THE NIGHT SKY THIS WEEK 15 - 21 APRIL 2019.

The Night Skies this Week  15-21 April 2019 from Durban and Southern Africa.

At last the skies had cleared and I was able to do some observations this last weekend. There is a full observation report HERE.

After all the hype surrounding the EHT image of the black hole at the heart of the galaxy better known as M87 I figured it would have to feature in this week's blog. The images are taken from SkySafari 6 Pro, a link to the webpage is under the "Useful links" tab in the right column of this blog.
So let's take a look at what we can expect from our night skies this week.

MOON AND PLANETS.

On Friday the 12th of April the Moon was at first quarter and will become more dominant in our night skies as it starts to set after midnight and later each night this week as it heads toward full Moon.
On Saturday the 12th of April, Mercury reached it highest point in the sky in it's March/May morning apparition. This makes it visible in the southern hemisphere skies before dawn. My observation of this is in the observing link above.
Jupiter is a early evening planet with it rising at around 10PM  this week. Saturn is a early morning planet along with Venus and Mercury.
Mars is still visible just after dusk before it sets below the horizon not long after.
Neptune is the other morning planet and only visible in the telescope, the others are all naked eye planets listed above.


DEEP SKY OBSERVING(DSO).

Virgo A, Messier 87, NGC 4486, Elliptical galaxy in Virgo, Magnitude +8.67.

With the Moon getting closer to Virgo this week this galaxy may be a tough ask. I managed to see it with the Moon at first quarter so there may be hope. If not then catch this one again in the next new Moon cycle.
M87 resembles a small round smudge of light with a brighter core.

Image from Cartes Du Ciel

We have known about the Super Massive Black Hole at the center of this galaxy for some time now and this last week scientists from around the world released the first image of the black hole taken by the EHT telescope in a world wide collaboration. A massive day for science and Einstein's general relativity theory. A really exciting development in our times!

Keeping the Moon in mind let's move to a easier to view target next.

NGC 6475, Ptolemy's cluster, Messier 7, Open cluster in Scorpius, Magnitude +3.29.

This is a easy cluster to see in both the scope and binoculars.Under truly dark skies it is visible to the naked eye.
A nice big bright cluster located some 800-1000 light years away in the constellation Scorpius. During this week it will not be far from Jupiter so you can take the giant planet in while you are there.

Image from Cartes Du Ciel.

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION(ISS).

There are several early morning and evening passes this week. The table below lists the dates and times for Durban and Southern Africa, to get a detailed listing for your town please follow the "Spot the station" link under the "Useful links" tab in the right column of this blog.
Enjoy the views!

Date	Visible	Max Height	Appears	Disappears	Share Event
Sat Apr 13, 5:03 AM	3 min	13°	10° above S	12° above SE
Sun Apr 14, 5:48 AM	4 min	73°	10° above SW	37° above ENE
Mon Apr 15, 4:58 AM	3 min	33°	16° above SSW	28° above ESE
Tue Apr 16, 4:10 AM	< 1 min	17°	17° above SE	15° above ESE
Tue Apr 16, 5:43 AM	6 min	30°	11° above WSW	10° above NNE
Wed Apr 17, 4:55 AM	3 min	71°	66° above W	11° above NE
Thu Apr 18, 4:07 AM	< 1 min	15°	15° above ENE	10° above ENE
Thu Apr 18, 7:02 PM	< 1 min	13°	11° above N	13° above N
Fri Apr 19, 4:52 AM	< 1 min	11°	11° above N	11° above N
Fri Apr 19, 6:13 PM	2 min	12°	10° above NNE	11° above ENE
Fri Apr 19, 7:47 PM	< 1 min	12°	10° above WNW	12° above WNW
Sat Apr 20, 6:56 PM	3 min	84°	11° above NW	77° above SSE
Sun Apr 21, 6:05 PM	6 min	40°	10° above NNW	13° above ESE
Sun Apr 21, 7:44 PM	< 1 min	13°	11° above WSW	13° above WSW

And that concludes this weeks Night Sky entry, thanks for reading and get out there under the stars and keep looking up!