One of the many celestial wonders seen through the telescope at MMA's Loines Observatory on Nantucket.
Our first look of the moon through the new telescope.
The MMA's telescope was installed on a beautiful day April 2007.
The newly refurbished Clark Telescope is another gem at the observatory.
Here's a look at a colorful planetary Nebula.
The Nantucket Sky in April 2008
The Stargazer Report is a monthly report courtesy of Vladimir Strelnitski, the Director of Astronomy at the Maria Mitchell Association.
(All times are given in Eastern Standard Time)
The Sun
(for the middle of the month, April 15)
Rises at 6:00 a.m.
Sets at 7:21 p.m.
The Moon
New Moon: April 5, 11:55 pm
First Quarter: April 12, 2:32 pm
Full Moon: April 20, 6:25 am
Last Quarter: April 28, 10:12 am
Planets
Special view in the morning of April 3, around 6:00 am (about 20 minutes before sunrise): Close to the Eastern horizon, you will see bright Venus and a very thin waning crescent Moon, to the upper right of Venus.
Mercury and Venus: Both are too close to the Sun to be observed comfortably during most of the month.
Mars: An evening object, in the southwestern part of the sky. Three months after the opposition, it is already far from the Earth. Its disk can be seen through a telescope or binoculars, though it appears relatively small with no visible features.
Jupiter: A morning object, higher and higher in the eastern part of the sky before the sunrise.
Saturn: An all-night object (seen closer and closer to Leo’s brightest star Regulus). Come to see this planet with its gorgeous rings and moons through the Maria Mitchell Association’s 8” Clark telescope, at any scheduled open night!
Meteor Showers
A relatively weak (about 10 meteors per hour) Lyrids meteor shower on April 22 will be further harmed by the full Moon. If you decide to observe it anyway, the radiant of this shower (the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to originate) is between the constellations of Lyra and Hercules seen high enough in the Eastern sky, in the second half of the night.
For more on Nantucket's night skies, take a look at our links list.
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