Upcoming Events:
 

May 15	Thu	Full Moon: total lunar eclipse
May 22	Thu	Third quarter Moon
May 26—29	Mon—Thu	Deep Sky Observing: first clear night
May 29	Thu	Venus, Mercury, and the Moon in conjunction at dawn
May 31	Sat	New Moon
May 31	Sat	CAO Open House
Jun 2—5	Mon—Thu	City Observing: first clear night
Jun 3	Tue	Mercury at greatest elongation west (morning sky)
Jun 7	Sat	First quarter Moon
June 9	Mon	Pluto at opposition
Jun 14	Sat	Full Moon

 

Virgo:
 
 

Double stars:
 

Star	Colour	Magnitude	Separation	Position Angle
g Gamma: Porrima	yellow yellow	3.5, 3.5	< 1.8"	267°
qTheta	white yellow ?	4.4, 9.4, 10.4	7.1", 69.6"	343°, 298°
f Phi	yellow orange blue	4.8, 9.3, 12.4	4.8", 93"	110°, 205°

Variables:
 

Name	Type	Range	Per	Charts
R Vir	Mira	6.9-11.5	146d	http://www.aavso.org/charts/VIR/R_VIR/RVIR-B.GIF http://www.aavso.org/charts/VIR/R_VIR/RVIR-C.GIF http://www.aavso.org/charts/VIR/R_VIR/RVIR-D.GIF
U Vir	Mira	8.2-13.1	207d	http://www.aavso.org/charts/VIR/RU_VIR/RUVIR-B.GIF http://www.aavso.org/charts/VIR/U_VIR/UVIR-D.GIF

Deep sky objects:

These include the three Messiers which lie outside the main Virgo Cluster of galaxies, two nice paired galaxies within the Virgo Cluster, and the brightest quasar, about the most distant object observable with amateur telescopes.
 

Object	NSOG	Type	Magnitude	Surface brightness
Messier 61	*****	Galaxy	9.6	13.4
NGC 4435 The Eyes	***	Galaxy	10.8	12.5
NGC 4438 The Eyes	***	Galaxy	10.2	13.6
3C 273 = HIP60936	**	Quasar	12.0	­
Messier 49	*****	Galaxy	8.4	13.2
NGC 4568 Siamese Twins	***	Galaxy	10.8	13.1
NGC 4567 Siamese Twins	***	Galaxy	11.3	13.1
Messier 104 Sombrero	*****	Galaxy	8.0	11.6

There are good charts for finding 3C 273 on the AAVSO web site:
 http://charts.aavso.org/VIR/3C_273/3C273-B.GIF
 http://charts.aavso.org/VIR/3C_273/3C273-D.GIF