CAS Sky Notes for July 2023

The light evenings persist throughout most of the month, although it will be getting dark noticeably earlier by the end of the month.

Planets: 

Mercury:  Mercury is not well placed, but might be picked up in the evening sky in the second half of the month.  It has an elongation of 25° at the end of July, but sets barely an hour after the Sun.  It will be difficult to pick up, unfortunately.

Venus:  Venus is now racing in towards inferior conjunction early next month.  It is still a prominent object after sunset, with an elongation of 40° at the start of the month, but dropping to 22° by the end of July.  The phase decreases from a crescent of 33% at the start, dropping to a thin crescent of less than 10% by the end of the month.  The angular size does increase rapidly from 33 arc secs to 52 arc secs in the same period.  This will be your last chance to see it in the evening sky for a while.

 Mars is still visible in the evening sky, but is a difficult object now.  The disc size drops to 4 arc seconds this month and it is very low in the western sky by the time it gets dark.  It moves into Leo and passes very close to Regulus in the first week of the month.  It might be worth looking out for this.

Jupiter is now a prominent object in the morning sky, rising around 1 a.m. by the end of the month.

 Saturn is still just a morning object in Aquarius, but rises well before midnight.  It is low in the sky, but is now worth staying up for.  It reaches opposition next month.

 Uranus  and Neptune are still morning objects.  They will be better placed in the autumn.

Pluto reaches opposition on the 22nd at RA 20h 06.1m  Dec  -23° 1.5’ with a magnitude of 14.9.  Good luck!!

The Sun

Solar activity is still increasing and solar observations are a good idea.  Take great care to never look directly at the Sun, or directly through an optical instrument.

Ensure a proper filter is in place or project the image onto card.

Meteor Showers:  The Perseid meteor shower lasts from 17th July until 24th August.  These can be quite prolific and it’s well worth waiting up for them.  The Moon won’t be a problem near the end of the month. 

Moon

3rd   July:  Full Moon.                     10th July:  Moon is at last quarter.

17th July:  New Moon.                   25th July:  Moon is at First Quarter.

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CAS Sky Notes for June 2023

June is never a great month for amateur astronomers, apart from observing the Sun.  Astronomical twilight lasts throughout the night, especially later in the month.

Planets:

Mercury:  Mercury is not well placed, but might be picked up in the morning sky in the first half of the month.  It has an elongation of 24° at the start of June, which is your best time to pick it up. 

Venus:  Venus reaches greatest eastern elongation on the 6th June and is 45° east of the Sun.  It also reaches its brightest, with a magnitude of -4.7°.  The apparent diameter is rapidly increasing from 23° at the start of the month to 33° by the end of June.  The phase drops from 50% at the start of the month, to a crescent of 35% by the end.

 Mars is still visible in the evening sky in Cancer.  During the month it passes south of the Beehive Cluster (M44), but by the time it’s dark enough to make out the cluster, they will have set. The disc size drops to 4.5 arc seconds this month and it is very low in the western sky by the time it gets dark. It is a difficult object now.

Jupiter is now a prominent object in the morning sky, but you’ll need to be up by 3 a.m. to see it properly!

 Saturn is also a morning object in Aquarius, but is still low in the sky this month, rising around 1 a.m. (BST).

 Uranus  and Neptune are morning objects, but very poorly placed this month.

The Sun

Solar activity is still increasing and solar observations are a good idea.  Take great care to never look directly at the Sun, or directly through an optical instrument.

Ensure a proper filter is in place or project the image onto card.

As I am writing this, I am aware of a couple of sizeable sunspot groups visible.

 Meteor Showers:  There are no favourable meteor showers this month.

Aurora: The increased solar activity should raise the possibility of seeing the aurora borealis, although the lack of darkness means this is unlikely before the Autumn.  Download an App that warns you of auroral activity in readiness for the darker nights.

Moon

4th   June:  Full Moon                     10th June:  Moon is at last quarter

18th June:  New Moon                   26th June:  Moon is at First Quarter

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CAS Sky Notes for May 2023

May will not be a great month for observing planets, but I advise you take advantage of the nights getting dark at a reasonable time to do some observing of deep sky objects, such as clusters or galaxies.  By next month the skies will never get truly dark all night.

Planets:

Mercury:  Mercury reaches greatest Western elongation on the 29th and is moderately well placed for observing in the morning sky.  The end of the month and the start of June is your best time to pick it up, when it is around 17 degrees from the Sun and has a fairly northerly declination.  However, it is not very bright until the start of June and may be tricky to find. Use binoculars to hunt for it as this gives a better chance of finding it. 

Venus:  This is now a very prominent evening object and becoming much brighter and higher in the sky.  The apparent diameter is rapidly increasing as the phase drops to about 50% by the end of the month.

 Mars is still visible in the evening sky in Taurus.  The disc size drops to less than 5 arc seconds this month and it is getting low in the western sky by the time it gets dark. It is a difficult object now.

Jupiter is now becoming a morning object.

Saturn is also a morning object, but very poorly placed this month, rising at around 3 a.m.

Uranus and Neptune are morning objects, but very poorly placed this month.

The Sun

Solar activity is still increasing and solar observations are a good idea.  Take great care to never look directly at the Sun, or directly through an optical instrument.

Ensure a proper filter is in place or project the image onto card.

Aurora: The increased solar activity raises the possibility of seeing the aurora borealis even at our southerly latitudes, as has happened recently.  Keep alert and look online, or maybe download an App that warns you of auroral activity.

Moon

There will be a penumbral eclipse of the Moon on the 5th May, but it will not be visible in the UK as it occurs during daytime.

Another challenge is the occultation of Jupiter on the 17th May at 13.40 BST.  The occultation is only visible in Scotland, but it will be a grazing pass here.  As it is in the day, you will need to use a telescope to see this, but as Jupiter is bright and the Moon easy to find, it’s worth a try.

5th May:  Full Moon.                      12th May:  Moon is at last quarter.

19th May:  New Moon.                  27th May:  Moon is at First Quarter.

 

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AGM Secretaries report

The CAS 2023 AGM report is available for members to view online in the member’s area.

(https://cotswoldas.org.uk/members).

31 members attended, plus 3 guests.

Subscription rates are unchanged, full membership £20, concessions £10, family £30, family concessions £15.

Although the present committee were willing to continue for another year, it is vital for the continuation of the society that the positions are rotated on a regular basis. It would also be appreciated if members would volunteer for co-opted roles, possibly as an assistant to any of the current committee members.

The committee post currently vacant is that of Events Organiser. Despite the title, this does not involve organising “events”, but primarily arranging visiting speakers for the majority of our Saturday meetings. (Club meetings are held on the Second Saturday of every month). In 2022 for example, there were just 5 external speakers. There would only ever be a maximum of 10 but we always have at least 2 or 3 speakers from within the club. For the Events Organiser it is an opportunity to personally sometimes meet professional speakers, such as Chris Lintott, for example.

Please support your club and volunteer to help.

CAS Sky Notes for April 2023

Planets:

Mercury:  Mercury reaches greatest Eastern elongation on the 11th and is reasonably well placed for observing.  So – mid April is your best time when it is around 17 degrees from the Sun and has a good northerly declination which puts it higher in the sky. You will still need a good clear western horizon to catch it after sunset, but it is well worth the effort to see this elusive planet.

Venus:  This is now a very prominent evening object and becoming increasingly bright and higher in the sky.  The apparent diameter is slowly increasing as the phase drops to about 75%.

 Mars is still visible in the evening sky in Taurus.  The disc size drops to less that 6 arc seconds this month and it is getting low in the western sky by the time it gets dark.

Jupiter is no longer visible, reaching conjunction with the Sun on the 11th April.

Saturn is not currently visible. It will become a morning object later in the spring.

Uranus and Neptune are also lost in the twilight.

Lyrid Meteor Shower: This is the main meteor shower this month.

They may be visible from the 14th to the 30th with the maximum on the 23rd April.

The best time to see them is after midnight, mainly because that is when the constellation of Lyra is high enough in the sky, but also as the maximum is reached at 05:00 hours on the 23rd.  They should be favourable this year and occasionally produce fine displays, the last being in 1982.

 6th April:  Full Moon.                      13th April:  Moon is at last quarter.

20th April:  New Moon                   27th April:  Moon is at First Quarter

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Deer Park Archers – Observation Assessment

By James Weightman

Cotswold Astronomical Society now holds its regular monthly meetings at the clubhouse of the Deer Park Archers. On a Sunday evening later in each month observation sessions have been held here. In the past weather conditions have not been too helpful, but for February 26th there were at last clear skies.

To read the rest of this article please view the full PDF here.

CAS Sky Notes for March 2023

Planets:

Mercury:  Mercury is not really visible this month.  It reaches superior conjunction on the 17th and might just be seen right at the end of the month. It’s probably best to wait until April to see it in the evening sky, when it will be better placed.

Venus:  This is now a prominent evening object and becoming increasingly easy to observe.  It starts the month with a low declination of +4 degrees, but moves northwards and by the end it is nearly +18 degrees, making it significantly higher in the evening sky.  Its magnitude remains around – 4 throughout.  The phase decreases from 85% to 77%, although the angular diameter increases only a little to 14 arc seconds.

On the 24th March, Venus will be only 0.1 degrees north of the Moon.

To read the rest of the Sky Notes please view the full PDF here.

CAS Sky Notes for February 2023

Mercury:  Mercury is still a morning object throughout most of the month. However, as its declination is around -200 or worse, it will be very low in the sky and hard to see.  It’s probably best to wait until April to see it in the evening sky, when it will be better placed.

Venus:  This is now an evening object and becoming increasingly easy to observe.  It starts the month with a low declination of -11 degrees, but by the end it is nearly +4 degrees, making it significantly higher in the evening sky.  Its magnitude remains around – 3.9 throughout.  The phase decreases from 90% to 85%, although the angular diameter increases only a little to 12 arc seconds.

To read the rest of the Sky Notes please view the full PDF here.