Backyard Stargazer – In the spring, our thoughts turn to the stars
By Francis Parnell
Francis Parnell, the Backyard Stargazer of Darlington
The springtime constellations of Ursa Major (the Great Bear), Ursa Minor (the Little Bear), Leo (the Lion), Bootes (the Herdsman) and Virgo (the Virgin) are seen four minutes earlier each night during April.
In mythology, Bootes (pronounced Bo-oh-teez), keeps both bears confined to the north polar region of the sky. Arcturus, its brightest star, means “Guardian of the Pole.”
A very thin waning crescent Moon was 8 degrees right of bright Venus at dawn on the 1st.
Before sunrise on the 2nd, you could spot Venus near the waning crescent Moon. The two were less than 5 degrees apart.
On the 9th at 9 p.m., the waxing Moon is 5 degrees above Aldebaran, the Eye of Taurus, the Bull.
At 10 p.m. on the 14th, find the waxing gibbous Moon 5 degrees upper right of Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, the Lion.
The waning gibbous Moon, above Scorpius, is 7 degrees from fiery red Antares, the Heart of the Scorpion, on the morning of the 22nd.
If you look 45 minutes before sunrise on the 23rd, the waning gibbous Moon is 1 degree from yellow Jupiter.
Just before dawn on the 25th, the Moon is 2 degrees right of the ringed planet Saturn.
FAST FACT: At the end of their lives, stars similar in mass to the Sun throw off their outer layers of gas; the core then collapses to become a very dense white dwarf star the diameter of Earth.
The immensely strong gravity is 350,000 times that of Earth.
A teaspoonful of white dwarf material weighs 11,000 pounds.
A person weighing 180 pounds would weigh 63 million pounds on the surface of a white dwarf.
Enjoy spring and “Keep looking up!”