APRIL NIGHT SKIES OVER TANZANIA
By Dr. N. T.
Jiwaji
ntjiwaji@yahoo.com
The first eclipse for 2013 will happen right over our skies
on the night of Thursday 25th April 2013. It will pose an exciting challenge to watch
because the whole Moon will be fit snugly inside the Earth’s penumbra. Clear
skies allowing, we should be able to see a distinct reduction from the dazzling
brightness of the Full Moon. The eclipse will last from 9:03 pm to 1:12 am past
midnight. During mid-eclipse, from 10:54
pm to 11:21 pm a small edge of the Moon will enter the dark shadow of
Earth. During this half hour we should
be able to notice the northern edge slightly chipped.
This weekend, from 21 to 22 April, peaking on 22nd,
the Lyrid Meteor shower will spray around 10 to 20 shooting stars per hour
(around one every five minutes or so).
If the skies are clear, watch the northern sky, from midnight onwards,
in the sky around the bright star Vega, which rises in the north east horizon
just after midnight. By dawn, with Vega reaching maximum height, the meteor
shower will become stronger as particles from space strike the Earth’s
atmosphere head on.
Scientists have released news that the asteroid that was to
hit Mars on October 19, 1014 is no longer on collision course with the red
planet It is now estimated that it will pass about 100,000 kilometers from Mars
with an extremely reduced chance of 1 in 100,000 for a probability of impact
due to errors in measurement. Mars looks safe from a catastrophe from the
kilometer size asteroid.
The rains open up once in a while to reveal cool, clear,
crisp skies that are perfect for seeing even with light pollution in city
skies. Jupiter is now nearing the
western horizon alerting us about a month left before it leaves our evening
skies until its next appearance in the evening skies in November. The bright planet makes a distinct pair with the
red giant star Aldebaran close to the distinct rectangle made by the four stars
of the Orion constellation to the left of the Aldebaran-Jupiter pair.
Saturn is rising in the east rising while the sun is setting
in the west, so it is visible throughout the night. It is well away from other bright stars, so
though it is not very bright, its sharp steady light can be distinguished from
any twinkling stars nearby. The full Moon on April 25 with a light lunar
eclipse will have Saturn close to it making a memorable pair.
Mercury is another planet visible at the moment, at an
altitude of about 10 degrees above the horizon, just before sunrise. The rest of the naked eye planets (Mars and
Venus) are hidden in the Sun’s glare, with Venus waiting to begin its evening
appearance in June.
The prominent constellations of Orion, Taurus, Gemini and
Sirius which we have been following since the beginning of the year are now
crowded in the western sky. In an urban
area, due to light pollution, the Milky Way can be made out as the path along which
these constellations lie. It stretches
from northwest to southeast and you will see far more stars along this band
than in the rest of the sky.
The constellation that climbs high in the eastern skies is Leo (the Lion). At one end it has stars forming a distinctive
curve in the shape of a backward question mark.
This makes the head of the lion. The bright star Regulus at the bottom
of Leo’s head is a triple star, two of which can be easily separated even through
a pair of binoculars.
The direction pointers, the Southern Cross and the Big
Dipper (shaped like an inverted sauce pan) are up in the sky and are visible
throughout the night. The long diagonal
of the Southern Cross points towards the south while the edge of the pan in the
Big Dipper points north.
End
Dar Es Salaam 
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