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May 4: Grogu, there you are!
Asteroid 13 Egeria is moving through the constellation Virgo this month, and today is a particularly good opportunity to try to spot its motion over just a few hours.
Shining at 10th magnitude, Egeria can be picked up with a small scope even under mild light pollution. A few hours after dark, you’ll find Virgo more than 40° high in the south. It’s a big constellation: Egeria is located in its eastern reaches, about 7° northeast of the bright star Spica. Use 6th-magnitude 80 Virginis as a signpost — Egeria is just 1.2° east of this star tonight. The asteroid is passing north of a slightly brighter 8th-magnitude field star, HD 118957 (also cataloged as HIP66706). The star lies right on the hashmark for May 5 on the chart above, just south of the line depicting Egeria’s motion. The two are less than 2’ apart, so find the close pair in your eyepiece and record their positions, then come back later to see how the scene has changed. Within three hours, you should be able to note the asteroid’s movement.
Sunrise: 5:55 A.M.
Sunset: 7:59 P.M.
Moonrise: —
Moonset: 8:05 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (83%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location.
Overnight, keep an eye out for shooting stars: The Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks the morning of May 6. Unfortunately, there is a gibbous Moon in the sky. But even though moonlight will interfere, if the weather is mild and you’re able to get up early, it’s worth stepping outside to see if you can clock a few of the shower’s brighter streaks.
Early morning is the best time to look for meteors, as at that time your location on Earth is turning into the stream. An hour before sunrise, the shower’s radiant in northern Aquarius is more than 20° high in the east. Under dark skies, up to 50 meteors per hour are expected, but with the Moon’s interference, that number will drop. Nonetheless, the brightest meteors should still be visible. The Eta Aquariid shower is known for its fast-moving meteors, with some dust particles streaking through the atmosphere at speeds of 40 miles per second (65 km/s).
Generated by debris left behind by the world-famous Halley’s Comet, The Eta Aquariids have a sibling shower in October: the Orionids, also produced by Halley’s debris. Unfortunately, the Orionids won’t offer a better show, as the Moon will exhibit roughly the same illumination, albeit waxing rather than waning, when that shower peaks later this year.
