April 2024 MAC Newsletter

April Sky Happenings
Last Quarter:April 1st
New Moon:April 8th
Total Solar EclipseApril 8th
First Quarter:April 15th
Lyrid Meteor Shower peeks(ZHR: 18)April 22nd
Full Moon:April 23rd, the Pink Moon

Mercury - Not visible until the 23rd, then in the morning sky in Pisces.
Venus - Not visible this month.
Mars - Visible in the morning sky in Aquarius, then in Pisces after the 25th.
Jupiter - Visible in the evening sky in Aries.
Saturn - Visible in the morning sky in Aquarius.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks at magnitude 4.9 in Aries. Comes closet to Earth in early April. Look for it during Totality on April 8th!
Comet C/2021 S3 PANSTARRS at magnitude 10.5 in Sagitta.
April Sky Charts:
Mid April looking South at 9:30pm EDT. Image created with SkySafari 6 for Mac OS X, �2010-2018 Simulation Curriculum Corp., skysafariastronomy.com.
Mid April looking North at 9:30pm EDT. Image created with SkySafari 6 for Mac OS X, �2010-2018 Simulation Curriculum Corp., skysafariastronomy.com.
Maximum Total Solar Eclipse Sky Chart:
April 8th looking Southwest at 3:09pm EDT. Image created with SkySafari 6 for Mac OS X, �2010-2018 Simulation Curriculum Corp., skysafariastronomy.com.

Glen Sharp captured this image of Thor's Helmet Nebula in Canis Major:

Thors Helmet Nebula

Chris O'Brien recently captured this image of the active Sun in Hydrogen Alpha:

The Sun in hydrogen alpha

Announcements:

Here's the Zoom info for the April meeting:

Join Zoom Meeting

Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89919921647?pwd=b09xaTg1ajYrYW9pa3FJVmJBOEM5UT09
Meeting ID: 899 1992 1647
Passcode: 302778

Astrophotographers are invited to join the National Press Photography Association (NPPA) meeting on Wednesday, April 3rd at 5pm at the Art and Journalism building's UML Conference room on Ball State's campus.

Volunteers are needed to support the club's outreach event at Minnetrista on April 8th.

Dan Malone will be giving Eclipse presentations on both April 5th and April 6th at 7pm at the Mounds State Park Nature Center.

The club has a few used Televue eyepieces for sale. Contact Fred Hicks, Dan Malone or Chris O'Brien if you're interested in purchasing.

Have you watched an interesting astronomy related YouTube video, listened to a podcast, or read an online article? Send me the link, and I'll share it with the rest of the club.

Are you doing astrophotography? Send me your latest images, and I'll publish them for the club to see.

Do you have equipment to sale, or are looking for a specific item to buy? Let me know and I'll get the word out to the rest of the club.



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