Spring sky

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Starry sky in spring for Germany at the end of March at 11 p.m. CEST or at the end of April at 9 p.m. CEST

Spring sky is the part of the night sky , called the on clear Spring - evenings can be seen. This view of the sky shows 15 of the 30 brightest stars in the entire sky in Central Europe and depends

From the same observation location, 1 month later, we see the same section of sky 2 hours earlier, with each day almost 4 minutes earlier. Because the earth rotates in 23h 56m 04s (a sidereal day ), while our 24-hour day relates to the position to the sun .

For Germany , a mean latitude of 50 ° is usually assumed - the center of gravity of the FRG is 1.2 ° north - and a longitude of 9 ° or 10 ° (near Frankfurt or Würzburg). Almost all rotatable star maps available on the market are calculated for 50 ° / 10 °, which roughly corresponds to the mean for the German-speaking area. For Austria an average of 47.5 ° / 14 ° would be assumed, for Switzerland 47 ° / 8 °.

The picture above right shows the starry sky as it can be seen in mid-April at 9 p.m. CET (in summer time : 10 p.m. CEST) (mid-March at 11 p.m. CET, mid-May at 7 p.m. CET or 8 p.m. CEST). The circumpolar constellations around the north celestial pole can be seen all year round. Outside of this area the spring sky hardly overlaps with the autumn sky , but offers some aspects similar to the winter sky or the summer sky .

Celestial objects

Constellations and bright stars

The most noticeable constellations are the constellations Big Dipper just above our head and the Leo high in the south. The sun passed through it at the end of August, so that the lion can now be seen in the night sky.

In the west, the winter hexagon is saying goodbye with its seven bright stars of the first magnitude , of which the Milky Way can still be followed somewhat towards the northwest (Perseus and Cassiopeia). High in the east we see the sweep of the wagon tongue bright, yellow red Arcturus (constellation Bootes) and on the Spica in Virgo, almost exactly the ecliptic marked. From the wagon square, in turn, you can follow the winding course of the dragon in the direction of the north pole - to where his eyes stare at the ascending Hercules , his arch enemy in Greek mythology.

In the second half of the night the picture of the summer sky is already presented . At the end of April, Arktur im Bootes is in the south soon after midnight (55 ° high in northern Germany, around 62 ° in Austria / Switzerland), while the large summer triangle rises in the east, but the lion soon sets in the west.

Star clusters and galaxies

April is the best time to observe the many spiral nebulae found in the two vast galaxy clusters of the constellations Virgo and Coma. The largest of them have a brightness of 8 to 10 mag and can be observed with an eight-inch model even near the city ​​- at least as blurred nebulae. The bright spiral nebulae M81 and M82 in the Great Bear can also be easily observed because of their proximity to the zenith.

In May and June, other popular deep sky objects rise up in the eastern sky : The two bright globular clusters in Hercules ( M13 , M92) and a few more in the constellation of the Serpent Bearer . Also noteworthy is the ring nebula (M57) in the lyre.

Planets

In order to enable the visitors of this page to assign earlier planetary sightings, the data of the two previous years are kept in addition to the current year.

Planets 2020

Temporarily a short version from the Kosmos-Himmelsjahr and the Astronomical Almanac for Austria :

  • Mercury had its greatest elongation in the morning sky in March and can only be seen again in the evening from mid-May to mid-June. From 25.5. until 5.6. it is still 10 ° above the horizon at nautical twilight. On 21/22 May he has a close conjunction with Venus, which makes him easy to find with open eyes .
  • At the end of March, Venus , as a shining evening star , reaches its greatest easterly elongation at 46 ° and - very unusual - does not set until around midnight throughout April. Long visibility ends quickly at the end of May, and reappears in the morning sky in mid-June.
  • Mars in Capricorn and Aquarius are like Jupiter and Saturn in the morning sky. At the end of March, he overtook the two giant planets and ran away from them ever faster. It rises at 3:40 CEST in mid-April, 1 hour earlier in May and June and now exceeds all fixed stars in brightness.
  • The gold-colored Jupiter and the ring planet Saturn are only a few degrees apart in Sagittarius and Capricorn in March and April. They open in mid-April at around 1:50 or 2:10 CET, then almost 2 hours earlier every month. In December there will be their 20-year conjunction, which this year will be very close.
  • Uranus (beyond the sun) is not observable this spring,
  • Neptune (in Aquarius) only until March in the early evening and from June at dawn.

Moon phases

In spring 2020, the syzygies will come into effect on the following dates:

  • New moon ............ March 24, April 23, May 22, June 21
  • First quarter ........ April 1st, April 30th, May 30th, June 28th
  • Full moon ............... April 8th, May 7th, June 5th
  • Last quarter ..... April 14th, May 14th, June 13th.

Planets 2019

Because it stayed empty here for so long, a short version from the Kosmos-Himmelsjahr for April 2019:

  • On the 11th, Mercury had its greatest westerly elongation at a relatively large solar distance of 27 °. Nonetheless, it is not visible in the morning sky, because the day arc is very short due to the flat ecliptic.
  • Venus slowly withdrew from the morning sky . Their rises were about an hour early in April. On April 18 it passed through its farthest point from the sun, the aphelion. In May it slowly became invisible.
  • Mars was still in Taurus in the evening sky , but with decreasing brightness. In the first third of the month he passed through the golden gate of the ecliptic between the star clusters Hyades and Pleiades.
  • Jupiter slowed its movement in April and returned to its opposition loop towards the Serpent Bearer on April 10th . On April 23 the almost full moon ran past the giant planet.
  • Saturn also slowed down its right-hand movement noticeably and began its opposition loop through Sagittarius in early May.
  • Uranus in the constellation ... and Neptune in Aquarius are beyond the sun and therefore unobservable.

Planet 2017

  • Mercury is free-eyed from March 17th. until 7.4. to be seen in the still bright evening sky (on April 1st with 19 ° greatest eastern elongation from the sun), then again only in September. On May 17th the distance (26 ° west, i.e. in the morning) is even greater, but the position of the ecliptic is unfavorable for Europe.
    • But in the telescope, Mercury (and of course Venus) can usually be found in the daytime - if the instrument has graduated circles or a GoTo mount. But be careful because of the proximity to the sun!
  • On March 25th, Venus Lower conjunction , passing its maximum 8 ° north of the sun. This means that she is double-faced for a few days and then Morgenstern until the end of the year . On 3.6. it reaches its westernmost elongation at 46 °. She has conjunctions with the moon on April 23rd, May 22nd. and 20.6., at last only 2 ° north of the waning crescent moon .
  • Mars is currently far from the earth and moves as a red point in the evening sky from Aries to Taurus. Can only be seen freely until mid-May, when it disappears in the sun's rays. On April 27th in the evening you can find it about 10 ° left above the young crescent moon. But it won't be as bright as last year until mid-2018.
  • The bright yellow giant planet Jupiter wanders majestically through Virgo , where it draws its annual planetary loop. On 7.4. in opposition to the sun, it culminates 2 hours earlier each month (35–40 ° high in the south): beginning of May at 11:10 pm summer time, beginning of June at 9:00 pm. Its 3 to 6 equatorial stripes and the "dance" of the four large moons of Jupiter can already be seen in small telescopes.
  • The pale yellow ring planet Saturn migrates from Libra into the Serpent Bearer. At the beginning of the morning sky , it rises before midnight in the southeast in early May, at 10 p.m. in early June. On June 15 he comes into opposition and is then at 1h CEST in the south, but barely 20 ° high. Nevertheless, it is easy to find when the moon is on April 16, May 13. and 10.6. passes him three degrees north.
  • Uranus (in Pisces) and Neptune (in Aquarius) are not observable this spring, only again in July.

Minor planets

Of the four large asteroids asteroids , (4) Vesta is easy to find several times this May even without ephemeris , although it only has a brightness of 7.7 to 7.9: It happens on 8.4. the star 76 Gem ( Gemini ) just 6 'north, on April 24th. at 6h CET Omega Cancri ( Cancer ) 12 'south, and also on April 24th. at 22h 4 cnc only 4 north.

News from the sun

Our star of the day is no longer considered a planet (“roaming”) since Copernicus, but a short paragraph is dedicated to it here for 2014–2020. The maximum of solar activity (eleven-year cycle) was expected in 2013, but did not occur until 2014 with average relative numbers of R ~ 80. After a very rapid drop in 2015 (R ~ 40), the sun in 2016 with R ~ 25 mostly showed 5–20 sunspots in 1–3 groups. The annual averages were R = 12 in 2019 and R = 4 in 2018. The minimum of 0 to 2 spots near the equator occurred at the end of 2019, the first spots of the new cycle appeared at high latitudes in early 2020 .

The sun was completely free of spots for the first time in June 2016, this phase should end in mid-2020.

Seasons

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