Splodges From The Dawn Of Time

Nasa pictures from 13 billion years ago

You may have heard on the news yesterday squeezed in between, the apocalyptic menace of Swine fever and the unacceptable behaviour of the home secretaries husband, that a Nasa Space Telescope, Spitzer, managed to capture a few photons that began their journey 13 billion years ago, very near the beginning of time and space for that mater, that doesn’t mean they know what they’ve photographed though. I’ve put the picture on the blog. To a casual observer it could be the psychedelic creation of a mischievous puppy that has dipped its paws in paint. But it may be one of the most extraordinary pictures ever snapped. One possibility is stars, the first to light up after the dawn of time. They would have been "humungous", said NASA, "more than 1000 times the mass of our sun".
But let’s get back to what we can see, tonight, the Moon shines in the middle of Gemini this evening: below Pollux and Castor, which are lined up almost horizontally. So if you want to find Gemini and the twins tonight’s the night
The Moon which is waxing again shines under Regulus on May 2nd and Saturn on May 3rd.

Mercury is still there low in evening twilight, but starts to fades rapidly this week. Look for it low in the west-northwest about an hour after sunset. As the sky gets darker, the Pleiades glimmer into view very near it. The Pleiades are above Mercury early in the week, and to the right of it by May 1st and 2nd, again take a look at the blog.

Venus shines low in the east during dawn. Don't confuse it with Jupiter, higher and far to the right in the southeast. In a telescope, Venus is a thickening, shrinking crescent.

Mars remains about 5° from Venus all week. It's below Venus early in the week, and lower left of it toward the week's end, but definitely not worth getting up early for

Jupiter still with Venus and Mars shines in the southeast before and during dawn.

Saturn is far away the most social able of the planets is high in the south during evening. In a telescope, Saturn's rings appear 4° from edge on, their widest for the year.

I had a comment on the blog last week, from Boston Mass, asking a question, which was heartening, because unlike you lot Americans don’t know that I haven’t got the faintest idea what I’m talking about.

Look To The West

April's highlight is on the 26th in the west just after sun set.

So get your cameras out.

We have a bit of a celestial treat this Sunday in the late evening just after Sunset; it may be even be worth a trek up the garrison for it. Though if you’re lucky enough to live on St Agnes, or even Bryher, you should get a lovely view across the sweep of the western rocks.

On Sunday The Pleiades a very pretty little constellation and star cluster will be sparkling in the early evening sky between a thin crescent moon and the planet Mercury. You’ll need a clear view of the western sky just after sunset. This should make for fine viewing with the naked eye or with binoculars, but it would be nice if someone with a decent camera with a telephoto lens could catch a picture and email it in or maybe put it up on the Scillywebcam. There’s a guide on the blog, which means there’s no excuse so out with your cameras just after sunset on Sunday and that’s an order.


We have a new moon on Friday and after sunset, the elusive, extremely thin young crescent Moon displays its early-springtime upright smile. Look for it just above the west-northwest horizon, to the lower right of Mercury.

Mercury (about magnitude –0.5) is having its best evening apparition of the year. Look for it low in the west about an hour after sunset. Especially on Sunday when it hooks up with the Pleiades.

Venus still very bright shines low in the dawn. Look for it above the horizon due east about 60 to 40 minutes before sunrise. Don't confuse it with Jupiter, which is much higher, much dimmer, and much farther to the right in the southeast.

Mars is still loitering below Venus in the dawn and still isn’t up to much.

Jupiter is setting brighter and shines in the southeast before and during dawn.

Saturn is still the only planet which is with us all night it shines high in the southeast at dusk and highest in the south around 9 p.m.

We’ve had our first month of spring and the winter stars are fast disappearing. Look for a bright, bright star in the south west before 11 pm, this is Sirius, Orion dog.. As spring advances, bright Sirius is getting lower in the southwest at dusk. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest. It’s actually 2 stars, Sirius A and Sirius B, Sirius A is the one we can see, and if you stare at it, it seems to change colour ranging form white through yellow to blue. And its pretty close, which is why its so bright, at a distance of only 8.6 light-years, the Sirius system is one of our near neighbours.

Sirius A is about twice as massive as the Sun and is 25 times more luminous than the Sun, Sirius B is a white dwarf and well past its sell by date. The system is between 200 and 300 million years old it was there even before Nora started working at the paper shop, and its nice to see her back. And sadly, Sirius will on the other side of the sun until the autumn.

See you next week, if you can cope with it.