Sun rises at 5:58am
Sun sets at 6:24pm
Moon phase: New moon, Thin Crescent Waxing
Moon rises at 8:40am on Sunday
Moon sets at 8:01pm on Saturday
The Planet Neptune
This week, we crossed between the sun and the planet Neptune which means that it was Neptune’s closest approach for 2016. Almost 30 times farther away from us than the sun is, so Neptune is very distant even at its closest. It’s visible with telescopic aid this weekend and it’s probably your best chance to see our solar system’s fourth largest planet with your own eyes.
Look to the southeast in the evenings this weekend; look for the constellation Aquarius, illustrated in the image (provided by earthsky.org). The faint planet is located just by the star lambda aquaria which marks the water bearer’s knee, according to my interpretation at least.
Neptune was the first planet to be predicted by a mathematical calculation before it was ever seen through a telescope. That was done by a French astronomer Alexis Bouvard in the 1790s as he noted discrepancies in the orbit of Uranus. A keen observer of the skies, Bouvard also discovered eight comets. The visual confirmation of Neptune came in September of 1846 at the Berlin Observatory, the massive planet was named Neptune after the Roman god of the sea.
Neptune is the densest gas planet in our solar system, with an atmosphere of 80% hydrogen, 19% helium and 15% methane. The methane gives its atmosphere a lovely blue hue when seen from space as shown in the photo taken by the Voyager Spacecraft in 1989. Neptune has 14 moons and five rings that are similar to Saturn’s rings, but fainter. Its orbit is quite oval in shape, allowing Pluto to sometimes be closer to the sun than Neptune. It takes 165 earth years for Neptune to orbit the sun once.
The Moon and Spica
Just after sunset on Sunday, the slender waxing crescent moon shines quite close to star Spica. Look first for the moon, and the nearby star popping out at nightfall will be Spica, the brightest in the constellation Virgo the Maiden.
About 40 to 60 minutes after sunset, see if you can catch the planet Venus (and possibly the planet Jupiter) near the western horizon. Binoculars could come in handy when seeking out Venus (and especially Jupiter). Keep in mind that the lit side of the waxing crescent moon points in the direction of Venus and Jupiter. Venus is the brighter of these two planets, and is the easier one to see.
Mars on the move
Our familiar triangle of Mars, Saturn and Antares that we have been watching since February is now stretching out as Mars moves eastward. By Wednesday of this week, the moon’s crescent will join the trio, creating a...parallelogram? Check the image, what would you call it?
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.
