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On the 29th of March,Saturday, we propose the Messier Marathon
a real hunt of deep sky objects
that is performed every year by thousands of amateur astronomers
all over the planet
Both the date and the Moon phase will favor the observation of Messier objects
in just one night
CONSTELLATIONS
DEEP SKY OBJECTS
This month we´ll visit the city of Bilbao, in Spain
positioning ourselves in front of the Guggenheim Museum, which twisted titanium casing
would reflect the stars if it weren´t for the huge urban luminous pollution
Visible sky objects are very limited in this area
however we will turn off the lights of the city
to watch the wonderful celestial show that awaits up there
The position that Ursa Major constellation reaches this month
allows us to use it as a key to locate other asterisms
perhaps less known
Extending five times the distance between the stars
Merak and Dhube
we will get to see the North Star, in the constellation of Ursa Minor
This will be very useful for setting your telescope station
Extending three times the distance between the stars Phecda and Megrez
we will reach which was, due to the precession movement of the Earth
the polar star for the ancient Egyptians
Thuben, in the Constellation Draco
Megrez and Dhube will set the direction of the search line to reach the bright Capela
alpha star of the constellation Auriga, the Charioteer
Mizar and Alkaid will point to Arcturus
the brightest star in the constellation Bootes, the Herdsman
Extending this imaginary curve in the sky
we will reach to Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo
Megrez and Phecda
will serve us again to locate, through its brightest star
Regulo, the constellation in which we will stop...Leo
Looking North, Leo Constellation
the Lion, is this month very high in the sky
Its brightest star, Regulo
located just 85 light years away
has a bluish-white glow representative of "B" class stars
This is actually a quadruple star system that is receding from us at 4 kilometers per second
Gamma Leonis or Algieba, "Lion´s Mane"
is a double star system visible to the telescope
as two yellowish bright stars the are close together
but eventually their distance will increase
For the minor component, "gamma Leo B"
an orbital period of 600 years has been calculated
Recently in "Gamma Leo A", a planet eight times larger than Jupiter was discovered
orbiting the star
We will use Regulus again as a guide star for finding the most important deep sky objects
of this constellation
If we draw a line between Regulus and Denebola, the beta star of Leo
we will find along its route a number of galaxies
Half way through is a vast field of galaxies among which stands out M95
a spiral elongated galaxy
Beside her, brighter, is M96
and a little further North galaxies M105 and NGC 3384
All of them are visible with telescopes of diameters greater than 80 millimeters
A third of the distance from Denebola and near Chertan
the Zeta star of the constellation
we will find the famous Leo Triplet
a set of three galaxies located 20 million light years away
that is visible with binoculars
Two of them: M65 and M66
appear very close together and a third NGC 3628
is a bit further away, but related gravitationally to the other two
To the west, we rise our eyes and go from the bright star Capella in the direction of Polar star
to locate, halfway through, the asterism formed by the seven brightest stars
in the constellation Camelopardalis, the giraffe
In the domains of this constellation we find the famous Waterfall of Kemble
In an area five times the size of the Moon
it is shwon to us a trail of colour stars
whose distributtion could remind us a waterfall
To locate this asterism we will use the Cassiopeia constellation
easy to see for its "W" shape
Between stars Beta and Epsilon we will draw an imaginary line
which we will extend just once
until we reach the three fifth magnitude bright stars
located at the edge of the abyss
and that will make a dramatic fall to the subtle cascade of lights
Halfway we will stumble upon a beautiful fifth magniyude white dwarf
and, at the end of the tour,
we will dive into the star cluster NGC 1502
A highlighted deep sky object in the domains of "the Giraffe"
is the Nebula "Lemon slice" IC 3568
a spherical planetary visible only with telescopes of apertures over
125 millimeters
Also visible even with binoculars
is the spiral galaxy NGC 2403
very close to us, at only eight million light years away
Right above our heads lies, this month, Lynx constellation
Its components are very weak, so we need to rely on its neighbours Auriga and Ursa Major
between two we can draw the asterism formed by the seven brightest stars in the Lynx
Extending twice the distance between Capella and Menkalinan
stars Alpha and Beta in the Auriga constellation
we contemplate a very distant globular cluster
NGC 2419
is located 270.000 light years away
yet, the million of suns composing it
allows us to see it through small telescopes
Drawing a line between the stars Lynx´s Alpha and Gemini´s Pollux
and a third away from the alpha
we can locate with telescopes with openings over 150 mm
the galaxy of the flying saucer, the spiral NGC 2683
located 25 million light years away and moving four kilometers away from us every second
ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS - MARCH 2014
LUNAR PHASES
BLACK MOON MONTH
Mars is stationary on March 1, this mean that this planet seem to stop in the sky
As the ellipse that describes the Earth around the Sun smaller than Mars´s ellipse
Earth to Mars advance
so we look to see how it stops to start
an apparent retrograde motion that will last only until May
On day 3, stationary Saturn also find in the constellation of Libra
Jupiter, the gas giant, will stationary on the 6th, in Gemini constellation
It will visible after sunset
On the 10th, Jupiter and Moon only five celestial degrees betqeen them
Brightness stand out among all the stars in the sky background
The brilliant Venus that in these months it becomes the morning star
can help us locate Mercury, on day 14th reaches its maximum west elongation
means that being very far from the Sun, you can easily see at naked eyes
transiting to the constellation of Capricorn
On the 18th evening, Mars will be easy to locate in the sky
to be just three celestial degrees of the Moon
It will stand out from the background star by its reddish hue
You should not confuse it with Spica, alpha star of the Virgo Constellation
On day 21, Saturn is apparently placed very close to the Moon
Even from some places in South America, its occultation will occur
A show that reminds us that the Universe is in constant motion
Before dawn on the 27th we will enjoy with the observation of Venus close to the Moon
both gradually lose brightness as that the Sun peeks over the horizon
20th of March is the date the Spring equinox officially begins
The tilt of the Earth´ axis, combined with the translational motion around the Sun, causes the change of the Seasons
the maximum height of the Sun at noon will mark the time it takes to travel the ecliptic
at higher altitudes, the Sun will take longer to cover it and it will heat up more the surface of the place
When the Sun reaches its maximum height in the Northern Hemisphere is in summer
in the Southern Hemisphere, by contrast,
the elevation of the Sun on the ecliptic will be minimal and will result in the austral winter
In spring, the Sun is over celestial Equator causing that day length is equal to that of the night
So is called equinox
Contemplate the stillness of the Sky over your head...
...and discover the motion of the Earth under your feet...