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April 23 to May 1I hope that you've been keeping track of this year's spectacular planetary showing. You've been doing true observing-the kind that goes back to humanity's roots. The skies aren't quite as dark and scary (well, people DO still think of the dark as scary and try to hide from it) but the sight of a handful of bright stars moving against a predictable tableau of never-changing stars probably helped bolster human-kind's intellectual and social growth. Keep up the good work! The Moon waltzes past Venus, Mars (both on the 23rd), Saturn (the 25th) and then Jupiter (the 29th) in April's last week. Your pencil must be smoking from all the sketching you're doing. May 2 to May 8The planets just keep on getting better and better. Venus outshines everything in the night sky (except for the full Moon) and reaches her most dazzling on the 2nd. Take a look at her through a telescope-even a small scope will show her ever-so-thin figure. Very fashionable. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks on the 4th, but the Moon is full on the same night. Why don't you try observing the shower with your radio 'telescope'. Find a FM station that's just below your horizon, sit back in the comfort of your house (radio observatory) and count the meteors. April's 'Web Page of the Month' features an excellent starter to advanced resource to help you.
May 16 to May 22You've got Comet NEAT in your sights. Now cruise the plane of the Solar System-Mars and Saturn are just off to the West in Gemini. On the 14th, 15th and 16th, you could use Mars and Saturn as 'pointers' to find the comet. On the 21st and 22nd, the Moon's thin crescent hovers near these two planets. Mars is just over 2.2 Astronomical Units (330 million kilometres) away. Saturn is much further away at about 9.6 Astronomical Units away. Scan eastward to Jupiter and you're seeing the planet at a mere 5 Astronomical Units away. You could drop Saturn and his rings between your spot on Earth and the Moon. You tell me what that distance is. An Astronomical Unit is the distance from our planet to the Sun. Multiply this distance by 8 to get an idea of just how long light takes to travel from planet to your eyes. May 23 to May 29And, then there's Comet LINEAR � On May 1, it was on the ecliptic near Pices' circlet, then it traveled down to hover near Sirius between the 22nd and 24th. Now it's moving away from us to fade away in June's Hydra. Your head must be spinning from trying to take it all in. May 30 to June 5While you're admiring all the Solar System objects, don't forget to take time to look at the constellations these objects float through.
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