Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events. All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT). Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for Greenwich, London (51.5° N, 0° W).
| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sat | |
| 2 | Sun | |
| 3 | Mon | |
| 4 | Tue | |
| 5 | Wed | First Quarter Moon |
| 6 | Thu | |
| 7 | Fri | |
| 8 | Sat | Mercury at greatest elongation west |
| 9 | Sun | Moon at apogee |
| 10 | Mon | |
| 11 | Tue | |
| 12 | Wed | |
| 13 | Thu | The Full Moon occults the first-magnitude star Spica in an event visible from about 1600 UT in southern and south-eastern parts of Asia. |
| 14 | Fri | |
| 15 | Sat | |
| 16 | Sun | |
| 17 | Mon | The Moon occults the first-magnitude star Antares. Beginning at about 0800 UT, observers at sea in the southern Pacific and those in southern parts of South America can watch this occultation. |
| 18 | Tue | |
| 19 | Wed | |
| 20 | Thu | |
| 21 | Fri | Last Quarter Moon |
| 22 | Sat | The Lyrid meteor shower should not be unduly hampered by the light of the waning crescent Moon. |
| 23 | Sun | Likewise, moonlight should not seriously interfere with observing the Pi-Puppid meteor shower. |
| 24 | Mon | In two daytime events, the Moon occults both Uranus and Venus. |
| 25 | Tue | Saturn at east quadrature |
| Moon at perigee | ||
| 26 | Wed | |
| 27 | Thu | New Moon |
| 28 | Fri | |
| 29 | Sat | |
| 30 | Sun | Cross-quarter days are midway between equinoxes and solstices. |
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.
| Object | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | Pisces -> Aries |
|
| Mercury | Aquarius -> Pisces -> Cetus -> Pisces |
The nearest planet to the Sun appears high in the east before sunrise for those looking for it from the southern hemisphere. Northern hemisphere observers can see it too but it is much closer to the horizon. At greatest elongation west on 8 April, Mercury gets ever closer to the eastern horizon as the month progresses. |
| Venus | Capricornus -> Aquarius -> Pisces |
Like its neighbour Mercury, the "morning star" is best seen from the southern hemisphere, appearing very high in the eastern sky. It loses a little bit of altitude throughout the month but remains the brightest object in dawn skies. |
| Mars | Taurus -> Gemini |
The red planet begins the month between the "horns" of Taurus the bull before heading into the constellation of Gemini. It sets around midnight so look for Mars high in the west after sunset. |
| Jupiter | Libra | The largest of all the planets is heading towards opposition next month and thus is visible in the sky virtually all night. |
| Saturn | Cancer | The superior planets can look a bit "flat" through a telescope because they always appears in the "full" phase. Well, almost full. When a superior planet is at quadrature, it can appears ever so slightly gibbous, rendering it much more three-dimensional. Saturn is at east quadrature on 25 April, making this month an excellent time to look for the shadow of the planet as cast upon the rings and satellites. |
| Uranus | Aquarius | This gas giant is still quite close to the Sun in the sky after last month's conjunction and is thus very difficult to see. |
| Neptune | Capricornus | Like its neighbour, Neptune also appears quite close to the Sun in the sky and may be hard to find in the glare. |
| Pluto | 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. It rises just before midnight. |
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 summer (daylight savings) time is in effect.
| Local Time | Northern Hemisphere | Southern Hemisphere |
|---|---|---|
| 1730 hours (1830 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 1930 hours (2030 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 2130 hours (2230 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 2330 hours (0030 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0130 hours (0230 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0330 hours (0430 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0530 hours (0630 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
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. The composite image from May 1998 combines EIT images from three wavelengths (171Å, 195Å and 284Å) into one that reveals solar features unique to each wavelength. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
Copyright © 1995-2006 by David Harper and L.M. Stockman