South Wales Argus astronomy columnist Jon Powell has been interested in astronomy since the early 1980s and combining his passion for the topic with that of writing he is a contributor to the BBC Sky at Night magazine. He has written three books on astronomy, Cosmic Debris; Rare Astronomical Sights and Sounds (which was selected by ‘Choice’ magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2019); and From Cave Art to Hubble, all of which are available from Amazon. Jonathan worked at BBC Radio Wales as their astronomy correspondent and is currently a presenter on Astro Radio UK and online astronomy contributor to the Rest Less Community, a free online website for over 50sThe Night Sky – April 2021

News

Once again proving that the amateur can make a valuable contribution to astronomy, a classical nova has been spotted in the constellation of Cassiopeia.

Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Nakamura noticed a new point of light in the night sky, and after official verification, the sighting was duly confirmed.

A classical nova occurs when one of two close-by stars steals matter from the other, the accumulated stolen matter resulting in a bright outburst of light.

MORE NEWS:

Behind the lens: Be true to yourself and it will show

Cyclists invited to take part in St David's Hospice event

Last baby to use the NICU at the Royal Gwent Hospital among these nine Gwent arrivals

 

Stephen Webber - Astrophotographer

This month I caught up with experienced Welsh astrophotographer Stephen Webber who kindly told the Argus all about the pursuit, and how to get involved in photographing the skies.

Stephen, who resides in the Pontypridd area, said: “Being a child of the 60s my inspiration was the Apollo missions. One of my earliest memories was the Apollo 9 crew singing ‘happy birthday to you’ to a colleague… but my uncle convinced me they were singing it to me as my birthday was a couple of days later!”

“Carl Sagan and Patrick Moore were my inspirations but most of what I know has been learnt from the guys at Dark Sky Wales - Allan Trow and Martin Griffiths.”

Stephen said about getting started in astrophotography: “The easiest setup is a cheap Digital Single Lens Reflex, with a kit lens, (any lens that comes as part of a potential camera package deal), a tripod and a remote shutter release. This is just a few hundred pounds. Mobile phone cameras have come a long way and can be excellent in low light but DSLRs still provide a better experience. Be warned, the hobby will swallow as much money as you will throw at it as there are so many things you can purchase to improve your pictures.

“Even if you do not have any equipment you can still get into the hobby. There are several internet sites such as www.slooh.com and www.itelescope.net which allow you to take pictures with their equipment located across the world. I would also highly recommend joining a local astronomical society.”

Speaking about his most treasured photographs, he said: "Lunar eclipses are not that rare but to see a whole one from the UK with a clear sky is very rare, so capturing it was a something special. Comet NEOWISE was only the second naked eye comet that was visible in my lifetime. To capture it along with the noctilucent clouds was a slice of good fortune.”

April’s ‘Pink’ supermoon

April’s full moon will be a supermoon which will appear slightly larger and brighter in our skies during the last week of the month.

A supermoon is a new or full moon closely coinciding with perigee, (the moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit). The Moon has a slight eccentricity to its orbit meaning it travels in an elliptical path around the Earth - so the Moon sometimes appears closer and again more distant than it would normally.

A full moon in April is also referred to as a Pink Moon from the pink flowers – phlox – that bloom in the early spring in some parts of the world.

Planets

Mercury and Venus begin to emerge in the evening sky during April.

Watch above the west-northwest horizon for a lovely pairing of Venus and a thin crescent moon on Monday, April 12. Then on Sunday, April 25, looking in the same direction, Venus and Mercury can be seen together.

Venus will be the brighter of the two with Mercury positioned up and over to the right.

When you locate Venus, use the planet as the centre of a clockface with the small hand pointing toward Mercury at two o’clock.

Both Jupiter and Saturn are on view in the morning sky visible in the south-east. Jupiter will appear as the brighter of the two planets.

Meteor shower

Between April 16 and 30, the Earth starts to plough through the debris left by Comet Thatcher, (named after amateur astronomer A E Thatcher who discovered the comet), with April 21/22/23 seeing our planet pass through the densest part of the rubble. It is on these particular nights that while looking high in the east after midnight, we should see up to 20 meteors per hour.

Society news

Covid-19 restrictions are slowly being eased so hopefully over the months ahead we can see more activity from our society’s across South Wales. All society meetings at present are being held via Zoom of similar platforms.

Barry Astronomical Society: April 19 - 7 p.m. The History of Longitude at Greenwich Greg Smye-Rumsby.

Please send society news and astronomy photographs to: TheNightSky@themoon.co.uk

Moon phases

Third quarter April 4; new moon April 12; first quarter April 20; full moon April 27.

Sunrise/sunset times

Start of April: Sun rises at 6.46am. Sets at 7.45pm. End of April: Sun rises at 5.45am. Sets at 8.34pm.