This weekend’s night sky (18 – 21 April 2014) The Moon is past full and will rise later each evening. Sirius, the brightest star in our night sky, is now descending in the west as our summer constellations slide towards the horizon. Sirius is 8.7 light years away and 26 times brighter than our Sun. Below is Procyon, the 8th brightest star in our night sky, it is 11.5 light years away and 7 times brighter than our Sun. Orion is lying on in his side in the north-west after sunset and will set by midnight. The three bright stars of his belt form an easily seen line that is almost vertical. Rigel which is one of Orion’s feet is to the left and the red star Betelgeuse which marks one of his shoulders is to the right. Below and to the right of Betelgeuse is Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System. It is the brightest object in our evening sky. Mars is now high in the east after sunset and Saturn can be seen in the north east as yellow ‘star’. Scorpius is now above the horizon in the south-east after sunset and will be overhead before sunrise. The red star Antares marks the Scorpions heart. To Maori it is Rehua meaning the ‘fiery one’ due its colour resembling that of an ember. In the south are The Pointers and Crux, the Southern Cross, higher up and almost are the Diamond and False Crosses. They all sit in, or beside, the Milky Way. Venus, the brilliant ‘Morning Star’, will rise in the east around 4:00 am and is beginning to get dimmer as it moves further away from the Earth; it will also move towards our eastern horizon rising later each morning.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 20:49:56 +0000
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