Sun rises at 5:44am
Sun sets at 6:34pm
Moon phase: third quarter, waning gibbous
Moon rises at 11:29am
Moon sets at 10:07am
Today and tomorrow, before dawn, its meteor shower time again. The annual Eta Aquariid meteors will streak across the predawn sky and you might be lucky enough to observe the ones that overcome the light of the moon, which will be rather bright in its gibbous phase.
The Aquariids have a relatively broad peak, which is why the meteor shower will stretch across two mornings. It is possible that May 6 could offer the better viewing - which is certainly the case if you are reading your Saturday morning paper right now and the sun is already up. If you are reading the Friday night online uploads of the Saturday morning paper, you can still see the May 5 showers, but remember to wake up early, because the dark hour before dawn typically presents the greatest number of meteors. Under ideal conditions, the Eta Aquariid meteor shower produces between 20 to 40 meteors per hour.
The point in the sky from which meteors in annual showers appear to radiate is called the radiant. You don’t have to locate the radiant to watch the Eta Aquariid meteors, but people often ask about them. Although the Eta Aquariid meteors streak all over the sky, they appear to radiate from the Y-shaped group of stars called the Water Jar. The Water Jar is part of the constellation Aquarius.
To star-hop to the Water Jar, first of all find the four stars of the Great Square of Pegasus. (See sky chart included.) Looking eastward at about 4:30am, the Great Square appears like a celestial baseball diamond. Imagine the bottom star as home base. Draw a line from the third base star through the first base star, then go twice that distance to locate the star Sadal Melik.
To the lower left of Sadal Melik is the small Y-shaped Water Jar, marking the approximate radiant of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower. Just remember, you don’t need to know the shower’s radiant point to watch the meteors!
These next several mornings, the bright moon will help to guide your eyes to Saturn and Mars. The only requirement (besides a clear sky) will be to stay up very late, or to rise before the sun on these mornings. Saturn and Mars will be the two brilliant “stars” near the moon.
Both Saturn and Mars are currently located in front of the constellation of Sagittarius.
Saturn will stay within Sagittarius’ boundaries for the rest of the year, but – by mid-May – Mars will cross over into the neighbouring constellation of Capricornus. Still, Sagittarius – with its famous Teapot asterism – is a great constellation to learn to identify. It marks the direction toward the centre of our Milky Way galaxy, and many wonderful binocular sights lie in this part of the sky. Let the moon show you bright planet Saturn over the next few days.
Once the moon leaves this part of the sky, Saturn serves as your faithful guide to the constellation Sagittarius for many months to come. Although modern eyes have a tough time seeing Sagittarius as a centaur with a drawn-out bow and arrow, the “Teapot” asterism in western Sagittarius is fairly easy to make out on a dark night. What’s more, you can see the starlit boulevard of stars known as the Milky Way – an edgewise view of our home galaxy – passing right though “the Teapot” in a dark sky free of moonlight and artificial lights.
Thank you for keeping up with the Night Sky articles. If you are out later on in the week, each star rises about four minutes earlier each day than written here, and the moon rises 50 minutes later. Night Sky is researched and compiled by Lisa Davis-Burnett. Earthsky.org is a key resource for information and images. Questions or comments? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
