The late evening of Tuesday 4th into the early morning of Wednesday 5th sees an unusual event - a chance to witness the shadows of two Galilean moons as they simultaneously transit across Jupiter's surface. Just before midnight, Jupiter will be located towards the west and the transits of Ganymede and Europa can be observed with your telescope until about 2am on the Wednesday morning.
Pop back outside and look to the west again around 10pm on the Wednesday evening to see Jupiter once more, with a 42%-lit waxing crescent Moon just to the right of it. The constellation of Orion will be to the left of the pair.
The Moon is "waxing" because it is heading towards a Full Moon later in the month on 14th.
Repeat the exercise around 10pm on Saturday 8th and the Moon will be higher in the sky and located more towards the south west. This time it will appear very close to planet Mars. The illumination of the Moon will have passed the "First Quarter" phase and you will now observe it as a 70%-lit waxing gibbous Moon.
This is the optimum time to spot the Clair-Obscur visual effect known as the "Jewelled Handle" on the Moon's surface.
In the art world, the technique known as "Chiaroscuro" refers to the use of strong contrasts between light and dark. In the astronomy world, the French translation of "Clair-Obscur" refers to extreme contrasts on the lunar surface where sunlight falling on the landscape produces obvious shapes at certain times of the month, when the Moon is in a particular phase and light from the Sun is hitting it at a specific angle.
www.starsoversomerset.com
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2025
A major incident has been called in Somerset as agencies step up their response to Storm Chandra. Somerset Council, the Environment Agency and emergency services are working together to support communities following heavy rain and extensive flooding.
Lots of local roads and even some main ones are closed this morning due to flooding. With the overnight rain we've just had, levels are likely to get higher throughout the day.
Somerset Council says it won’t submit any further views on plans to redraw the county’s electoral boundaries, describing the process as “laborious, brutal and challenging”.
Thousands of homes across Somerset are set to benefit from improved flood protection, after major upgrades to three key reservoirs on the Levels and Moors.
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