DommyDevil18

The Waning Gibbous Moon and Mars will be rising in the Eastern skies in the Constellation of Virgo and Mars will be in alignment with the Moon and the brightest star in Virgo Spica. Spica is easy to find you need to look for the constellation of Bootes and you come to the bright star Arcturus and follow to Spica in Virgo and Virgo looks like a distorted Y.

Neptune will be at Opposition in the Constellation of Aquarius it will be best seen at 21:00 BST. Neptune will look like a deep blue star but through a telescope it will show a dark blue disc but through a larger more powerful telescope you will see more detail. This is how it was discovered. When Uranus was discovered and this was in 1781 the Solar System was deemed to be completed. However when a Planet is discovered the first thing the mathematicians do and that is to work out the orbit or path of Uranus. The first thing they discovered was that Uranus was forever slowing down at odd intervals and that the orbit was more elliptical rather than a perfect circle indicating that something was pulling Uranus along and back. A Cambridge graduate named John Couch Adams got the key to the problem. He worked out that an undiscovered Planet was pulling Uranus so he sent his calculation to Greenwhich but nothing was done. Subsequently in France a French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier made the same calculation as Adams and sent his work to Berlin and it was thanks to Berlin that the new Planet Neptune was discovered in the constellation of Capricorn in September 1846. So Adams finished his work first but Le Verriers initiative made the Solar System increase in numbers of Planets and this led to a row with France and Britain but led to a friendship with Adams and Le Verrier and eventually the decision was reached where both Adams and Le Verrier are both the discoverers of Neptune. If were lucky we maybe able to see some of Neptunes 14 moons. Two of them are very unique. The smallest one of these unique two is named Nereid (All of Neptunes moons are named after the lesser deities of the Sea) and that orbits Neptune in a comet like orbit. The largest of the two and also the largest of all of Neptunes moons Triton orbits Neptune but it orbits Neptune in the wrong way and why that is we dont know. We do know that Triton was originally an object belonging to the Kuiper Belt and it migrated to Neptune. In addition Neptune orbits the Sun in 164 years and a day lasts for about 9 hours so a Neptunian year lasts 192'573 days so what will be June on Earth will be February on Neptune so like Uranus Neptune has a Calendar that is complicated. This I can assure you doesnt upset the Neptunian inhabitants because their simply is not any. Neptune is a world that life cannot live since its made of Gases in their Iciest form mixed with complex Atoms of Methane and Nitrogen. But that doesnt mean we cant sent space probes to its 14 moons we can then see a more fascinating aspect of the Royal Blue world which happens to be larger then Uranus by a small degree. Neptune will be in Aquarius and that will be best seen at 21:00 BST.

Uranus will be at Opposition tonight at 21:45 BST. You will have to look at the Constellation of Pisces and Uranus will look like a brightish blue star but it will appear through any optical aid as a distinct greenish disc and that was how it was discovered. As a reminder Uranus was discovered back 1781 by a Hanoverian musician who came to England at 19 years of age and pursued a career in Astronomy. His name was William Herschel and he made Telescopes mainly 6 inch reflectors. He was using one of these telescopes on a March night and he saw something that appeared to move across the night sky in the constellation of Gemini the Twins. He thought it was a comet because of how it orbited in a very elliptical compared to Saturn which at the time was last Planet in the Solar System. Astronomers from all over Europe began to question if it was something Planetary and finally they came to a decision that the object Herschel had observed on that cold March 17th night was in fact no comet whatsoever. This was a new Planet orbiting beyond Saturn which like I said at the time was the last Planet from the Sun. This was very exciting. One distinguishing thing about Uranus is the tilt of its Axis. Earth spins at a very reasonable 23.5 degrees and Uranus essentially rolls because its tilt is 97.8 degrees so we see the equator sometimes or its poles. In addition it takes 84 Earth Years to go around the Sun but 10hrs 56minutes to roll on its axis. If you can work that out that is 65'456 Uranian Days in every Uranian year and also a 21 year of nighttime and a 21 year of daytime so its calander is rather odd but I can assure you this does not upset the Uranian inhabitants because their isnt any. Uranus has 14 moons and they are all named after characters from Shakespeares plays. The largest four Ariel Umbriel Titania and Oberon were named after the Uranian discoverers own son John Herschel. Uranus like I said will be in the Zodiacal constellation of Pisces and will be well placed for observation. The time will be 21:45 BST.

A Transit of Mercury will happen today at 11:12 am till 18:42 pm.

Tonight will mark the peak of the Leonid Meteor Shower. An absolute wonderful display for the November skies where the Summer Autumn stars such as Scorpius Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Picses Aries and Vulcupela are settling down until the June and the Winter stars such as Orion Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo are making their return. They start off with 15-20 Meteors but at Midnight everything starts to happen. The main source of the debris is Comet Tempel-Tuttle and in my opinion the best of the Meteor showers in the Calendar with the Quadrantids coming a close second.

Tonight will mark the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower. The Perseid Meteor is a breathtaking display although the Waning Gibbous Moon will be a hinderance to most viewers unless you dont mind the moonlight although sometimes in my opinion the moonlight does add to the eery yet amazing experience of Space Rocks falling to Earth. The Meteors source of debris comes from Comet Swift-Tuttle around every August but peaks on August 12 or 13th and when they (like all meteors) enter the Earths Atmosphere they burn up and form what we know as a Shooting Star. Every hour at least 200 meteors can be seen. Just like the Leonids in November the Perseids are like I said a wonderful display.

Beginning on April 15th but peaking on April 21st we will be able to witness the Lyrid Meteor shower. They dont have long trails like many other showers but they do have impressive fireballs. 20 an hour at their peak but they last for about three hours so you will get a good 60 meteors weather permitting. The Moon which will be a Waxing Gibbous wont interfere like with the Leonids back in November 2013 because they will be further away then the Moon.