ALERT NEWSLETTER – May 2025

Hi Everyone, I hope this finds you doing well & that you have been enjoying these cool spring days.

Our May 13 ALERT meeting will feature our annual elections.

Positions to be decided are President, Vice President, Treasurer/Membership and Secretary.

Those recommended by the Nominating Committee and any nominations from the floor (made by a current ALERT Operational Member) and any volunteers for those positions will be voted on by secret ballot, or acclamation if no other nominations exist from the floor.

If you are a paid up Operational Member or Supporting Member, which is a member interested in Amateur Radio, Skywarn or Emergency Communications, but doesn’t have a ham license, you may vote in the 2025-2026 ALERT leadership elections.

The officers will assume their positions at the July meeting.

July is also when ALERT dues are due. Remember, if you wish to respond to ALERT callouts or serve as an officer you MUST be current with your dues.

May your May be a happy one!

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2025 Hurricane Outlooks

Colorado State University has issued its outlook for the 2025 tropical season, which runs from June 1 to November.

EXTENDED-RANGE FORECAST OF ATLANTIC HURRICANE ACTIVITY FOR 2025

Their forecast predicts an “above average” season with 17 named storms during the Atlantic hurricane season. Of those, researchers expect 9 to become hurricanes and 4 to reach major hurricane strength of Category 3 or greater, with sustained winds of 111 miles per hour or greater.

There is a 51% chance for at least one major hurricane to strike the United States. The average from 1880 – 2020 is 43%.

There is a 26% chance for at least one major hurricane to strike the US East coast including the Florida Peninsula. The average from 1880 – 2020 is 21%.

There is a 33% chance for at least one major hurricane to strike the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle to Brownsville Texas. The average from 1880 – 2020 is 27%.

There is a 56% chance of a major hurricane striking in the Caribbean.

Per CSU, the likelihood that coastal states will be impacted by a hurricane during the 2025 season is:

• Alabama: Alabama has a 67% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 34% chance of a hurricane and a 10% chance of a major hurricane
• Connecticut: Connecticut has a 27% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 9% chance of a hurricane and a 2% chance of a major hurricane
• Delaware: Delaware has a 28% chance of being impacted by a named storm, an 8% chance of a hurricane and a 1% chance of a major hurricane
• Florida: Florida has a 92% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 65% chance of a hurricane and a 35% chance of a major hurricane
• Georgia: Georgia has a 72% chance of being impacted by a named storm, an 37% chance of a hurricane and an 8% chance of a major hurricane
• Louisiana: Louisiana has a 74% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 46% chance of a hurricane and an 18% chance of a major hurricane
• Maine: Maine has a 26% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 9% chance of a hurricane and a 2% chance of a major hurricane
• Maryland: Maryland has a 37% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 13% chance of a hurricane and a 1% chance of a major hurricane
• Massachusetts: Massachusetts has a 40% chance of being impacted by a named storm, an 18% chance of a hurricane and a 4% chance of a major hurricane
• Mississippi: Mississippi has a 62% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 35% chance of a hurricane and a 9% chance of a major hurricane
• New Hampshire: New Hampshire has a 22% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 7% chance of a hurricane and a 2% chance of a major hurricane
• New Jersey: New Jersey has a 28% chance of being impacted by a named storm in 2025, a 9% chance of a hurricane and a 1% chance of a major hurricane.
• New York: New York has a 32% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 12% chance of a hurricane and a 3% chance of a major hurricane
• North Carolina: North Carolina has a 76% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 46% chance of a hurricane and a 9% chance of a major hurricane
• Rhode Island: Rhode Island has a 25% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 9% chance of a hurricane and a 2% chance of a major hurricane
• South Carolina: South Carolina has a 66% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 35% chance of a hurricane and a 10% chance of a major hurricane
• Texas: Texas has a 70% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 44% chance of a hurricane and a 19% chance of a major hurricane
• Virginia: Virginia has a 54% chance of being impacted by a named storm, a 24% chance of a hurricane and a 2% chance of a major hurricane

Per CSU “Current La Niña conditions are likely to transition to ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) neutral conditions in the next couple of months; however, there remains considerable uncertainty as to what the phase of ENSO will be this summer and fall. Sea surface temperatures across the eastern and central Atlantic are generally warmer than normal, but not as warm as they were last year at this time. A warmer-than-normal tropical Atlantic combined with likely ENSO neutral (or potential La Niña) conditions typically provides a more conducive dynamic and thermodynamic environment for hurricane formation and intensification. We anticipate an above-average probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the continental United States coastline and in the Caribbean. As with all hurricane seasons, coastal residents are reminded that it only takes one hurricane making landfall to make it an active season. Thorough preparations should be made every season, regardless of predicted activity.”

AccuWeather’s 2025 Atlantic hurricane outlook calls for an “dynamic” season with 13 – 18 named storms. Of those storms, 7 to 10 are forecast to become hurricanes, 3 to 5 being major hurricanes and 4 to 6 hurricanes are likely to hit the United States.

Hurricane season forecast 2025

The UK Tropical Storm Risk,com outlook on the other hand calls the season to be close to the 1991-2020 30-year norm, with 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes and 3 “intense” hurricanes, with the US being visited by 4 tropical storms and 2 hurricanes, intensity unpredictable.

TSRATLForecastApril2025.pdf

A “Normal” season sees about 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes.

The active 2024 Atlantic hurricane season featured 18 named storms, 11 hurricanes and of those 11, 5 becoming major hurricanes, including multiple Category 5 hurricanes.

Of those 18 storms, only six directly impacted the US.

The 2025 North Atlantic Basin Tropical Cyclone names are Andrea, Barry, Chantal, Dexter, Erin,
Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Imelda, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Nestor, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van & Wendy.

If so many storms occur that the 2025 list is depleted, the storm names will revert to the World Meteorological Organization supplemental list of names: Adria, Braylen, Caridad, Deshawn, Emery, Foster, Gemma, Heath, Isla, Jacobus, Kenzie, Lucio, Makayla, Nolan, Orlanda, Pax, Ronin, Sophie, Tayshaun, Viviana and Will.

The National Hurricane Center will issue their outlook in May.

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A Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Radio Frequency Spectrum – Part 3

Our journey so far has taken us through the staticky realm of the AM band, 160 meters and the jungle of 75 Meter nets, pausing with the faithful tick, tick, tick of WWV on 5 MHz.

As we continue our Grand Tour of the Radio Frequency Spectrum we come across an unusual ham frequency. The Alaska Statewide Emergency Frequency on 5167.5 KHz.

This frequency, which is shared with other services, is only used during emergencies, and not for casual operations. USB is used and stations are limited to 150 Watts.

Many radios have this frequency built in; however, you need to go into the radio’s menu to activate the frequency.

While researching this frequency, the Alaska ARES site had some interesting hints for operations that can apply to general operations, SOTA, POTA or WOTA (Summits On The Air, Parks On The Air & Walmarts On The Air).

“HF Operations: Use headphones for better listening………In power emergencies, a 100W rig at 25W saves batteries and is only 1 “S” unit weaker. Reducing CW speed improves copy. Know the standard phonetic alphabet.”

https://www.qsl.net/aresalaska/training/ARES_Emergency_communications_guide.htm#Part%204%20%E2%80%93%20Operating

In addition to the recommendation regarding headphones and reducing the output power, I totally agree with reducing CW speed. There seems to be more of an emphasis on high speed CW now than when we were sweating trying to reach 20 WPM for the Extra code exam. In those days 20 WPM was considered “high speed”, not “moderate speed” as it is today. I have been known to copy 30 WPM, but using a straight key I send 18 WPM at best, and it be legible. So rather than torture other operators with lousy sending, I stick to speeds between 12 to 18 WPM. Which might torture them anyway by me being too slow. At higher speeds, maybe due to too many years and or too much rock and roll, I can’t hear the dots. Plus, high speeds are just not enjoyable to me. If the cat sneezes or the dog passes gas, you have lost half of the contact. Hobbies are supposed to be fun.

Soooo….if you feel that need for speed, please consider slowing down just a bit for us snails.

You probably will make more contacts if you do.

Next we come to the 60 Meter Amateur Band.

60 Meters, which is open to General, Advanced and Extra Classes, is unique as it is the only channelized US ham band. It is allocated on a secondary basis, and if the primary users, the US Government & military, are active, hams must refrain from operating. Only one signal is permitted on any channel, and hams are limited to 100 Watts PEP. Sideband signals are limited to 2.8 kHz bandwidth and CW and digital signals must be centered 1.5 kHz above the voice frequencies.

There are a few beacons you may hear on:

5195.0 kHz Germany DRA5
5205.25 kHz Luxembourg LX0HF
5288.8 kHz Croatia 9A5ADI/B
5291.0 kHz Switzerland HB9AW

US channels per “dial frequency” (and other countries frequencies allocations can and do vary) and their unofficial uses are:

5.330.5 MHz – Channel 1 – Calling Frequency
5.346.5 MHz – Channel 2
5.357.0 MHz – Channel 3 – Data, RTTY, FT8
5.371.5 MHz – Channel 4 – Secondary DX Window
5.403.5 MHz – Channel 5 – Primary DX Window

A couple of items to note; many radios, such as the Yaesu FT-450 & FT-817 have 60 Meters built in as memory channels. Older models have 5368 kHz as Channel 3. In March 2012, the FCC per the ARRL recommendation changed Channel 3 from 5368 kHz to 5357 kHz citing it’s being “heavily used by one of the primary users.”

So, before you transmit on Channel 3, you need to verify that it is the correct frequency.

On the channels I hear occasional CW and voice signals. One night two stations, one in Mississippi and one in Texas, who seemed to be long acquaintances, tied up the “DX window” for hours on end having a 75 Meter like bromance. And, since there are only four or five channels available, to me it seemed inconsiderate to other users. But at least they proved my receiver was working.

Moving on up the dial, an Aeronautical Band lies from 5.480 – 5.730 MHz.

Here you will find aeronautical weather from Shannon Ireland VOLMET on 5.505 MHz and calls to aircraft over the Caribbean and North Atlantic from New York’s Air Traffic Control on 5.555 & 5.598 MHz respectively.

The 49 Meter Shortwave Band stretches from 5.900 to 6.200 MHz. which is a good year-round nighttime band, though daytime long distance reception poor.

6.200 to 6.525 MHz is the Fixed Band

6.525 to 6.725 MHz is another Aeronautical Band.

Here you will find aeronautical weather from Gander Newfoundland VOLMET on 6.604 MHz and calls to aircraft over the Caribbean and North Atlantic from New York’s Air Traffic Control on 6.577 & 6.628 MHz respectively.

New Yorks’s LDOC or Long Distance Operations Control phone patches to aircraft from is at 6.640 MHz.

From 6.765 to 7.000 MHz one might find pirate radio stations in AM or SSB and fishing vessels, or “Pescadores”, legal or otherwise.

Occasionally and particularly is this area you will hear someone repeating a sequence of numbers, especially in Spanish.

These are sometimes called “numbers stations” or “Spy and Numbers” stations.

These appear at irregular intervals up and down the band, but, usually just below the 40 meter band. They were always in AM, and though I have heard them in English and German, the strongest were in Spanish, usually female, with a strange regularly spaced clacking sound in the background.

The typical format is as follows:

Either at the top or the bottom of the hour after about 20 minutes of a carrier with that strange clacking sound, the call would begin something like this:

“Attencion, attencion…..quatro cinco uno…..quatro cinco uno…..quarto cinco uno…
uno ocho sies ocho quatro ocho tres uno tres……repeata….. uno ocho sies ocho quatro ocho tres uno tres…..fine…fine…”

And then the signal would disappear as mysteriously as it had appeared.

What were these signals?

The leading theory was that they originated in Cuba and were being sent to covert operatives in the US. But, nothing could ever be proved.

Until now.

Recently Dateline NBC had the story of an ex-Soviet spy who defected and fell off the radar and for decades lived and raised a family using an assumed identity. In the story he said he received his instructions “from numbers given in Spanish on a shortwave radio from Cuba”.

Mystery solved. But, how did it work?

The following is what I was told by a gentleman, now deceased who was in the Air Force OSI – Office Of Special Investigations.

The code was an unbreakable code.

To use it you simply needed two people with two identical books, with the same publisher and edition. Which book didn’t matter really. It could be Macbeth, The Gospel of Luke, The ALERT Newsletter, etc.

They just had to have the same page number, paragraph and word location.

The first three numbers given after the “Attencion” was the operative’s number.

The long sequence of numbers told where to look in the book.

“uno ocho sies ocho quatro ocho tres uno tres” or in English “106040313”

Which meant Page 106, Paragraph 04, Line 03, Word 13

They would simply write down the numbers and look them up in the book.

But, which book? That’s what made it unbreakable. Only the two parties involved knew which book, and they would change that on a regular basis or as needed.

Let’s say Agent 008 (that’s 007’s clutzy partner) needed money. He might use the Gideon Bible, and choose:

“my God will meet all your NEEDS according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” and then
“For the love of MONEY is the root of all evil…”

After deciphering the page, paragraph and locating words 7 & 5 the recipient would that know Agent 008 “needs money”.

And that is the mystery of the Spy & Numbers stations.

Next we will come to the 40 Meter Amateur Band.

40 Meters will give you coverage out to roughly 300 miles during the day and coast to coast and beyond at night. Like 80 / 75 Meters, 40 is very noisy during thunderstorm season at night.

The 40 Meter ham band and 41 Meter Shortwave band overlap each other, so at night Shortwave Broadcast stations will barrel in from 7.200 to 7.300 MHz, making life miserable. This is normal and to be expected. And it is better than the old days, when you would hear stations all the way down to 7.100 MHz trashing out the old Novice Band. Though they did make excellent tune-up frequencies back in the day, or so it was rumored.

41 Meter Shortwave reception varies by region, with reasonably good night reception, but few transmitters in this band target North America, they just interfere with their ham neighbors.

Also, stuck almost in the middle of the CW Sub band is a voice Sub band stretching from 7.075 to 7.100 MHz for ITU Regions 1 & 3, and FCC regions west of 130° West Longitude and below 20° North Latitude. But, continental US hams can’t use this voice segment. So, if you tune there and hear voice signals from afar, it’s ok and normal. You just can’t talk to them – unless you use CW and work cross mode, which is perfectly legal, but, might confuse the heck out of them.

The voice section of 40, except for AM, uses LSB. There are various nets and long QSO’s, similar to 75 Meters.

The Band plan for 40 Meters is as follows:

7.000 MHz Begin Extra CW/ Data Sub band
7.025 MHz Begin Novice, Technician, General & Advanced CW / Data Sub band
7.040 MHz RTTY / Data DX Window
7.052 MHz Fifth Region Net Summer Daily 7:30 PM & 9:30 PM CT
Central Area Net Daily 8:30 PM
7.074 MHz FT8
7.075 MHz Begin Region 1 & 3 Voice Sub band
7.080 MHz Begin Region 2 RTTY / Data
7.125 MHz End Novice, Technician, General & Advanced CW / Data Sub band
End Region 1 & 3 Voice Sub band
End Begin Region 2 RTTY / Data
Begin Advanced & Extra Voice Sub band
7.171 Mhz SSTV Window
7.175 MHz Begin General Sub band
7.198 MHz Northern Florida ARES Mon – Sat 8:00 AM
7.200 MHz Begin 41 Meter Shortwave Band
7.242 MHz Northern Florida Phone Net (alternate frequency)
7.243 MHZ Alabama Traffic Net Mike (alternate frequency
7.247 MHz Northern Florida Phone Net (alternate frequency)
7.265 MHz Northern Florida ARES (alternate frequency)
7.268 MHz Hurricane Watch Net Night
7.280 MHz Fifth Region Net Mon – Sat 10:30 AM CT
Sunday 1:30 PM CT
Daily 3:30 PM CT
7.282 MHz Nebraska Northeast 40 Meter Net Daily 11:00 AM
7.285 MHz Texas Traffic Net Mon – Sat 8:30 AM
7.290 MHz AM calling frequency
7.300 MHz End 40 Meter Amateur Band
Begin Fixed / Mobile Band
7.450 MHz End 41 Meter Shortwave Band

CHU in Ottawa, Ontario broadcasts Time & Frequency signals at 7.850 Mhz.

The Fixed / Mobile Band ends further up the band at 8.195 MHz and the Marine Band begins, which stretches to 8.815 MHz.

The 8 MHz Aeronautical Band stretches from 8.815 to 9.040 MHz.

Here you will hear calls to aircraft over the North Atlantic and the Caribbean from New York’s Air Traffic Control on 8.846 & the Northeastern US on 8.825 MHz.

New Yorks’s LDOC or Long Distance Operations Control phone patches to aircraft from is at 8.933 MHz.

Aeronautical weather from Gander Newfoundland VOLMET is on 8.957 MHz.

The 31 Meter Shortwave Broadcast Band, the most heavily used Shortwave Band, stretches from 9.400 to 9.900 MHz. This band is a good year-round night band; seasonal during the day, with best reception in winter.

And finally at 10.000 MHz, you find WWV in Fort Collins Colorado & WWVH – Kekaha, HI broadcasting Time & Frequency Standard signals.

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Mark’s Almanac

May is the fifth month & third month of the Roman calendar. May is named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was identified with, Bona Dea, the Goddess of Fertility, who was celebrated in May.

Since ancient times the first day of the month, “May Day” has been a time of celebration. In Rome it honored Flora, the goddess of flowers.

On May the fifth Mexican’s celebrate Cinco De Mayo, the celebration of Mexico’s 1862 victory over Napoleon III’s forces at Puebla. This is not, as many assume, Mexico’s Independence Day, which is actually on September 16.

Rainfall decreases in May as the Azores-Bermuda High strengthens, expands Westward over the Southeastern US & begins rerouting storm systems northward.

The door opens to the Gulf of Mexico & Gulf moisture spreads northward over the continent.

The center of maximum tornadic activity also shifts northward over the Nation’s Heartland. May is the peak tornado month, with a 42% increase over April’s amount.

Eastern Pacific hurricane season begins May 15, and although the North Atlantic hurricane season has not arrived, occasionally a tropical system will form in the Gulf of Mexico. From 1851 to 2023 there have been 27 Tropical Storms and 5 Hurricanes, including an 1863 Category 2 storm, the knowledge of which is based on historical reanalysis by NOAA’s Michael Chenoweth and Cary Mock in 2013 and posthumously given the name Hurricane Amanda, named after, a Union ship the storm washed ashore. It made landfall near Apalachicola Florida.

60% of off-season Hurricanes occur in May.

Days continue to grow longer as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon increases from 71.6 degrees at the beginning of the month to 78.4 degrees at the month’s end. Daylight increases from 13 hours 31 minutes on May 1 to 14 hours 13 minutes on May 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

May 1 Sunrise 5:59 AM Sunset 7:30 PM
May 15 Sunrise 5:47 AM Sunset 7:41 PM
May 30 Sunrise 5:39 AM Sunset 7:52 PM

Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.7 is in Pisces, The Fish.

Mercury, magnitude +0.6 in Pisces, The Fish, is lost in the glow of the Sun.

Mercury will pass behind the Sun, or be in Superior Conjunction on May 29 and will reach his closest distance from the Sun, or perihelion, on May 31.

Venus, magnitude -4.8 in Pisces, The Fish, is an early morning object.

At the first of the month, she will rise at 4:00 AM CDT, reaching an altitude of 19° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:40 AM CDT.

By midmonth he will rise at 3:38 AM CDT, reaching an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:27 AM CDT.

By the end of the month, reaching an altitude of 24° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:19 AM CDT.

Venus will reach her greatest distance above the Sun or Greatest Western Elongation on May 31, when she will be 45.9° degrees from the Sun.

This is the best time to view Venus since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the morning sky. Look for the bright planet in the eastern sky before sunrise.

Earth, and her Moon, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in the constellation Libra, The Scales.

Mars, with his moons Phobos and Deimos magnitude +0.7, in Cancer, The Crab, is an early evening object.

At the beginning of the month, he will become visible around 8:06 PM CDT, 66° above the southwestern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting at 1:40 AM CDT.

By midmonth he becomes visible around 8:20 PM CDT, 57° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting at 1:06 AM CDT.

By the end of the month, he will become visible around 8:33 PM CDT, 47° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting at 12:30 AM CDT.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude +9.3 is in Aquarius, The Water Bearer.

Jupiter, and his 95 moons and (invisible from Earth) ring, magnitude –2.2 is in Taurus, The Bull, is receding into the evening twilight.

At the beginning of the month, he will become visible around 7:45 PM CDT, 32° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting at 10:26 PM CDT.

By midmonth he becomes visible around 7:57 PM CDT, 22° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting at 9:54 PM CDT.

By the end of the month, he will become visible around 8:07 PM CDT, 11° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting at 9:10 PM CDT.

Now, here’s a little secret…

Try listening to the 17 or 15 meter bands when they are closed. Not counting garbage static from LEDs, traffic lights, appliances and other gizmos, you probably will hear the normal background hiss of band noise. This noise is from It comes mainly from noise from atmospheric discharges which are always taking place somewhere in the world and are propagated by the ionosphere. There is also the noise coming from space usually called galactic or cosmic noise, caused by relativistic electrons spiraling in the galactic magnetic field. Both sources sound like white noise.

But, if things in the universe cause the right cosmic dominoes to fall into place, if you hear a sound like waves crashing on a beach, or popcorn popping or a sound like gravel being thrown on a tin roof, you are probably hearing static crashes from radio noise storms on Jupiter.

If you have a Yagi antenna and point it to the eastern horizon when Jupiter is rising, or the western horizon when Jupiter sinking toward the horizon, if Jupiter is 44° or less above the horizon, and if you tune between 18 – 22 MHz, you may hear these static crashes from the giant planet.

18 – 22 MHz is the best frequency range for receiving these signals. You cannot hear these below 15 MHz, due to the Earth’s ionosphere attenuating them or refracting them away, or above 39.5 MHz due to the strength of Jupiter’s magnetic field smothering them.

AM or SSB reception will work. Just remember to turn off the AGC or Automatic Gain Control of the receiver as it can distort the noise bursts.

I would even try seeing if you can catch them using just a dipole or other type of wire antenna.

You never know until you try.

Saturn, and his 274 moons and extensive debris ring system, magnitude +1.2, in Aquarius, is visible in the dawn sky.

At the first of the month, he rises at 4:06 AM, 1 hours and 50 minutes before the Sun, and reaches an altitude of 14° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:19 AM CDT.

Equinox on Saturn will occur May 6.

By midmonth he rises at 3:15 AM, 2 hours and 29 minutes before the Sun and reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:06 AM CDT.

At months end he rises at 2:19 AM, 3 hours and 17 minutes before the Sun and reaches an altitude of 31° above the south-eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 4:57 AM CDT.

Uranus, and his 28 moons and ring, magnitude +5.8 in Taurus, The Bull, is lost in the glow of the Sun.

He will pass behind the Sun on May 17.

Neptune, and his 16 moons and ring, magnitude 7.8 in Pisces, The Fish, is lost in the glow of the Sun for most of the month, until finally emerging into the predawn sky on May 25. rising at 2:35 AM CDT, 3 hours and 2 minutes before the Sun and reaching an altitude of 22° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 4:29 AM CDT.

Dwarf Planet Pluto, the largest Dwarf Planet, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.5 in Capricornus, The Sea Goat.

Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea, her ring and moons Hiʻiaka and Namaka, shines at a faint magnitude of 17.2 in Bootes, The Herdsman.

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) 1, nicknamed MK1 by the discovery team, shines faintly at magnitude +17.1 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris, the second largest Dwarf Planet, and her moon Dysnomia, originally referred to as Xena and Gabrielle, is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude +18.6 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

At least six additional bodies with the preliminary criteria for identifying dwarf planets, and though not “officially” declared as such, are generally called dwarf planets by astronomers as well.

90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude 19.1 in Sagittarius, The Archer.

50000 Quaoar, and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Cetus, The Whale.

90377 Sedna, the coldest, and at one time, the most distant known place in the Solar System, glows faintly at magnitude +20.8 in Taurus, The Bull.

225088 Gonggong, the third largest Dwarf Planet, originally nicknamed Snow White by the discovery team, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.5 magnitude in Pisces, The Fish.

2014 UZ224 nicknamed “DeeDee” for “Distant Dwarf” is 8.5 billion miles from the Sun, at magnitude +23.0 in Eridanus, The River.

120347 Salacia, and her moon Actaea glows at magnitude 20.7 in Gemini, The Twins. Salacia is considered a “borderline” Dwarf Planet. Some astronomers saying she “most certainly is a Dwarf Planet”, while others disagreeing based on her size, saying she is too small to have compressed into a fully solid body, to have been resurfaced, or to have collapsed into “hydrostatic equilibrium”, that is to assume spherical shape like a planet.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, an asteroid unofficially called Asteroid 2018 AG37, and nicknamed FarFarOut, glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.

FarFarOut is currently 12,303,530,741 miles or in Light Time, 18 hours, 20 minutes and 47 seconds from Earth.

The most distant man-made object, Voyager 1, still operating after 47 years, 7 month and 11 days is 15,456,578,007 miles, or in Light Time, 23 hours, 02 minutes 53 Seconds from Earth as of 1:29 PM, April 16, 2025, sailing 38,027 miles per hour through Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.
Voyager – Mission Status (nasa.gov) & Voyager 1 | TheSkyLive

There are 1,445,190 known asteroids and 4,005 comets as of April 16, 2025 per NASA/JPL Solar Dynamics Website JPL Solar System Dynamics (nasa.gov).

Near Earth Object, asteroid 99942 Apophis, is expected to pass within 19,794 miles of the Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029.

Apophis, magnitude +20.1, in Aries, The Ram, is 167,922,322 miles or 1461 days from the Earth as of 1:34 PM, April 16, 2025.

Asteroid 2024 YR4, which will pass though the Earth – Moon system on Wednesday, December 22, 2032, dimly glows at magnitude +27.5, in Cancer, The Crab. It currently is 136,606,531 Miles or 2811 days from the Earth as of 1:37 PM April 16, 2025.

5,869 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of March 18, 2025, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur May 15 at 8:53 AM or 13:53 UTC.

During the Quarter Moons the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.

The Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower, an above average shower, peaks May 6 & 7. It can produce up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak, but most of the activity is seen in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, the rate can reach about 30 meteors per hour, which is still a decent shower. It is produced by dust particles left behind by comet Halley, due to return in a mere 36 years in the summer of 2061. The shower runs annually from April 19 to May 28. It peaks this year on the night of May 6 and the morning of May 7.

The waxing gibbous moon will block out some of the fainter meteors this year. But if you are patient, you still should be able to catch some of the brighter ones. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Aquarius, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

The Moon will be at Apogee, or her farthest point from the Earth on May 10 at 252,429 miles.

Full Moon will occur May 23th at 11:57 AM CDT or 16:57 UTC. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be fully illuminated. May’s Moon is “Flower Moon” in Native American folklore, because of the abundance of spring flowers. It has also been called “Corn Planting Moon” & “Milk Moon”.

During a Full Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -12.7.

This month’s Full Moon is a Micromoon, as it is occurring as the Moon is near her farthest distance from the Earth 251,606 miles.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur May 20 at 7:00 AM or 12:00 UTC.

During the Quarter Moons the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.

The Moon will be at Perigee or its closest distance from Earth on May 25, when she will be 223.087 miles from Earth.

New Moon will occur on May 27 at 10:04 PM CDT or May 28 at 3:04 UTC. The Moon will be located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

Because this New Moon will occur at her closest approach to Earth, this will be a Super New Moon.

In the Northern Sky the Big Dipper, part of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, begins the month upside down, “spilling its water” on Polaris, the North Star, which is the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper or Ursa Minor, the Little Bear.

Interestingly, the Big and Little Dippers are arranged so that when one is upright, the other is upside down. In addition, their handles appear to extend in opposite directions. The Big Dipper is by far the brighter of the two, appearing as a long-handled pan, while the Little Dipper resembles a dim ladle.

The Big Dipper is called by other names across the world. In the Netherlands it’s the “Saucepan”, “The Plough” in England and “The Great Wagon” in other parts of Europe.

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This month’s meeting will be on May13 at 7 PM.

The meeting will be held at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Calera.

I hope to see you there!

Mark Wells
WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter

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