Limerick Astronomy Club: Venus ready to impress

THE night sky kicks off with a bang in the month of April. Over the nights of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th the planet Venus is in conjunction with the Pleiades star cluster.

Looking towards the west you will easily spot Venus shining brightly. You should also be able to see the cluster of stars that it is beside, this is the Pleiades star cluster, an asterism that is commonly associated with winter in northern hemisphere skies. A conjunction describes the effect when two or more objects appear close in the night sky. In reality the objects may not be that close but just appear that way from our perspective on Earth. The early April conjunction between Venus and the Pleiades will be visible with the unaided eye but will look spectacular through binoculars.

The full moon in April, falls on the 7th and is often referred to as the Pink Moon. Unfortunately the name does not refer to the colour of the moon but the fact that it coincides with early springtime blooms of a native eastern North American wildflower that is often referred to as pink moss. This full moon is the second of three supermoons this year, a time when the full moon coincides with perigee (when the moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit). However, the full moon in April will be the biggest and brightest of the three supermoons as it will be the one that comes closest to Earth.

The annual occurrence of the Lyrids meteor shower takes place in April. Named after the constellation Lyra, the meteor shower is due to the Earth passing through the debris trail of comet Thatcher. This comet takes approximately 415 years to orbit the Sun and it is only expected to be visible from Earth again in 2276. However, in the early hours of April 22nd you should be able to see meteors from this comet. Meteor showers are best viewed away from the bright lights of cities and generally in the few hours before dawn. While you will see the meteors across the whole sky, meteor showers have a radiant point. This is the point from which the meteors appear to originate.

As a bonus if you are still meteor watching as dawn breaks on April 22nd, you will be able to see Saturn, Jupiter and Mars rising above the south east horizon. As the fourth brightest object in the night sky, Jupiter is easily spotted as the brightest of the three planets. In contrast, Mars is the faintest morning planet.

Limerick Astronomy Club email limerickastronomyclub @gmail.com