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APOD: Highlights of the North Spring Sky (2019 Mar 13)
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:13 am
by APOD Robot
Highlights of the North Spring Sky
Explanation: What can you see in the night sky this season? The featured graphic gives a few highlights for
Earth's northern hemisphere. Viewed as a clock face centered at the bottom, early (northern) spring sky events fan out toward the left, while late spring events are projected toward the right. Objects relatively close to
Earth are illustrated, in general, as nearer to the cartoon figure with the telescope at the bottom center -- although almost
everything pictured can be
seen without a telescope. As happens during any season,
constellations appear the same year to year, and, as usual, the
Lyrids meteor shower will peak in mid-April. Also as usual, the
International Space Station (ISS)
can be seen, at times, as a bright spot
drifting across the sky after sunset. After the
Vernal Equinox next week, the length of daytime will be greater than the length of nighttime in Earth's northern hemisphere, an inequality that will escalate as the
spring season develops. Also as spring ages,
Jupiter becomes visible increasingly earlier in the night. As spring draws to a close, the month of May will feature two full moons, the second of which is called a
Blue Moon.
Re: APOD: Highlights of the North Spring Sky (2019 Mar 13)
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 7:51 am
by Boomer12k
Always a nice little chart...
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Re: APOD: Highlights of the North Spring Sky (2019 Mar 13)
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 9:12 am
by Buzzer2
The Full moon on 18th May cannot be the second in the month, there are 29 days between full moons! It is a Blue Moon because it is the third of four in the season (an older definition of Blue Moon).
Re: APOD: Highlights of the North Spring Sky (2019 Mar 13)
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 12:25 pm
by orin stepanek
Nice chart for the stargazer!
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Re: APOD: Highlights of the North Spring Sky (2019 Mar 13)
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 12:26 pm
by orin stepanek
Nice chart for the stargazer!
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Hey; why can't you delete apost when it copies twice?
Re: APOD: Highlights of the North Spring Sky (2019 Mar 13)
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 1:19 pm
by Fred the Cat
The
Golden Handle would be a
Jewel to see in a well-done submission.
![thumb up :thumb_up:](./images/smilies/thumb_up.gif)
Re: APOD: Highlights of the North Spring Sky (2019 Mar 13)
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 2:41 pm
by Chris Peterson
Buzzer2 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2019 9:12 am
The Full moon on 18th May cannot be the second in the month, there are 29 days between full moons! It is a Blue Moon because it is the third of four in the season (an older definition of Blue Moon).
From the explanatory notes for the image:
A “Blue Moon” has become defined as the point when we have a full Moon twice in one month. However, the older definition of “Blue Moon” refers to the third full Moon out of four in one season and is called a Seasonal Blue Moon. Occurring about every 2.5 years, the name has nothing to do with the color of the Moon, which is the same for every full Moon.
Re: APOD: Highlights of the North Spring Sky (2019 Mar 13)
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 2:44 pm
by izizil
Buzzer2 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2019 9:12 am
The Full moon on 18th May cannot be the second in the month, there are 29 days between full moons! It is a Blue Moon because it is the third of four in the season (an older definition of Blue Moon).
I was wondering how a Blue Moon could be in the middle of a month. Thank you for your clarification. Where can someone find this second definition of a Blue Moon?
Re: APOD: Highlights of the North Spring Sky (2019 Mar 13)
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 4:41 pm
by MarkBour
I think astronomers should just stop using the term "blue moon". All they ever end up doing is explaining and explaining, after they bring it up. Kind of a sign that the term is not a good one.
In the chart I see that Mercury will be at greatest western elongation on April 11. So, that makes it favorable to be seen just before dawn, right?
Re: APOD: Highlights of the North Spring Sky (2019 Mar 13)
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:07 pm
by RJN
Buzzer2 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2019 9:12 am
The Full moon on 18th May cannot be the second in the month, there are 29 days between full moons! It is a Blue Moon because it is the third of four in the season (an older definition of Blue Moon).
Thanks! I just fixed the text on the main NASA APOD. - RJN