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Liverpool Astronomical Society News Page



Society News and Night Sky Notes - APRIL 2001

Lasted updated March 19th 2001.



Society News Headlines


  • April 1st - Transit of Jupiter across the Sun.
  • April 2nd - Zodiacal light observational period begins.
  • April 2nd - Royal Astronomical Society Meeting at Cambridge. (ends April 6th).
  • April 6th - Mercury 10° South of Venus.
  • April 6th - LAS Pex Hill Observatory public Open Night CANCELLED.
  • April 6th - BAA Winchester Weekend (ends April 8th).
  • April 6th - Asteroid 29 Amphitrite at opposition, Mag 9.3 in Virgo.
  • April 7th - Planned launch of NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter spacecraft.
  • April 10th - Pallas is stationary.
  • April 10th - Comet Metcalf-Brewington at perihelion (2.605AU).
  • April 12th - 40th Anniversary (1961) of launch of Vostok 1 - First manned spaceflight. USSR.
  • April 12th - 20th Anniversary (1981) of First spaceshuttle launch STS-1. USA.
  • April 13th - Asteroid 2000 EE104 passes 0.082 AU from Earth.
  • April 13th - Mars is 1.3° South of Moon.
  • April 15th - Ceres is 0.9° South of Moon.
  • April 16th - Jupiter 5° North of Aldebaran.
  • April 16th - Neptune 3° North of Moon.
  • April 17th - Venus stationary.
  • April 17th - Uranus 3° North of Moon.
  • April 19th - Planned launch of Spaceshuttle mission STS-100, Endeavour. ISS assembly flight 6A.
  • April 20th - Liverpool AS Monthly Meeting, Crypt Concert Room, RC Cathedral.7pm - 7:15pm
  • April 20th - Venus 10° North of moon.
  • April 22nd - Lyrids meteor shower maximum.
  • April 23rd - Astronomy Week begins in USA. (See Astro Day below).
  • April 23rd - Mercury at superior conjunction.
  • April 25th - Saturn 1.4° North of Moon.
  • April 26th - Jupiter 1.8° north of moon.
  • April 28th - Astronomy Day USA.
  • April 28th - BAA Out-of-London Meeting at York. 14:30pm start.
  • April 29th - Comet P/2000 T2 Kushida-Muramstu at Perihelion (2.752AU).
  • April 30th - Juno in conjunction with the Sun.

    • THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL 2001

    Will it be cloudy to-night?, ask the The U.K. Goverment Met Office Weather service.
    To make your own star chart fo your location at any time, Click Here.


    and

    The Sun and Moon


    All times are in BRITISH SUMMER TIME (BST). Times For Observer in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, U.K.

    PLEASE NOTE CHANGE TO BST

    Latitude 53 degs 24 mins North.
    Longitude +3.0 degs West.

    
           Apr 1st     Apr 6th     11th      16th      21st      26th        May 1st
SUNRISE    06:46        06:34      06:22     06:11     05:59     05:49       05:48
SUNSET     19:47        19:56      20:05     20:14     20:23     20:32       20:41

    PHASES OF THE MOON DURING APRIL 2001
    NEW MOON

    on 23rd
    at 16h:27m    		 FIRST QUARTER

    on 30th
    at 18h:08m    		 FULL MOON

    on 8th
    at 04h:23m     		LAST QUARTER

    on 15th
    at 16h:32m


    planets THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.

    mercury MERCURY.

    Mercury is not favourable to view this month being at Superior conjunction on the 23rd.

    venus VENUS.


    Venus lies VERY low down in the early morning sky moving from east-north-east to east by April's end. It will remain only slightly favourable until late May when it starts a swift ascent.

    mars MARS.




    Mars in November 1990.
    Drawing by Ken Clarke.


    Mars remains a morning object but it won't be long until its brightness and diameter start to increase to make it worthwhile telescopic object. At the start of the month Mars rises at 02h and crosses the meridian an hour before Sunrise. Still lying in Ophiuchus its eastwards apparent motion starts to slow. At 01hr on the 13th the Moon passes a mere 34' north of Mars.

    ASTEROIDS.


  • 29 Amphitrite is at oppostion at 9.3 in Virgo on April 6th/7th.
  • 532 Herculina is at oppostion at Mag 9.1 in Bootes on April 22nd.
  • 2 Pallas is at oppostion next month but can be found in Hercules at mag 9.4 on April 1st. Stationary on April 10th.
  • 1 Ceres is 0.9° South of Moon on April 15th.
  • 3 Juno in conjunction with the Sun on April 30th.

    For More information on Asteroids Click Here.

    JUPITER.


    Jupiter sets at midnight in the middle of the month and is therefore nicely placed for observations soon after Sunset.

    Launched in October 1989, the Galileo Jupiter Probe entered orbit around the great planet on December 7th 1995. The Project Galileo Homepage will give you up-to-date information and the very latest images returned.

    SATURN.


    Saturn, lying slightly to the west of Jupiter, lies 6° South of the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus on the 24th. The Moon slides 2.5° South of Jupiter at 01hr on the 27th and 2° south of Saturn at 19hr on the 24th.

    URANUS and neptune NEPTUNE.


    Uranus is slowly recovering from its February solar conjunction, and can be seen at Mag 5.9 in Capricornus.

     Positions for the 1st April

                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      21h:44m:15s           -14°:20':15"                   10h:17m             5.9

    Like Uranus, Neptune is recovering from its solar conjunction in January and at mag 7.9 the approaching twilight will hinder chances of locating this outer planets.

     Positions for the 1st April

                          R.A.                   DEC                    TRANSIT TIME           MAG
                      20h:42m:57s           -18°:01'24"                   09h:16m             7.9

    PLUTO.


    Pluto can be found on the border of Ophiuchus and Scorpius, below and to left of the 4th magnitude stars zeta and 20 Ophiuchi. The best time to look for the planet is around New Moon. The dates below will be a guide for planning observations.

     Positions for April are when pluto's elongation angle is greater than 90°.

    
DATE                      R.A.                   DEC                   TRANSIT TIME

April  1st             17h:00m:54s            -12°:02':53"                 05hr:32m

April 11th             17h:00m:08s            -12°:00':04"                 04hr:52m

April 21st             16h:59m:33s            -11°:57':17"                 04hr:12m

    Pluto is best seen between April 15th - April 30th.


    METEORS.



  • April 12th VIRGINIDS & alpha Virginids (6 per hour) UnFavourable
  • April 22nd APRIL LYRIDS (15-20 per hour) Favourable.
  • April 28th ALPHA SCORPIIDS (5 per hour) Favourable.


    • comets COMETS.


  • 10th April Comet Metcalf-Brewington at Perihelion (2.605AU).
  • 29th April Comet P/2000 T2 (Kushida-Muramastu at Perihelion (2.752AU).

    Plus these pages will give daily and weekly reports of this and other Comets progress.

  • BAA Comet Section Home Page
  • Sky & Telescope Comet Observations Home Page.
  • Comet Observation Home Page
  • The Astronomer Comet Page.


    • occulationsOCCULATIONS.

  • April 1st at 23h:50m Disappearance of delta Geminorum.(Double star mag 3.5 & 8.2)


    March 2001 News and Sky Notes.

    MAY 2001 News and Sky Notes.


    These pages are maintained by Gerard Gilligan.
    EMail: ggastro@liverpool.ac.uk.

    Return to the The Liverpool Astronomical Society Home Page.

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