{"id":959,"date":"2014-04-10T01:24:56","date_gmt":"2014-04-10T01:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/?p=959"},"modified":"2014-04-16T23:24:25","modified_gmt":"2014-04-16T23:24:25","slug":"griffith-observatory-sky-report-for-the-week-ending-wednesday-april-16-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/2014\/04\/10\/griffith-observatory-sky-report-for-the-week-ending-wednesday-april-16-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending Wednesday, April 16, 2014."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/strong><\/a>LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report<\/p>\n

sky_report_20140409<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending Wednesday, April 16, 2014. Here is what\u2019s happening in the skies of southern California:<\/p>\n

A total eclipse of the moon will happen on the night of April 14 through the early morning hours of the 15th<\/sup>. The eclipse starts when the full moon contacts the fuzzy outer shadow of the earth, the penumbra, at 9:53 p.m., PDT, but no visible shading will occur for at least another 30 minutes, when the moon is about half immersed in the penumbra. At 10:58 p.m. PDT, a distinct bite will be taken out of the left limb of the moon as the moon reaches the inner shadow of the earth, the umbra. The moon is totally eclipsed between 12:06 and 1:24 a.m. Because earth\u2019s atmosphere acts like a lens and a filter, orange light from all the sunrises and sunsets occurring on earth is bent into the umbra, so the totally eclipsed moon usually remains visible, appearing an eerie shade of copper or red, a memorable sight through binoculars or telescopes. Los Angeles is particularly favored for viewing this eclipse. At 12:46 a.m., PDT, the midpoint of the eclipse, the moon will be 45 degrees high in the south and only 2 degrees east of the meridian. Brilliant orange Mars will be 10 degrees to the upper right of the moon, and Virgo the Maiden\u2019s bright start Spica appears only 1.5 degrees to the moon\u2019s lower right. The left edge of the moon begins to brighten as the moon emerges from the umbra at the end of totality, and the last trace of the umbra will vanish at 2:33 a.m. The moon\u2019s right side will remain slightly shaded by the penumbra for about another 30 minutes, and the eclipse is technically over when the moon is completely clear of the penumbra at 3:37 a.m. Information about Griffith Observatory\u2019s eclipse event and Internet live video from one of our telescopes can be found on the Griffith Observatory eclipse Web Page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The planet Mars, in Virgo the Maiden, is now visible all night. It rises at sunset and is highest shortly after midnight. The planet is closest to earth on the night of the 13th<\/sup> when it is 57.4 million miles away. Through a telescope, Mars appears 15.1 arcseconds wide, which is 120 times smaller than the moon but large enough that telescopes 4-inches or more in diameter will show details on the planet. Griffith Observatory will start public viewing of Mars next week, when it is high enough to get a sharp view in the early evening.<\/p>\n

Brilliant Jupiter, in Gemini the Twins, becomes visible high overhead in evening twilight and remains visible until it sets in the west-northwest at 1:30 a.m. Look for the planet\u2019s famous Great Red Spot at 8:00 p.m. on April 10th<\/sup>, 12th<\/sup>, 14th<\/sup>, 17th<\/sup>, and 19th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

The ringed planet Saturn, in Libra the Scales, rises in the east-southeast at 9:15 p.m. and crosses the meridian at 2:30 a.m. A telescope will show its spectacular ring system.<\/p>\n

The brightest planet, Venus, appears in the east shortly before dawn and is 22 degrees high at sunrise. A telescope will show the planet\u2019s gibbous phase. On the 12th<\/sup>, Venus is 45 arcminutes from the farthest planet, Neptune. The two planets could then fit in the same telescopic field-of-view at low magnification. On the next morning, the 13th<\/sup>, at 5:08 a.m., Venus will nearly graze a ninth magnitude star. At about the same time, Venus will occult (block) the star for observers located south of a line that runs from northwestern Mexico to southern Arizona.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s telescopes from Tuesday through Sunday before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for our schedule. Griffith Observatory will be open to the public between 7:00 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. starting Monday night, April 14 for public viewing and other activities connected with the lunar eclipse. 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, May 3rd<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

From Griffith Observatory, I\u2019m Anthony Cook and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report sky_report_20140409 This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending Wednesday, April 16, 2014. Here is what\u2019s happening in the skies of southern California: A total eclipse of the moon will happen … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-skyreport"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=959"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":971,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959\/revisions\/971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}