Dancing with the stars (and planets)

I do hope you had an opportunity to get out this past week for a view of the planets Venus and Mercury as they did a small dance in the western sky just after sunset. There were finally some cloudless evenings that allowed some very good observation possibilities.

The same can be said this week for a chance to observe the fourth planet out, Mars, as it dances back through the somewhat dim constellation Cancer, the Crab and plays tag with the Beehive star cluster.

Let's continue our stellar journey picking up where we left off, our approach to the regal constellation, Leo, the Lion.

As with Orion, Leo can't be missed. It is a very large star group residing almost directly overhead as you are looking south in the early evening. The head of Leo looks like a backward question mark or, as it is often called, a sickle.

The shape reminded ancient astronomers of the head and mane of a lion. The hindquarters of the beast are marked by a triangle of stars located to the left (as you are looking at it) of the head.

If you are still having trouble, find the Big Dipper, locate the pointer stars we normally use to find the Polaris, the North Star, only this time go south (down) and you will land directly in the middle of Leo.

The bright star, located where the period under the question mark would be, is Regulus or "Little King." It is a double, first-magnitude star about 84 light years away.

The star farthest east, or the "tail" of the lion is called Denebola. In Arabic it means literally "Tail of the Lion." As mentioned before, the lovely Coma Berenices star cluster was thought of as the tuft of hair on the tail of the lion.

Are you up for a little binocular challenge? OK, find the triangle forming the hindquarters of Leo, find the line on the western edge running north and south. Place the star on the bottom of that line on the extreme upper edge of your field of view. In the center of the field of view will be the "Leo Triplet," a set of three small tenth magnitude almost edge-on galaxies. They are M65, M66, and NGC3628.

Turn your gaze to the east, or left and along the ecliptic below Leo, for a roughly rectangular shape just clearing the horizon. This is another zodiacal constellation, Virgo, the Maiden. The only female constellation in the zodiac. If you can, hold off trying to find Virgo until after 10 p.m. MST. That is when Spica, Virgo's brightest star, will clear the horizon to be in good viewing position.

Spica, Latin for a sheaf of wheat or grain, is a white, first magnitude star about 260 or so light years from Earth. Virgo and Spica are thought of as probably the oldest recognized constellation in astronomical history.

One reason for Virgo finding right now is the ringed planet, Saturn. It is located in the area of Virgo's head just below Denebola, the tail, of Leo. Saturn is brightening enough to be easily recognizable on its own in the early evening.

SKY WATCH:

Tonight, April 15, if you have a very clear, unobstructed western horizon, look about 30 to 45 minutes after sunset for our old friends Venus and Mercury. They will be about six degrees apart with dim Mercury to the lower right. Now, if viewing conditions are good, look really hard, use your binoculars, and try to find an excruciatingly thin, one and a half day old crescent moon located between them. A sight not to be missed.

NEXT TIME:

More on our constellation tour next time, and as always, more astronomical blathering.