
Spica
Sunset
7:09 PM
7:21 PM
7:35 PM
ORION
M-44
CANIS
MINOR
Jupiter
Aldebaran
GEMINI
E
Spring is here! The days
have been getting longer
ever since the first day of
winter, and will continue to
lengthen until the first day of
summer, June 20.
From Nashville:
Sunrise
Apr. 1
6:33 AM
Apr. 15 6:13 AM
May 1
5:54 AM
TAURUS
URSA
MAJOR
COMA
BERENICES
M-45
AURIGA
BIG
DIPPER
M-42: The Great Orion Nebula
The Double Cluster in Perseus
Capella
CORONA
BOREALIS
M-45: The Pleiades star cluster
Red planet Mars is visible low in
the west shortly after sunset
early in the month. It will
become increasingly harder to
see through the month as it
becomes lost in the glow of
sunset.
PERSEUS
W
APRIL 2017
N
10:00 pm on April 1
9:00 pm on April 15
8:00 pm on May 1
New Moon
Apr. 26
First Quarter
Apr. 3
A���� 2017
After Sunset
Look to the west after sunset for the last glimpses of winter
constellations. Orion the Hunter stands out early in the
month, but will be lost in the glow of sunset by May. Follow
Orion’s belt to the left to find the brightest star in the night
sky, Sirius, in Canis Major the Big Dog. Follow the belt stars
to the right to find orange star Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus
the Bull. Still further beyond Aldebaran, you may find another
orange-red dot, the red planet Mars. Mars will be much
fainter. If you can’t find it, try scanning with binoculars. Like
Orion and Taurus, Mars will be gone by the end of the month.
Look high in the north for the Big Dipper. As famous as the
Dipper is, it’s not always easily visible from our latitude
in Tennessee. During the autumn, it stays hidden near the
northern horizon, only to emerge in the wee hours of the
morning. But in the spring, the Dipper is easy to find.
The Big Dipper is not officially a constellation; it’s what
astronomers sometimes call an asterism. The Big Dipper is
a familiar name for this pattern of stars, especially known
to observers in the United States, but it’s not one of the 88
constellations recognized by astronomers worldwide. Ursa
Major the Great Bear is the official constellation here, but
you’ll need dark skies to see its fainter stars.
Imagine poking a hole in the bottom of the Dipper to let the
water drip out. The water falls onto the back of Leo the Lion.
The head and mane of the lion are represented by a group of
stars that looks something like a backwards question mark.
Other stargazers imagine the top hook of a coat hanger, or a
sickle in this group of stars. The “dot” at the bottom of the
question mark is Regulus, the brightest star in Leo. It marks
the heart of the lion. Translated from Latin, “Regulus” means
“the little king,” which is an appropriate name to go along
with the regal “king of the jungle”.
Return to the Dipper, and use the two stars at the end of the
bowl to lead you to Polaris, also known as the North Star.
Polaris is not a particularly bright star, but it does remain
fixed in the sky throughout the night and throughout the year,
When you face the North Star, you’re facing due north.
Go back to the Dipper once more and follow its curved handle to
trace an ‘arc’ to Arcturus, the orange colored star in Boötes the
Herdsman. Then speed on to Spica, the single bright star in Virgo the
Maiden. Neither of these constellations has any other bright stars.
Even under dark skies away from city lights, it’s hard to imagine these
mythological figures just by connecting the dots.
Not too far from Spica is the bright planet Jupiter. If you have
binoculars, you may be able to see the giant planet’s four largest
moons. Watch the moons over several nights to watch them orbit
around Jupiter. If you have trouble steadying your binocular view on
Jupiter, try leaning them up against the side of a building or another
steady surface.
A small telescope not only shows the moons of Jupiter, but also its
cloud bands. Jupiter has stripes!
Stay Up Late
Stay out past midnight and look toward the east to see three bright
stars that make up the Summer Triangle. Low in the southeast you
may find the bright red star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion, and
just to its left the even brighter planet Saturn. A backyard telescope
will easily reveal the rings of Saturn, but binoculars will only show the
planet as looking slightly oval in shape.
A Look Ahead
As the Earth orbits the Sun throughout the year, the constellations
rise and set just a little bit earlier every day. You won’t see much
difference from night to night, but you will over the course of weeks
or months. What we see in today’s pre-dawn sky is a preview of the
early evening sky in later months. Go out before dawn this month for
a look ahead at the summer night sky.
Just before dawn, the Summer Triangle is high the sky and Scorpius
crawls along the southern horizon. Under very dark skies, the Milky
Way stretches from Scorpius in the south to Cassiopeia the queen in
the north.
Remember when brilliant Venus was shining in the evening sky after
sunset a couple months ago? It’s now rising in the east before the
Sun, and will continue as a ‘morning star’ all the way through early
November.
Eclipse: The Sun Revealed
Download this star chart and learn more
about our shows at adventuresci.org
A very special astronomical event occurs this summer. On August
21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will sweep across the United States and Nashville is right in the path of totality! Sudekum Planetarium’s
original production, Eclipse: The Sun Revealed, is now showing daily.
Join us as we explore one of the most stunning sights in nature and
learn how you can observe solar eclipses safely.
After the show, don’t forget stop by the ASC gift shop to pick up eclipse
glasses so you can observe the partial phases of the eclipse safely!
Saturday, April 8
adventuresci.org/saturday
6:30 pm: Skies Over Nashville
7:30 pm: Fulldome Feature:
Planet Nine
8:30 pm: Laser Tribute
9:30 pm: Laser Beatles
10:30 pm: Led Zeppelin
This month
in the Sudekum Planetarium:
ECLIPSE
THE SUN REVEALED
Showtimes and info at
adventuresci.org/show-schedule
Local Astronomy Events
The next free BSAS public star party is scheduled for
Friday, April 28 from 8:30–10:30 pm at Bells Bend Outdoor
Center in Fairview. Come observe Jupiter, the Beehive
star cluster, and more through telescopes provided by
members of the Barnard-Seyfert Astronomical Society.
Visit the BSAS web site at bsasnashville.com for details. If
the weather is bad, the star party will be cancelled. Make
sure to check their web site for updates before making the
trip to a star party, especially if the weather is iffy. On the
BSAS web site you’ll also find driving directions and a list of
future events.