West is where it's at with the cosmos in the coming weeks.
Looking to the low western sky at about 8pm you’ll see what looks like a bright, silvery star. That’s Venus. Right now offers a good view of one of the brightest objects in the night sky. And if you can find Venus this Thursday night you might also be able to see one of the youngest moons you'll likely ever see. If you look to the lower right of Venus -assuming clear to partly cloudy skies and an open view to the west - you’ll see a sliver crust of moon smiling back at you. The age of that lunar crescent will be just twenty-three hours and thirty-five minutes. The moon will be so thin, binoculars may be helpful.
In other news, comet C2026-A1-MAP, a “sungrazer,” will pass the Sun on April 4th. The comet has been around for thousands of years, but on April 4th it will pass within 100,000 miles from the sun’s surface. When a comet is this close to a star, it will often break up and vaporize. However, if it survives, it will blaze with bright dust and become a very bright object - perhaps almost as bright as Venus - with a long thin tail. Look to the low western sky during mid to late twilight between April 5th and 9th.
Some of the greatest, most spectacular comets in history belong to the sungrazer family. If C2026-A1-MAP survives its close encounter with the Sun, it could put on quite a show. Bob will put up sky maps outlining these solar events on his Facebook page, Astronomy for Everyone.
You can hear Astro Bob's Backyard Astronomy every other Tuesday at 8:20am on Northland Morning.
