LISTEN to this week’s Sky Report
This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through March 28th, 2019. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.
The moon is past full and it rises later and later after sunset on succeeding nights. Moonrise happens at 8:50 p.m. on the 21st and at 2:39 a.m. on the 28th. During this period, its phase wanes from gibbous to crescent, and it is last quarter on the 27th.
Mars is high in the western sky after sunset. It appears to move from the constellation Aries the Ram to Taurus the Bull on the 23rd. Notice that the color and brightness of Mars are similar to that of the brightest star of Taurus, Aldebaran, that marks the fiery eye of the mythological bull. The orbital motion of Mars is taking it around the far side of the sun, so through most telescopes, it appears too small to see its planetary details.
Jupiter and Saturn, however, are fascinating through telescopes. The fact that they are many times farther away than Mars is more than offset by their huge sizes.
Jupiter, in the constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer, rises above the east-southeast horizon by 1:30 a.m., and it appears highest and in the south at dawn. Jupiter appears much brighter than any nighttime star, and it is currently the fourth brightest astronomical object visible after the sun, moon and Venus.
An ordinary pair of binoculars, if supported steadily, is all that is needed to glimpse the planet’s four largest moons. Galileo first reported these in 1609, and, as a result, they are known as Jupiter’s Galilean satellites.
Golden hued Saturn, in Sagittarius the Archer, rises about 90 minutes after Jupiter. It is highest at dawn in the southeast, to the lower left of Jupiter. Saturn is fainter than Jupiter, but brighter than most stars. Almost any telescope capable of a magnification of at least 20-power should reveal the planet’s beautiful system of rings. The rings are now titled about 24 degrees from edge-on to us, which is exactly enough to enclose the planet within their elliptical outline. The angle of the rings will decrease until they are edge-on to us in 2025, and as a result, the planet will soon protrude beyond the narrow axis of the ring’s ellipse.
Venus, the brightest planet, is also on the far side of its orbit, beyond the sun, as seen from Earth. As a result, it appears tiny and with a gibbous phase when seen through a powerful telescope. Venus is best seen at about 30 minutes before sunrise, or at about 6:20 a.m., when a clear horizon may let you find its brilliant gleam about 12 degrees above the east-southeast horizon and to the lower left of Saturn.
The International Space Station will pass high over Los Angeles on Thursday evening, the 20th, between 8:06 and 8:12 p.m. The ISS will outshine anything else then in the sky as it travels from the southwest to the northeast. It is highest at 8:10 p.m. when it appears 70 degrees above the northwest horizon.
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 free 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 13th between 2:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Follow The Sky Report, All Space Considered, and Griffith Observatory on Twitter for updates on astronomy and space-related events.
From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.