Items Featured In TGP NOMINAL 10.6 - Yuri's Night Podcast 2024
Yuri’s Night is a global non-profit organization that celebrates the power of space to bring the world together. Yuri’s Night was founded on a set of guiding principles, grounded in a call from the planet’s first space explorer
to come together to enhance and protect Earth.
The event honours Yuri Gagarin as the first human to orbit the Earth on April 12, 1961.
Yuri’s Night also celebrates the cosmic coincidence of the first launch of the United States Space Shuttle
happening 20 years later, to the day, on April 12, 1981.
In 2011, the United Nations declared April 12 as the International Day of Human Spaceflight also to honour
this historic conjunction, or sharing, of a space anniversary between former cold war rivals.
Yuri’s Night celebrates all that humanity brings with us
as we explore the Cosmos: music, art, science, culture, and the best in each of us.
Events around the world are powered by independent event organizers
from all political backgrounds, nationalities, and ethnicities.
We encourage everyone to celebrate in a way that resonates for them
there is no specific program, theme, or name required.
We use space to bring the world together, empower the best parts of who we are
and give vision to where we are going. Sometimes, that future is harder to imagine than others.
This is why we set aside a time each year to remind ourselves as a species, of our unlimited potential.
We invite everyone, everywhere to pause in April to mark the importance of peace on Earth and in space
and to celebrate the potential of the human spirit.
Space has been an opportunity to show the possibility of peaceful human cooperation
and we hope that it continues into the future.
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ROSS HOCKHAM BCAE'S APRIL SKY GUIDE:
Every month we launch our sky guide into the podisphere. The Sky Guides are a collaboration between TGP NOMINAL and an awesome charity, called UK Astronomy. UK Astronomy’s Founder Ross, Hockham BCAe, teaches schools, clubs & organisations, about the universe in his spare time when he's not being a firefighter. |
Well, with the clocks having gone forward into British Summer Time
the sun now rises just past 6am with the sunrise getting around 2 minutes earlier each day and sunset later.
Making the days longer and longer as the month goes on.
Mercury is right by the Sun so it won’t be an easy spot in April, creeping up into the morning sky.
Reaching its furthest point from the Sun at the beginning of May.
Venus is up in the morning sky but is headed back towards the Sun
meaning it also will not be great to spot until it passes moving into the evening sky in May.
Mars and Saturn are close by each other in the morning, but slowly move apart each day as April goes on.
With them rising around 5:30am you won’t have much time to spot the pair.
Neptune is also there, nestled in-between the pair and Venus so won’t be able to be seen this month
as its to dim and close to the rising Sun.
Jupiter and Uranus are close in the evening sky, as the sunsets, you will see Jupiter easily
but you will need a scope to spot Uranus sitting above it. Both set around 9:30pm.
Onto the month’s events....
On the 12th, We have a nice 19% Waxing Moon
sat nicely in-between the constellations Auriga (The charioteer) and Taurus (The Bull).
See if you can spot the prominent Mare Crisium which is a huge dried up lava bed.
Right on the shadows edge you may spot the cool crater Taruntius peeking out of the darkness.
With a telescope you should be able to spot the Vallis Rheita, a valley on the Moon.
Located to the Moons bottom right, peppered with craters you should be able to make out a groove
or what looks like a scar on the lunar surface.
sat nicely in-between the constellations Auriga (The charioteer) and Taurus (The Bull).
See if you can spot the prominent Mare Crisium which is a huge dried up lava bed.
Right on the shadows edge you may spot the cool crater Taruntius peeking out of the darkness.
With a telescope you should be able to spot the Vallis Rheita, a valley on the Moon.
Located to the Moons bottom right, peppered with craters you should be able to make out a groove
or what looks like a scar on the lunar surface.
On evening of the 13th, the Moon sits by the cluster of stars known as M35 in the constellation Gemini (The Twins)
Located by the twin Castor's sticking out leg.
This cluster is actually two, an open cluster and a globular cluster
you may be able to spot with binoculars and a steady hand.
Scopes really bring it out nicely and separate the two.
Have a look around this area and you may also spot another cluster known as Collinder 89 further up Castor's leg
Which looks great through binoculars.
Get a scope on the star Castor which represents the head of the twin, and you will notice it is actually a double star.
In fact it has six stars that all move around a common centre of mass, but we can only see two of them from our gardens.
Located by the twin Castor's sticking out leg.
This cluster is actually two, an open cluster and a globular cluster
you may be able to spot with binoculars and a steady hand.
Scopes really bring it out nicely and separate the two.
Have a look around this area and you may also spot another cluster known as Collinder 89 further up Castor's leg
Which looks great through binoculars.
Get a scope on the star Castor which represents the head of the twin, and you will notice it is actually a double star.
In fact it has six stars that all move around a common centre of mass, but we can only see two of them from our gardens.
On the15th, Check out the Moon as there are a couple of craters to see.
Aristotles and Eudoxus should be prominent at the top of the Moons shadow.
And if you are lucky, you may just spot the Alpine valley (Vallis Alpes) to their left, depending on when you look.
Aristotles and Eudoxus should be prominent at the top of the Moons shadow.
And if you are lucky, you may just spot the Alpine valley (Vallis Alpes) to their left, depending on when you look.
On the 16th, The Moon moves up to sit above another cluster.
This time it’s M44 The Beehive Cluster in the constellation Cancer (The Crab).
This cluster is a firm favourite of astronomers as has many brightly coloured stars that look like bees around a hive.
Great through binoculars, so it's well worth a look after the Moon moves out of the way later in the month
bringing out even more stars.
While you are there, move down the crabs left claw and you will spot M67 The Golden Eye Cluster.
A lovely open cluster of stars.
On the Moon, the Apennine Mountains (Montes Apenninus) will be peeking out of the shadow
with a host of larger craters to be seen below it strewn across the Moons middle.
This time it’s M44 The Beehive Cluster in the constellation Cancer (The Crab).
This cluster is a firm favourite of astronomers as has many brightly coloured stars that look like bees around a hive.
Great through binoculars, so it's well worth a look after the Moon moves out of the way later in the month
bringing out even more stars.
While you are there, move down the crabs left claw and you will spot M67 The Golden Eye Cluster.
A lovely open cluster of stars.
On the Moon, the Apennine Mountains (Montes Apenninus) will be peeking out of the shadow
with a host of larger craters to be seen below it strewn across the Moons middle.
On the 17th, The Moon sits near the sickle shaped group of stars in the constellation Leo (The Lion)
which represents his head.
See if you can spot it by eye, if you have a telescope move down his body to his legs
and here you can find a trio of galaxies just below the star Chertan.
There is another group of galaxies you can see, but will probably be best after the Moon is out of the way
M105, M96, M95, sit just below his belly.
On the Moon the Apeninne Mountains (Montes Apenninus) are fully out to see with a deep crater at their end
plus the nice looking crater, Plato which can't be missed.
which represents his head.
See if you can spot it by eye, if you have a telescope move down his body to his legs
and here you can find a trio of galaxies just below the star Chertan.
There is another group of galaxies you can see, but will probably be best after the Moon is out of the way
M105, M96, M95, sit just below his belly.
On the Moon the Apeninne Mountains (Montes Apenninus) are fully out to see with a deep crater at their end
plus the nice looking crater, Plato which can't be missed.
On the 18th, Its time for the famous Jewelled Handle to make an appearance on the Moon tonight.
Thanks to the Jura mountains (Montes Jura), which is actually a ridge of a crater pushed up by an impact.
We get to see its tips glisten out of the shadow by the evening Sun on the Moon
along with another crater below called Copernicus.
Thanks to the Jura mountains (Montes Jura), which is actually a ridge of a crater pushed up by an impact.
We get to see its tips glisten out of the shadow by the evening Sun on the Moon
along with another crater below called Copernicus.
On the 19th, Look around the same area as yesterday's Jura mountains
and see if you can spot the maiden on the Moon, she sits upside down on the tip of the mountain
that pokes out into the Mare Imbrium.
If using a reflector, she will be sat the right way up with hair flowing across the Moon.
and see if you can spot the maiden on the Moon, she sits upside down on the tip of the mountain
that pokes out into the Mare Imbrium.
If using a reflector, she will be sat the right way up with hair flowing across the Moon.
On the 20th, Jupiter and Uranus have a close conjunction
although this may be a tough spot as they are low in the evening sky not far from the set Sun.
From the 19th for a few nights, you can watch Uranus pass Jupiter’s right side as the month moves on, so does the planet. Look for the small dark crater Aristarchus on the very left of the Moon, something fun to spot.
although this may be a tough spot as they are low in the evening sky not far from the set Sun.
From the 19th for a few nights, you can watch Uranus pass Jupiter’s right side as the month moves on, so does the planet. Look for the small dark crater Aristarchus on the very left of the Moon, something fun to spot.
The 22nd Is the peak of the Lyrid Meteor Shower
But sadly there is an almost full Moon in the way so you may not be able to spot as many this year.
Radiating just to the right of the constellation Lyra (The Harp) a small constellation.
You may find it easier to find the bright blue star Vega which is amazing to look at through binoculars or a telescope
and look slightly to its right, towards Hercules (The Hero).
Lyra rises around 9pm with the meteor shower peaking at 4am.
it will be nice and high to view, they say you can see 10-15 meteors per hour.
But sadly there is an almost full Moon in the way so you may not be able to spot as many this year.
Radiating just to the right of the constellation Lyra (The Harp) a small constellation.
You may find it easier to find the bright blue star Vega which is amazing to look at through binoculars or a telescope
and look slightly to its right, towards Hercules (The Hero).
Lyra rises around 9pm with the meteor shower peaking at 4am.
it will be nice and high to view, they say you can see 10-15 meteors per hour.
The 24th Is April's full Moon, known by the druids as the Growing or Pink Moon, due to the blooming of flowers.
It is apparently the season of love and conception. Perhaps we celebrate Valentines Day a bit to early
and should look to nature for the time we should be romancing like the birds and the bees?
Other cultures know it as the Sprouting Grass, Egg and Fish Moon.
The Moon will be rising around 9:20pm
so maybe we should grab our partners find a nice eastern horizon and watch it rise together.
It is apparently the season of love and conception. Perhaps we celebrate Valentines Day a bit to early
and should look to nature for the time we should be romancing like the birds and the bees?
Other cultures know it as the Sprouting Grass, Egg and Fish Moon.
The Moon will be rising around 9:20pm
so maybe we should grab our partners find a nice eastern horizon and watch it rise together.
26th-27th, The Moon rises around midnight with the bright red star Antares to its right
a cool conjunction to watch rise into the early hours.
You should get both in view through a pair of binoculars.
a cool conjunction to watch rise into the early hours.
You should get both in view through a pair of binoculars.
On the 30th, Take a look at the Moon in the day sky and you may be able to spot a host of craters along its shadow
and the Apennine mountains creating a long curve up to the crater Plato. Something fun to do during the day.
That's it for this month
So Clear Skies Guys and don’t forget....
Rock The Planet!
and the Apennine mountains creating a long curve up to the crater Plato. Something fun to do during the day.
That's it for this month
So Clear Skies Guys and don’t forget....
Rock The Planet!
Dan Pye's Objects Of The Month:
Hello there. My name is Dan Pye and I'm director of Astronomy and Science Communication at the Kielder Observatory. We are a public outreach Observatory nestled in the largest area of protected dark skies in Europe, in Northumberland. I've got some interesting objects, are I wanted to keep out for this spring and some of which are actually my favourite objects to take a look at in the night sky and a many of the objects that we see in the night sky are going to require binoculars or even a telescope at this time of year. |
Naked Eye Object:
I always find it to be a time of year where there's nothing really visually spectacular within a kid eye. However, It does contain arguably my favourite star to look up with the naked eye, which is Antares.
Antares is in the constellation of Scorpio (The Scorpion). It's a big red star
and certainly further south in the British Isles You get a really good view of this.
Antares is about 500 light years away from Earth, so even though it's 500 light years away
you'll look at it and see how bright it is compared to many of the other stars around
which are much, much closer than Antares is.
We think that this star is about a billion kilometres in size, so this star is absolutely huge.
Way Bigger potentially than the star Betelgeuse, which of course, everybody's favourite star.
Beetlejuice or Betelgeuse, I'm not sure if you Already know this but the Betelgeuse is it's a mispronunciation of an old language which died off a very long time ago allegedly
or maybe it's just a mispronunciation of a word that we are familiar with from a language that still exists
but anyway Betelgeuse means Armpit!?
We think Antares is somewhere around the 11 million years old.
Compared with our Sun, which is over 4 billion years old, it is quite young.
It could end its life as soon as within the next million years or so
with an incredible Supernova explosion that could actually be brighter than the full moon and seen in the daytime.
Binocular Object:
If you looking for a binocular object at this time of year, I think probably Melotte 111 (Coma Star Cluster).
It's a really good cluster to take a look at with binoculars.
It's a large open cluster in the constellation Coma Berenices and just a really nice thing to look at through binoculars.
Clusters are always really impressive, I think, when you just look at the the density of stars
that occupy that one tiny little space.
And so Melolet 111 is my go to object for binoculars at this time of year.
Telescope Object:
If you want to dig a little bit deep, I think it goes without question that my favourite object at this time of year
to take a look at is NGC 4526 , otherwise known as the Hairy Eyebrow Galaxy.
The hairy eyebrow galaxy, I stumbled across it by accident actually.
I didn't realise what it was until I did a little bit of searching on online for details about it and it's because it has many different pseudonyms, The Lost Galaxy and various other different names, but we can't deny it's NGC number (NGC 4526)
It's the only that I have massively committed to memory.
NGC 4526, The Hairy Eyebrow Galaxy is a Lenticular Galaxy in the constellation Virgo (The Virgin).
I remember discovering it for the first time myself, which was on a night in one of our turrets at the Observatory
using our 16 inch ACF (Advanced Coma Free) telescope
and I was just Using the joystick just to drift around the bowl of Virgo.
And and then I came across this little little smudge nestled in between these two little stars.
I thought that's an incredible field of view, you've got these two stars
and then this little Lenticular Galaxy right and between them.
The Lenticular, Galaxy is 55 million Light years away
whereas the two stars in the foreground are within our galaxy, of course, are only 70 light years away.
You have this real depth when you look at this galaxy.
And I think that's an incredible thing to to see beautifully positioned in between these two stars.
This was also imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in the mid 90s
where it took an incredible image of NGC 4526 because there was a supernova in this galaxy.
So there's a beautiful image, you can go and see online as well, a Lovely Hubble image of this galaxy.
The Hairy Eyebrow Galaxy is undoubtedly, my objects of of the month or of the year.
In fact, it's is the thing that I look forward to seeing every single year.
So, the Hairy Eyebrow Galaxy NGC 4526, you are going to need a big telescope to really see this and dark skies.
It's quite a challenging object to spot but easy identifiable, because of those two stars which perfectly frame it.
Take an image of it and tag me in it. I'd love to see it.
Thank you so much for letting me be part of the podcast this month. It's a delight
And I hope you enjoy hunting out the objects that I set for you to take a look at.
Solar Eclipse 2024:
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Euclid Space Telescope:
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Final Resting Places For The Space Shuttle Fleet:
Click on the banners above to find out where the Space Shuttle Fleet is housed (Rest In Peace STS-51L & STS-107 Crews)
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Upcoming T Coronae Borealis Nova:
Parker Solar Probe passes through Corona Mass Ejections:
Nicolas Large's Deep Sky Comparison Chart:
Send A Postcard To Space:
Various Videos:
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