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March 31: The galaxy’s Great Bird
April’s evenings kick off with a Full Moon, which occurs at 10:12 P.M. EDT tonight. The April Full Moon is also called the Pink Moon, after the wildflowers that begin to run rampant as spring begins.
When the Moon is Full, deep-sky observing becomes difficult — but not impossible. Double stars still make excellent targets even in bright moonlight. Tonight, we’re looking just northeast of the Moon, which lies in Virgo, toward the heart of Boötes the Herdsman.
Boötes’ brightest star is the well-known Arcturus (Alpha Boötis), which shines at magnitude –0.1. We’re traveling northeast of this star about 10.3° to find 2nd-magnitude Izar (Epsilon Boo). This sun splits into two stars roughly 3” apart through a telescope — it can be challenging through a smaller scope, but doable. Larger scopes will make it even easier. The two resulting stars are 3rd and 5th magnitude and have stunningly contrasting colors. Most observers see them as gold and blue. Some, however, think they appear more gold and green — note this is a trick of the eye, as there are no green stars.
This pair was considered so lovely by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve that he called it Pulcherrima —“the most beautiful” in Latin. What do you think?
Sunrise: 6:44 A.M.
Sunset: 7:25 P.M.
Moonrise: 7:21 P.M.
Moonset: 6:20 A.M.
Moon Phase: Full
*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.
