This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2020 April 11 – 18 ~by Curt Nason
With Easter happening this weekend, let us look for signs of it in the night sky. Lambs have long been associated with spring and Easter, so we can start with Aries the Ram low in the west. For many, the symbol of Easter is Peter Cottontail, the Easter Bunny. When darkness sets in we can see Lepus the Hare below the feet of Orion. I see the constellation as three vertical pairs of stars, with the brightest pair in the middle and the widest to the right. With a reasonably dark sky you can see the bunny ears between the widest pair and Orion’s brightest star, Rigel.
In Germanic mythology, Ostara, the goddess of spring, found a wounded bird and changed it into a hare so that it could survive. This animal was allowed to run as fast as it could fly and it retained the ability to lay eggs, which it did in spring to honour its rescuer. The Saxon name for the goddess was Eostre.
Sunrise services are a popular way to celebrate Easter, and that is a good time to look for religious Easter symbols in the sky if you are an hour or two early. The Northern Cross, the most recognizable part of Cygnus the Swan, is high in the east among the procession of constellations. Look for semicircular Corona Borealis to the southwest, one third of the way from the bright star Arcturus toward equally bright Vega. Can you picture this as a cave with an open door? It does play the role of a cave in a local aboriginal legend in which the bowl of the Big Dipper is a bear pursued by seven hunters.
I think the best symbol is seen on the Moon when it is full or nearly so. When it rises in spring, look for the dark bunny ears to the upper right. With them identified, it isn’t difficult to picture Peter Cottontail clutching a giant egg.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 6:39 am and sunset will occur at 8:01 pm, giving 13 hours, 22 minutes of daylight (6:45 am and 8:05 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:26 am and set at 8:11 pm, giving 13 hours, 45 minutes of daylight (6:33 am and 8:14 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is at third quarter on Tuesday and is seen to the right of Jupiter. The next morning the Moon is below Saturn, and it is lower left of Mars on Thursday. Mercury is sneaking sunward under the cover of bright twilight and will appear in the evening sky next month. Venus rules the evening sky, setting soon after midnight.
With astronomy meetings and outreach on hold, there are many educational astronomy websites to fill in your time. You can catch the local Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm and view archives of previous shows.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason.