Sky this Week
The following is a summary of some things to see up in the sky for this week, March 23 to March 29, 2008.
International Space Station
There are a number of good passes of the ISS this week. The ESA Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) precedes the ISS passes by about 4 or 5 minutes*.
Tues March 25 9:04 pm ATV appears in SW and dissapears in SW at 9:05 (mag 1.4)
9:08 pm ISS appears in SW and disappears in SW at 9:10 pm (-0.3)
Wed March 26 7:52pm 8:11 pm ATV appears in S and disappears in E at 7:57 (2.2)
7:56 pm ISS in SSW and dissappears in ENE at 8:01 pm (-1.2)
Thur March 27 8:14 pm ATV appears in SW and disappears at NE at 8:19 pm (-0.5)
8:18 pm ISS appears in SW disappears in NE at 8:23 pm (-0.2)
Fri March 28 8:36 pm ATV appears in W disappears in NE at 8:42 pm (1.3)
8:41 pm ISS appears in W disappears in NNE at 8:45 pm (-0.4)
*Note ATV times may vary by a few minutes as the week progresses, check www.heavens-above.com for updated times
Sun
One small region #10987 is currently visible near the sun’s east limb. It currently has 4 spots. It will be near mid-disk by Thursday.
Sunday March 23: Sunrise 7:00 am and Sunset 7:17 pm
Saturday March 29: Sunrise 6:51 am and Sunset 7:23 pm
Moon
Last quarter is March 29 at 3:47 pm
Planets (positions Saturday, March 29)
Mars +.7 magnitude in brightness, the disk is 7.1″ 90% illum in Gemini
Saturn +0.7 magnitude in brightness, the disk is 20″ across in Leo
Jupiter -2 magnitude in brightness, the disk is 37″ across in the constellation Sagitarrius
Venus -3.8 magnitude in brightness, the disk is 10.5″ across in Aquarius
Mercury -0.4 magnitude in brightness, the disk is 5″ across in the constellation Aquarius
Dark Sky
Dark sky weekend is here again! On Saturday the moon doesn’t rise until 3:13 am Sunday morning giving us 6.3 hrs of astronomical darkness.
Its time to go galaxy hopping. Leo is high up in the early evening and Virgo is in good position by 11 pm. At the top of Virgo locate the star 47 Virginis. Sweep north to west through stars 41-34-27 Virginis. In between stars 34 and 27 is M60. Move westward from M60 and you’ll find M59 and M58. Moving north from M58 you will find M89 and M90.
Go back to M60 and then move westward again finding M59 and M58 as before. Keep moving westward and a bit north continuing the line and you’ll encounter M87. Continue the line westward and northward about the same distance yet again and you’ll locate M86. M84 is nearby to the south and west.
Asteroids (positions Saturday, March 29 around 9 to 10pm)
15 Eunomia is in Gemini mag 10.2
6 Hebe is in constellation Cancer, magnitude 10.3
5 Astraea in Virgo mag 9.5
7 Iris is in Virgo mag 9.6
22 Kalliope in Virgo mag 10.9
41 Daphne in Virgo 9.5
39 Laetitia in Leo mag 10.9
Comets (positions Saturday, March 29 around 9 to 10pm)
17P Holmes is in constellation Perseus it is 5.7 magnitude in brightness, the disk is 70′ across
46P Wirtanen is in constellation Auriga. It is 10.2 magnitude in brightness, the disk is 5.1′ across
C/2008 C1 Chen-Gao is in constellation Auriga. It is 10.2 magnitude in brightness, the disk is , 2.5′ across
29P Schwassmann-Wachmann is in constellation Auriga. It is12.1 magnitude in brightness, the disk is 2′ across
C/2007 T1 McNaught is in constellation Monoceros. It is 12.3 magnitude in brightness, the disk is 2.3′ across
C/2007 W1 Boattini is in constellation Corvus. It is 10.9 magnitude in brightness, the disk is 1.9′ across
C/2006 Q1 McNaught is in constellation Vela. It is 11.4 magnitude in brightness, the disk is 1.1′ across