Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events. All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT). Daily darkness estimates are calculated for Greenwich, London (51.5° N, 0° W).
Calendar of Events - April
| Date | Event |
|---|
| 5 | Mon |
Full Moon |
| 8 | Thu |
Moon at perigee |
| 12 | Mon |
Last Quarter Moon |
| 17 | Sat |
Mercury at inferior conjunction |
| 19 | Mon |
New Moon |
| Partial solar eclipse |
| 22 | Thu |
The unpredictable Lyrids meteor shower benefits from dark skies when it peaks at approximately 0400 UT. |
| 23 | Fri |
Similarly, dark skies show off the Pi Puppids meteor shower as it peaks at around 0900 UT. |
| Comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) continues to brighten as it reaches perihelion. Look for it in the constellation Pisces. |
| 24 | Sat |
Moon at apogee |
| 27 | Tue |
First Quarter Moon |
The Solar System
The word planet is derived from the Greek word for "wanderer." Unlike the background stars, planets seem to move around the sky, keeping mostly to a narrow track called the ecliptic, the path of the Sun across the stars.
Early in the month, the five brightest naked-eye planets will be visible simultaneously around nightfall.
- Sun
- Location: Pisces -> Aries
- Comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT)
- Location: Hydrus -> Reticulum -> Horologium -> Dorado -> Pictor
This comet continues to brighten as it moves northward in the sky. It may be as bright as third magnitude as it passes by the first-magnitude star Canopus at the end of the month.
- Mercury
- Location: Aries -> Pisces
The nearest planet to the Sun disappears from the evening sky early in the month as it reaches conjunction on 17 Mercury. It reappears in the east before sunrise late in the month. This time northern hemisphere viewers will struggle to see it low in the sky but Mercury will seem to rise rapidly from the viewpoint of the south.
- Venus
- Location: Aries -> Taurus
The "evening star" passes close to the Pleiades open star cluster on 3-4 April. The planet is still very high in the sky for northern hemisphere viewers but is finally starting to descend towards the Sun. For those in the south hemisphere, Venus continues to sink slowly in the west.
- Mars
- Location: Taurus
The red planet sets in late evening.
- Jupiter
- Location: Leo
This giant planet sets as the Sun rises.
- Saturn
- Location: Gemini
Saturn is an evening sky object, setting around midnight.
- Uranus
- Location: Aquarius
A pair of binoculars may be necessary to spot Uranus as it rises in the early morning hours.
- Neptune
- Location: Capricornus
A small telescope will be required to see this blue gas giant in th east after midnight. It rises about an hour ahead of Uranus.
- Pluto
- Location: Serpens (Cauda)
With a brightness of around fourteenth magnitude, the smallest planet in the solar system can be seen only through a good-sized telescope. Look for it in the eastern sky just before midnight.
The Celestial Sphere
Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognises 88 different constellations. The brightest stars as seen from the Earth are easy to spot but do you know their proper names? With a set of binoculars you can look for fainter objects such as nebulae and galaxies or some of the closest stars to the Sun.
Descriptions of the sky for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres are available for the following times this month. Subtract one hour from your local time if daylight savings time is in effect. (Note: These times are approximate.)
Northern Hemisphere : 45° N
- 1730 hours (1830 hours daylight savings)
- 1930 hours (2030 hours daylight savings)
- 2130 hours (2230 hours daylight savings)
- 2330 hours (0030 hours daylight savings)
- 0130 hours (0230 hours daylight savings)
- 0330 hours (0430 hours daylight savings)
- 0530 hours (0630 hours daylight savings)
Southern Hemisphere : 30° S
- 1730 hours (1830 hours daylight savings)
- 1930 hours (2030 hours daylight savings)
- 2130 hours (2230 hours daylight savings)
- 2330 hours (0030 hours daylight savings)
- 0130 hours (0230 hours daylight savings)
- 0330 hours (0430 hours daylight savings)
- 0530 hours (0630 hours daylight savings)
For More Information...
- Consult our online glossary for non-technical explanations of many of the astronomical terms used in these pages.
- Blue moons, eclipses, the dates of Easter and much more can be found at the Interactive Astronomy Pages.
- For more information about the objects and events described in SkyEye, visit these astronomy-related sites.
Credits
Much of this information can be found in this month's issue of your favourite amateur astronomy magazine available in your local bookshop. Another excellent source is the current edition of the Astronomical Calendar by Guy Ottewell and published by the Universal Workshop at Furman University.
The image of the Sun in the SkyEye banner is courtesy of the SOHO/EIT consortium. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. Used with permission.
Copyright © 1995-2004 by David Harper and L.M. Stockman
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Obliquity
Last modified on 31 March 2004
https://www.obliquity.com/skyeye/archive/2004/apr2004.html