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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.