Pluto is occulted on the 14th for viewers in the extreme south, and Jupiter is 2 degrees north. The following day, the 15th, has Saturn 2 degrees north of the Moon, with Mars 2 degrees north on the 16th. This could be a good photo opportunity for the early riser on one of those days. On the 21st, Mercury and the Moon share the spotlight, but it’s a tough observation with both bodies near the horizon at sunup.
Mercury is in the morning sky before sunrise, and close to the horizon throughout April. It reaches greatest elongation west on the 20th.
Venus is that bright shiny object high in the west at sundown. Is it any wonder the ancients worshipped the planet – it outshines all the rest! It shares the night sky with the Pleiades on the 3rd, just 0.3 degrees apart, and the Moon passes by on the 25th/26th, an occultation for the Eastern Hemisphere. Venus reaches greatest illuminated extent on the 27th, even though it presents a crescent shape and should seemingly be dimmer than when its entire disk is visible. The crescent should be easy to discern through a telescope or binoculars. It was the phases of Venus in the 1600s that led Galileo to believe that Venus orbited the Sun and not the Earth, as was widely believed at the time.
Mars is speeding eastward away from Jupiter and Saturn. The passing Moon is 2 degrees away on the 16th.
Jupiter is the second brightest planet, and easy to spot in the southern evening sky. The Moon passes by on the 14th. Saturn and Jupiter are within 5 degrees of each other by month-end.
Saturn is moving prograde through the stars of Capricornus, as Mars pulls away to the east and Jupiter closes in from the west. The two gas-giant planets will be within 5 degrees at the end of the month.
Uranus Is too close to the Sun for viewing; in conjunction on the 26th.
Neptune will become visible from behind the Sun as April progresses.
James Edgar has had an interest in the night sky all his life. He joined The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in 2000, was National President for two terms, is now the Editor of the renowned Observer’s Handbook, and Production Manager of the bi-monthly RASC Journal. The IAU named asteroid 1995 XC5 “(22421) Jamesedgar” in his honour.
