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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through April 23rd, 2020. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.
The planet Venus is already visible high in the western sky at sunset. From there, it commands attention as soon as the sky starts to darken. Venus sets in the west-northwest shortly after 11 p.m. After nightfall, Venus is so bright that it casts shadows on the ground in dark wilderness locations. Venus appears at its brightest on the 16th.
Through a telescope, Venus appears to grow steadily larger night by night, as its distance decreases while Venus overtakes us along its faster-moving inside track. The orbital motion of Venus brings it nearly between the Earth and the sun every 18 months, as it will again in early June.
The moon is waning crescent before it is new on the 22nd. On the 17th, it is located to the left of the line of bright planets that are currently above the southeast horizon at dawn. The highest and brightest of this trio of planets is Jupiter. Golden-hued Saturn is to the lower left of Jupiter, and, beyond it, with a noticeably orange tint, is Mars. The moon will remain visible along the imaginary line extended from Jupiter through Mars to the eastern horizon until the 20th, when binoculars will be required in order to find the moon against the bright dawn sky. At 5:55 a.m. on that morning, the moon will be five degrees (an amount roughly equal to the binocular’s field-of-view) above the east point of the horizon.
The absence of moonlight makes this year ideal for observing the annual Lyrid meteor shower. Its peak is expected between late Tuesday night, the 21st, and the start of dawn at 4:45 a.m. on Wednesday. The greatest numbers of Lyrid meteors, usually about 10 per hour under dark skies, are seen just before dawn. The radiant point of the Lyrids, which is the point against the starry background from which they seem to stream across the sky, is close to the brilliant star Vega in the constellation Lyra the Lyre. Between midnight and dawn, Vega arcs from the northeast sky to nearly overhead. Normally, light pollution in cities and suburban areas reduce the numbers of meteors seen from those regions to disappointing levels, but because of the unusually transparent air that we now have as a result of the reduction in driving and manufacturing in the time of the pandemic , it will be interesting to find out how many Lyrid meteors are seen!
To watch meteors, you don’t need any equipment, but you do need to be comfortable. You can best observe by reclining in a lounge chair with your gaze aimed a little off from the radiant point, but this is not critical. Dress warmly, and use a sleeping bag or blankets to wrap yourself in. Avoid looking at any bright lights, including from your phone’s screen, starting at least ten minutes before you start your watch and until you are finished watching, so that your eyes remain adjusted to the dark. Describing every meteor you see into a phone voice-recorder is almost all you need to do to make your observations interesting to astronomers. To learn what to record and where to submit your observations, take a look at the activity material posted on the visual observing page of the American Meteor Society.
Because of measures in place that should reduce the spread of the COVID-19 Corona virus, Griffith Observatory and its grounds are closed until further notice. As a consequence, all public telescopes are closed, and all public events have been cancelled. Please check the Griffith Observatory homepage for current information and continued updates.
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From my domestic extension of Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can still be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.