telescope Archives - Manitoba Museum

Posted on: Monday March 31, 2025

“April showers bring May flowers”, goes the saying, and it’s true that April does often have a lot of rain (or at least clouds) for Manitoba. On clear nights, though, we get a unique view away from our Milky Way galaxy and out into the darkness of intergalactic space. With fewer bright stars to guide you, contemplate the darkness between the stars: that’s what most of the universe is like.

The Solar System

Mercury is technically in the morning sky in April, but the angles dictate that it stays very low to the horizon (and probably invisible) from Manitoba. Southern hemisphere viewers get their best morning views this year of the elusive innermost planet.

Venus has moved between us and the Sun (well, just above the Sun) and is now low in the east before dawn.

Mars is still bright in the evening sky, forming an ever-changing triangle with the bright stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini.

Jupiter still shines brightly in the evening sky, high in the southwest after sunset in the constellations of Taurus.

Saturn has moved into the morning sky, but like Mercury it is very low to the horizon and probably invisible from Manitoba until near the end of the month. Saturn will be a summer feature this year, so wait a few months and you’ll get a great view.

Uranus sets very soon after the sun and is not easily observable this month. You’d need at least binoculars, and probably a small telescope, to be able to spot it, and even then it’s so far from Earth that it appears as just a faint “star” in a field of other stars.

Neptune is invisible without a telescope at the best of times, and this month is not the best of times. Neptune is near Venus in the bright twilight sky before sunrise and is unobservable this month.

Of the five known dwarf planets, none are visible with typical backyard telescopes this month.

Sky Calendar for April 2025

All times are given in the local time for Manitoba: Central Daylight Time (UTC-5). However, most of these events are visible across Canada at the same local time without adjusting for time zones.

Tuesday, Apr. 1, 2025 (evening): The thin crescent Moon is above the Pleiades star cluster in the evening sky. Both with fit comfortably into the field of view of typical household binoculars.

Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2025 (evening): The thin crescent Moon stands above and to the right of Jupiter in the west after sunset. in the evening sky. You should be able to see both in binoculars at the same time. Look for some tiny dots in a line very close to Jupiter – those are some of its largest moons! Callisto is the one farthest to the right and likely the one most easily seen in binoculars. Good eyesight or higher magnification may show a second dot closer to the bright planet – that’s Ganymede and Europa, which appear right beside each other tonight, merged into a single point.

Thursday, Apr. 3, 2025 (evening): The waxing crescent Moon is about halfway between bright white Jupiter (to its lower right) and reddish Mars (higher and to its left) in the west and southwest after sunset.

Friday, Apr. 4, 2025 (evening): The first-quarter Moon forms an almost-triangle with Mars and the stars Castor and Pollux. From bottom left, we have Mars, Pollux, and Castor.

Saturday, Apr. 5, 2025 (evening): The waxing gibbous Moon is to the left of Mars tonight. Both fit into the field of view of typical binoculars. This is a good chance to compare the reddish colour of Mars with the grey-white tones of the Moon.

Thursday, Apr. 10, 2025 (evening): After weeks of flirting as a triangle, Mars forms an almost-straight line with Castor and Pollux this evening. Nothing significant about this, other than it looks cool from our point of view here on Earth. (Mars is only 185 million kilometers away, while Pollux is 324 billion km and the six stars of the Castor system are 25 trillion km distant. Their apparent alignment is in in two dimensions as seen from this particular corner of the universe.)

Saturday, Apr. 12, 2025: Full Moon

Sunday, Apr. 20, 2025: Last Quarter Moon

Monday, Apr. 21, 2025 (evening): Tonight is the peak of the annual Lyrids meteor shower. Beginning around 11 p.m. local time you can expect to see a dozen or so meteors per hour from a dark sky location. The show intensifies after midnight and into the pre-dawn hours of the 22nd. As meteor showers go, this one isn’t at the same level as the Geminids of December or even the Perseids of August, but it’s a nice evening under the stars in cool spring skies before the mosquitoes hatch.

Thursday, Apr. 24, 2025 (morning): The thin crescent moon is visible off to the right of bright Venus in the eastern sky about a half-hour before sunrise.

Friday, Apr. 25, 2025 (morning): The thin crescent Moon has moved to the lower left of Venus. Both are visible in the eastern sky just before dawn.

Sunday, Apr. 27, 2025: New Moon

Tuesday, Apr. 29, 2025 (evening): The crescent Moon reprises its appearance with Jupiter, although this time they are too far apart to fit into the view through binoculars at the same time. The Moon is slightly below and to Jupiter’s right this evening after sunset.

Also tonight, Mars begins its approach to the Beehive star cluster (also known as Messier 44 or M44) in the constellation of Cancer the Crab. While the cluster is just a faint smudge in binoculars, a small telescope shows a few dozen stars. Mars will skirt the northern edge of the cluster during the first week or May, making for interesting pictures for small telescope users.

Wednesday, Apr. 30, 2025 (morning): You might be able to glimpse Saturn through binoculars starting today if you’re up early. Start looking about 5:30 am local time. First, find Venus, which is the brightest (and probably only) “star” you will see in the bright twilight glow in the east. Put Venus near the “10 o’clock” position in your binoculars, and then look for a really faint object near the “4 o’clock” position. That’s Saturn. It will likely only be visible for a short window between when it rises and when the sky is too bright to see it/

Wednesday, Apr. 30, 2025 (evening): The crescent Moon stands above Jupiter in the western sky after sunset.

People stare up at the northern lights above them.

Outside of the regular events listed above, there are other things we see in the sky that can’t always be predicted in advance.

Aurora borealis, the northern lights, are becoming a more common sight again as the Sun goes through the maximum of its 11-year cycle of activity. Particles from the Sun interact with the Earth’s magnetic field and the high upper atmosphere to create glowing curtains of light around the north (and south) magnetic poles of the planet. Manitoba is well-positioned relative to the north magnetic pole to see these displays often, but they still can’t be forecast very far in advance. A site like Space Weather can provide updates on solar activity and aurora forecasts for the next 48 hours. The best way to see the aurora is to spend a lot of time out under the stars, so that you are there when they occur.,

Random meteors (also known as falling or shooting stars) occur every clear night at the rate of about 5-10 per hour. Most people don’t see them because of light pollution from cities, or because they don’t watch the sky uninterrupted for an hour straight. They happen so quickly that a single glance down at your phone or exposure to light can make you miss one.

Satellites are becoming extremely common sights in the hours after sunset and before dawn. Appearing as a moving star that takes a few minutes to cross the sky, they appear seemingly out of nowhere. These range from the International Space Station and Chinese space station Tianhe, which have people living on them full-time, to remote sensing and spy satellites, to burnt-out rocket parts and dead satellites. These can be predicted in advance (or identified after the fact) using a site like Heavens Above by selecting your location.

Scott Young

Planetarium Astronomer

Scott is the Planetarium Astronomer at the Manitoba Museum, developing astronomy and science programs. He has been an informal science educator for more than thirty years, working in the planetarium and science centre field both at The Manitoba Museum and also at the Alice G. Wallace Planetarium in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Scott is an active amateur astronomer and a past-President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

Manitoba Stories: In the Sky

Astronomy

Monday March 31, 2025

UPDATED 2024 Oct 10 0915 CDT

Manitobans will have a chance to catch a comet this October (2024). Comet C/2023 A3, a.k.a. Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS, will be visible in our evening sky beginning about October 11. This article will describe how to see the comet yourself and provide a day-by-day description of its period of best visibility.

Based on its behaviour up until October 10, I am tempering my expectations for this comet a bit. It’s still going to be a great sight, but it won’t be as bright as some have been predicting. The comet will likely need binoculars or a camera to spot it while it’s in the bright twilight over the week of Oct 11-16.

However, the comet’s tail is longer than expected, stretching nearly 45 degrees across the sky – that is about the distance from the horizon to halfway overhead. So even though the comet’s head sets soon after the sun, its tail might be visible sticking up above the horizon much later, when the sky has gotten darker. You’ll still want dark skies free of city lights, and binoculars or a camera, to get the best view.

(Note: While written for Manitoba, this article works for anyone in southern Canada, or at roughly the same latitude of 40-50 degrees North anywhere in the world. So, much of Europe and Asia will have similar views.)

(Second note: Comets are notoriously unpredictable. They can undergo outbursts that make them brighten 100x in an hour; they can also fragment or fizzle out without any obvious explanation. This article presents the best predictions available at the time of writing, and will be updated as conditions change.)

(Third note: While another potentially bright comet, Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS), was discovered recently, this comet will likely not be visible from Manitoba.)

Coloured circles show the orbits of the inner planets around the Sun. A white oval path dives through the plane of the solar system, showing the orbit of Comet 2023 A3.

In September and early October 2024, Comet 2023 A3 was visible from more southerly locations, with the best views coming from the southern hemisphere. This is due to the angle of the comet’s orbit to the plane of the solar system – it came in from the north when still faint, dove down to the southern reaches as it rounded the Sun in late September, and will now be rocketing northward again. The comet passes almost between the Earth and Sun on October 9, and after that will begin to appear in the evening sky.

There are two factors which influence the comets visibility in October: how far away from the Sun it is, and how far away from the Earth it is. In general, the comet is intrinsically brightest when it is closest to the Sun and closest to the Earth, but that doesn’t mean we can see it. When the comet it “brightest”, it will also be so close to the Sun from our point of view that it will be invisible. We have to wait until the comet moves farther from the Sun in our sky so we have a chance to seeing it in a semi-dark sky.

A sunset view of the sky showing the position of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS on October 11, 2024.

Oct 11, 2024: First Glimpse

Baring some unusually outburst from the comet, Manitobans will probably get our first view of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS right after sunset on the evening of October 11th. You’ll need a very flat western horizon, with as few buildings or trees in the way as possible; a flat prairie or even the ocean-like horizon of Lake Winnipeg will be perfect. You’ll also want to be away from any local light pollution – outside the city, and away from any streetlights or houselights that will interfere with your view.

Sunset is a few minutes before 6:30 p.m. local time, and as soon as the Sun is fully below the horizon, start scanning the sky along the horizon with your binoculars. Once they sky darkens a bit, you’ll spot Venus, a useful signpost to the comet for the rest of the week. The comet may become visible as a small fuzzy round spot in the bright twilight sky around 7:15 p.m., but the comet is setting so that as the sky darkens, the comet sinks into the murky air near the horizon. Just spotting it tonight will be an accomplishment and a harbinger of things to come.

Don’t give up once the comet official “sets” about 8 p.m. local time – that time is for the comet’s “head”. The tail is extending roughly straight up from the horizon and may become visible as the sky darkens. The geometry of the comet relative to the Earth and Sun changes daily this week, so it’s hard to say how long the tail will be or whether it is bright enough to see on its own – stayed tuned!

A sunset view of the sky showing the position of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS on October 12, 2024.

Oct. 12, 2024: Easier to Spot

In just a day, the comet has moved higher in our sky. From this point, things just get better in terms of the comet’s elevation, giving us more time to spot the comet before it sets. You’ll be able to see it longer after sunset, which means it will be visible in a darker sky. Darker skies will be required for spotting the comet’s tail visually, but a camera might pull some of the faint tail out of the twilight (see “imaging the Comet” below).

On October 12th, the comet will be higher in the sky than Venus, but you’ll still want a clear western horizon.

A sunset view of the sky showing the position of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS on October 13, 2024.

Oct. 13, 2024: Getting Better

The comet is more than a binocular field above the horizon tonight, so you’ll have to sweep around a bit to spot it. The comet should still be bright, and you might even see it without binoculars. The image shows the view at 7:30 p.m. local time, but you can afford to wait even later to see if the view improves as the sky darkens. The comet’s tail actually stretches well off the top of the map, and so even after the “head” of the comet has set, the tail may become visible as the sky darkens. Don’t go home too early!

A sunset view of the sky showing the position of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS on October 14, 2024.

Oct. 14, 2024: Elevation versus Distance

From tonight on, we see how the competing factors of the comet’s elevation above our horizon versus its increasing distance will play out. The comet is actually fading as it moves farther away from us and as the tail appears foreshortened (it’s pointing generally towards the earth, which should make it appear shorter but brighter). Improving the situation is the comet’s greater altitude above the horizon, and the chance to see it in a darker sky after sunset.

It’s still worth getting out early to see how early you can spot the comet, but the best views might come slightly later each night, perhaps as late as 8:00 p.m. local instead of 7:30 p.m. There will be a period of best visibility each night that will probably last for 15 minutes or so as the various factors of sky brightness, altitude, and sky conditions align, but forecasting exactly when that will occur is impossible. The more time you are out observing the comet, the more likely you will get a memorable view.

A sunset view of the sky showing the position of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS on October 15, 2024.

Oct. 15, 2024: Fading Away

Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS will be visible above the western horizon at sunset until at least December, but at some point it will fade enough that you will need a telescope to see it. It will probably remain visible in binoculars until late October, but the changing angles will mean the tail fades quickly after this date. The comet will be more of a round puffball than the typical “comet with a tail” shape, but may still be fascinating to view. Remember, that puffball has likely never been this close to Earth before and may not return to our vicinity for tens of thousands of years, if ever, so this literally is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Imaging the Comet

As always, imaging will show more of the comet’s tail than is visible to the eyes, so you might see impressive images flooding your social media feed for days or weeks to come. Just remember, electronic cameras, even those in a typical cellphone, can show much fainter objects than our eyes can see. But there is something magical about viewing the actual light from an object, individual particles of light than have travelled millions of kilometers to end up inside your eyeball and stimulating your brain to see them.

If you manage to record images of Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS, we’d love to see them! Email them to space@manitobamuseum.ca. We’ll show the best ones on Dome@Home, our award-winning online astronomy show, which runs the last Thursday of every month on the Manitoba Museum’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Scott Young

Planetarium Astronomer

Scott is the Planetarium Astronomer at the Manitoba Museum, developing astronomy and science programs. He has been an informal science educator for thirty years, working in the planetarium and science centre field both at The Manitoba Museum and also at the Alice G. Wallace Planetarium in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Scott is an active amateur astronomer and a past-President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

Manitoba Stories: In the Sky

Astronomy

Monday March 31, 2025

The Sky for April 2025

Astronomy

Friday February 28, 2025

The Sky for March 2025

Astronomy

Wednesday January 29, 2025

The Sky for February 2025

August brings the return of some planets to the evening sky, the most famous meteor shower of the year, and longer nights than we’ve seen for a couple of months. The Milky Way is on full display, offering an unforgettable view from a dark, moonless sky. Unfortunately all of these benefits will likely be offset by smoke in the air from forest fires across Canada, which has become a fixture of summertime observing for the last several years.

The Perseid Meteor Shower

The annual Perseid meteor shower is the most famous meteor shower of the year, although it is not the best one of the year. Its occurrence in August during summer vacation likely makes it more accessible than the much better Geminids, which occur in mid-December. For a complete rundown on the Perseid meteor shower, check out this blog post.

2024 is a good year for the Perseids, since the peak time occurs with the Moon out of the sky. The thing about meteor showers is, they peak in the few hours before dawn for any given location. So to see the Perseids at their best, you want to observe from about 1:30 a.m. to dawn. There will be almost no meteors before midnight – you might see one or two, and the ones you do see will likely be bright ones, but it won’t be much of a “shower” unless you stay up all night.

To observe the Perseids, get away from city lights. Light pollution will wash out the fainter meteors, and there are a lot more faint meteors than bright ones. Bring a reclining lawn chair and blanket to ward off the early-morning chill, and set up facing the darkest part of the sky (or straight up, if you’re in a nice dark spot). Turn off your electronic devices and your car’s lights – any stray light will make it hard to see the meteors for you and anyone near you. The meteors only last a second or two, so you need to watch the sky continuously – literally, don’t blink or you’ll miss it.

You can also try and take pictures of meteors – set up your camera on a tripod and take a bunch of time exposures of the sky. If you’re lucky, a meteor will happen while you’re taking a picture.

We’d love to show your Perseid pics on Dome@Home, our online astronomy show. Send them to space@manitobamuseum.ca and then tune in to our August 28th show at 7 p.m. Central on the Museum’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

The Solar System

Finally, some planets are visible in the evening sky! Barely…

Mercury is still on the evening side of the sky, but in August it sets just after the Sun and so isn’t visible for Canadian viewers. Folks farther south still have have a chance to catch it early in the month, low in the west just after sunset.

Venus has appeared in the evening sky, although like Mercury it is still low in the sky; only its great brightness allows it to be spotted very low soon after sunset. The thin crescent moon is nearby on August 5th.

Mars rises about 2 a.m. local time in the northeast, inconspicuous compared to nearby Jupiter and both the Pleaides and Hyades star clusters. Mars and Jupiter pass less than half a degree apart on the morning of August 14th; see the Sky Calendar entry below for details.

Jupiter is the brightest “star” in the eastern sky after midnight, outshining all the visible stars as it cruises through the stars of Taurus. The waning crescent Moon is nearby on the morning of August 27.

Saturn rises about 11 p.m. local time early in the month, and moves into the south by dawn. The ringed planet reaches opposition on September 8, so it’s coming into its best viewing position for the year. The rings are only tilted about 4 degrees to our line of sight, making them appear very thin from our point of view. The nearly-full Moon is to Saturn’s left on the evening of the 21st.

Sky Calendar for August 2024

Click on highlighted dates for a star chart showing the view!

Aug 4: New Moon

Aug 11 – Aug 12 (morning sky): Best viewing for the annual Perseids meteor shower; see featured article above. Decent rates should occur the morning before and after as well.

Aug 12 (evening sky): First Quarter Moon

Aug 14 (morning sky): Jupiter and Mars are close together in the morning sky, separated by less than the size of the Full Moon. They’re still pretty close the morning before and after this date.

Aug 19: Full Moon

Aug 20-21 (after midnight into morning sky): The waxing gibbous Moon is to the left of and slightly above Saturn. The two are only about 3 degrees (6 Full Moon diameters) apart, fitting easily into the same binocular field-of-view.

Aug 26: Last Quarter Moon

Aug 27 (morning sky): The waning crescent Moon is above Jupiter, rising together in the morning sky about 1 a.m. local time in the morning sky. Mars is below and to the left, forming a not-quite-right triangle. The red supergiant star Aldebaran is to Jupiter’s right along with the Hyades star cluster, with the Pleaides above them all. The morning rising of these star clusters remind us that winter is coming.

Aug 28 (morning sky): The Moon, Mars, and Jupiter form a very squashed triangle pointing downwards in the eastern sky before dawn.

Aug: 29 (morning sky): By this morning the Moon has moved farther on, still forming a rough line with Mars and Jupiter in the early morning sky.

Scott Young

Planetarium Astronomer

Manitoba Stories: In the Sky

Astronomy

Monday March 31, 2025

The Sky for April 2025

Astronomy

Friday February 28, 2025

The Sky for March 2025

Astronomy

Wednesday January 29, 2025

The Sky for February 2025

December provides long winter nights for observing and features the best meteor shower of the year as well as the return of the winter constellations to early evening prominence. Colder temperatures can make observing more difficult, since astronomy is not an aerobic activity! Dress in layers, and plan for a temperature at least 10 degrees colder than the forecast. Good boots and a warm hat are the most important accessories.

Visible Solar System

Saturn is nearly gone, low in the southwest after darkness falls. This hasn’t been a great year for observing the ringed planet since it has been so low in the sky from Manitoba.

Jupiter is already fairly high in the east-southeast as darkness falls, and rises into the south by mid-evening, providing clear views for Canadian observers. Binoculars show several of its four largest moons, and a telescope will reveal cloud bands and structure in the gas giant planet’s atmosphere.

Venus rises about 4 a.m. local time at the beginning of December. It stands about 20 degrees up in the southeast before dawn but rises later and loses altitude throughout the month.

Mercury begins to creep above the eastern horizon at dawn towards the end of the month but is more easily visible in the first week of January. Even so, Manitobans will have a tough time spotting it in the bright twilight just before sunrise. We’ll have a better chance in March when Mercury is visible in the evening sky.

Mars is on the far side of the Sun this month, too close to the Sun to be visible in the morning sky.

Calendar of Celestial Events

(All event dates and times are local times for Manitoba – Central Standard Time. Almost all events are visible across Canada, though – just use your local time instead. The exception is an event like the Solstice or a specific phase of the Moon, which happens at a specific time and date. In those cases, you have to adjust to your local time by adding or subtracting time zones.)

Mon 4 Dec 2023: Last Quarter Moon occurs just before midnight Manitoba time tonight, so many calendars that use Eastern Time or Universal/Greenwich Time will show it on Dec 5th instead.

Sat 9 Dec 2023 (morning): The waning crescent Moon is 4° to Venus’ lower right.

Tue 12 Dec 2023: New Moon

Wed 13 Dec 2023 (evening) through Thu 14 Dec 2023 (Thu): The annual Geminid meteor shower peaks overnight, with the nearly new Moon providing dark skies. With a theoretical rate of over a hundred meteors per hour for most of Canada, this is the meteor shower to see. You’ll want to get to dark rural skies and be well-prepared for a long night of winter observing. Pay particular attention to your vehicle if the temperatures are low, as being stuck in the middle of nowhere on a cold December night can be dangerous.

The Geminids are also one of the few meteor showers that are active before midnight, making them a bit more accessible than other showers such as the Perseids in August, which are at their best in the few hours before dawn. For details on how to turn your meteor watching into scientifically useful data, visit the International Meteor Organization’s Geminid page.

Sun 17 Dec 2023 (evening): The waxing crescent Moon is about 3° below Saturn.

Tue 19 Dec 2023: First Quarter Moon

Thu 21 Dec 2023 (evening): The waxing gibbous Moon is far to Jupiter’s right.

Thu 21 Dec 2023: Also tonight, the winter solstice occurs at 9:27 p.m. CST, marking the sun’s farthest movement south in our skies. This translates into the late sunsets and long winter nights of winter. After this date, the sun will rise earlier each day, and the number of daylight hours will begin to increase.

Fri 22 Dec 2023 (evening): The waxing gibbous Moon is far to Jupiter’s left.

Tue 26 Dec 2023: Full Moon

Thu 28 Dec 2023 (evening): The Manitoba Museum’s award-winning online astronomy show Dome@Home airs at 7 p.m. CST, live on the Museum’s Facebook and YouTube pages. Dome@Home covers the celestial sights and events visible in the coming month, and highlights some of the cool space stuff that’s happened in recent weeks.

Sun 31 Dec 2023: The last day of the Gregorian calendar which is used in most parts of the world including Canada.

To find when the International Space Station and other satellites are visible from your location, visit Heavens-Above.com and set your location.

For information on Manitoba’s largest astronomy club, visit the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada – Winnipeg Centre.