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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending April 15, 2015. Here’s what is happening in the skies of southern California.
Two bright planets are visible after sunset. The brightest, Venus, is high in the western sky during evening twilight and appears silvery-white. A telescope can show the phase of Venus, now less than three-quarters illuminated.
The second-brightest planet, Jupiter, appears brilliant and yellow and shines from the otherwise faint constellation, Cancer the Crab. Jupiter starts the evening high in the south. It then moves to the west, and reaches the west-northwest horizon at 3:30 a.m. A telescope can show you the cloud-covered face of Jupiter, which has dark belts and bright zones. Oval storms also dot Jupiter’s face. The largest and most famous of these oval storms, the Great Red Spot, can be seen from Los Angeles on the 9th, when it appears close to the center of Jupiter’s disk at 7:53 p.m., PDT, and again on the 11th, at 9:32 p.m., PDT.
The ringed planet, Saturn, appears in the southeast sky at 11:00 p.m. It is in Scorpius the Scorpion and makes a brilliant triangle with Antares, the brightest star of Scorpius, and with slightly fainter delta Scorpii, a star that has remained unusually bright since it flared up 15 years ago. A telescope will show the spectacular ring system of Saturn, now tilted 25 degrees from edge-on to our view. It appears just wide enough to encompass the planet completely. Saturn is highest and in the south shortly before dawn.
The waning moon rises at 11:26 p.m. on the 8th and at 4:15 a.m. on the 15th. Its phase changes from gibbous to last quarter on the 11th. The moon is then a crescent until new moon on April 18. The moon appears less than 2 degrees north of Saturn on the morning of the 8th.
Free views of the sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night are available to the public in clear weather through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes from Tuesday through Sunday before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for the schedule. The next public star party on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, April 25.
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From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.