The sky this Week
The following is a list of some interesting things to check out in the sky during this week, May 13 thru May 19, 2007. Some of the events and times given are specific to the Colorado front range (40° N and the MDT timezone).
International Space Station
There are three ISS passes this week, but you’ll have to get up early to see them. The brightest one (magnitude -0.2) is Saturday morning, May 19 at 04:23:06 am. The ISS rises in the SSW in constellation Sagitarius, passes through constellation Pegasus and then disappears in the ENE at 04:27:08.
Sun
The sun rises 5:49 to 5:44 am MDT this week and sets 8:08 to 8:14 pm MDT. Region 10955 is currently between the center of the disk and the west limb (right) and slightly below center (see http://raben.com/maps ). The region has decreased in area from 250 to 90 milli-hemispheres in area over the past 3 days. If it doesn’t dissipate first it will rotate out of our view Thursday evening. Solar activity is expected to remain at very low levels again this week.
Moon
New moon is this Wed, May 16 at 13:27 MDT.
Thurs. and Fri. take a look for the thin crescent Moon low in the west. Its a good time to look for the “Old Moon in New Moon’s Arms” or Earthshine. Earthshine is light from Earth reflected back to us from the Moon’s night side.
Sat. May 18 the moon is about a degree above Venus so it should be a pretty scene. The terminator will be to the west (left) of Mare Crisium Saturday so it will be a good time to check it out.
The the lunar craters Cleomedes, Endymon, Langrenus, and Petavius will be well-lit for viewing as well.
Planets
Mercury is constellation Taurus at magnitude -0.7 in the WNW this week. It sets 9:12 to 9:47 pm this week. Look for it around 8:40 pm to 9 pm.
Venus is constellation Gemini. It is still a brilliant magnitude -4.2 high up in the western sky. It appears in a telescope as small crescent quarter moon.
Saturn is in constellation Leo and is magnitude +0.9. It is still high up in the SSW in the early evening and will be visible until July.
Jupiter is in constellation Ophiuchus and -2.6 magnitude in brightness. It rises 10:02 pm to 9:35 PM this week. The great red spot (GRS) crosses the center of Jupiter at the following times this week:
Mon. May 14 at 02:17 am
Wed. May 16 at 03:55 am
Wed. May 16 at 11:47 pm
Fri. May 18 at 05:33 am
Sat. May 19 at 01:24 am
The GRS is visible about an hour before and after the central meridian transit.
Pluto is near the northern border of constellation Sagittarius. It is currently magnitude +14.
Neptune is in constellation Capricornius is +8 in magnitude.
Uranus is constellation Aquarius and is +6 in magnitude.
Mars is in constellation Pisces and is magnitude 0.9 in brightness and is 5.5 arc-sec across
Comets
C/2007 E2 Lovejoy is high up north in the constellation Draco, just south of the bowl of the little dipper. It has dimmed to magnitude 10.5 and from ephemeris the coma is predicted to have a 3.5 arc-min wide coma.
Asteroids
There are 8 asteroids that can be seen in small scopes this week:
7 Iris is constellation Gemini and is magnitude +10.4
20 Massalia is in constellation Cancer and is magnitude +10.9
23 Thalia is in constellation Leo and is magnitude +10.9
3 Juno is in constellation Virgo and is magnitude +10.3
21 Lutetia is in constellation Ophiuchus and is magnitude +10.4
4 Vesta is in constellation Ophiuchus and is magnitude +5.66
9 Metis is in constellation Sagitarius and is magnitude +10.5
2 Pallus is in constellation Pegasus and is magnitude +10.4
Deep Sky
Since the new moon occurs mid-week we get yet another weekend of dark skies. The 3 day old moon will interfer Saturday evening until it sets at 11:55 pm. I’d guess that it will be low enough that it probably won’t be much of a problem after 11pm.
Galaxies
There are hundreds of galaxies visible in backyard scopes this time of year. Some of the best are
M81, M82, and M101 in Ursa Major
M51 the Whirlpool in Canes Venatici
The Black Eye Galaxy, M64, in Coma Berenices
M104 the Sombrero Galaxy in Virgo
Globular Clusters
M3 in Canes Venatici
Messier 53 in Coma Berenices
Challenge globular NGC 5053 is also in Coma Berenices about 1 degree south of M53
M13 in Hercules
Planetary Nebula
M97 the Owl nebula in Ursa Major
NGC 4361 in Corvus
M57 the ring nebula in Lyra
The space turtle, NGC 6210 in Hercules
Bright Supernova
Supernova 2007bm was magnitude +14.4 when it was found about a month ago 2 arc sec west and 11 arc sec south of the center of galaxy NGC 3672 in constellation Hydra. It brightened to +14.2 and is now getting dimmer. See http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/snimages/ for details.