Astroblog

The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday, April 16. Jupiter is very low in the north-western twilight sky. Comet 12P Pons-Brooks may be visible above Jupiter at the beginning of the week and will progressively climb higher over the week. In the morning Mars and Saturn are high.Venus is barely visible low in the morning twilight below the pair. Mercury joins Venus late in the week and is closest on the 20th.

The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday, April 16. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on the 20th.

Evening sky on Sunday, April 21 as seen from Adelaide at 18:39 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Jupiter is almost lost above the north-western horizon. Comet 12P is close to the pair of Xi and omicron Tau (the inset is the approximate binocular view of the trio).

While the comet is a reasonable bright magnitude 4, it is still not far from the horizon and will be difficult to see it through the horizon murk. You will definitely need binoculars. Over the week the comet will climb higher above the horizon murk and should be easily located in binoculars by sweeping up from Jupiter. Spotters charts are here.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

Morning sky on Saturday, April 20 as seen from Adelaide at 06:03 ACST, (45 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Mars and Saturn are pulling apart as Saturn climbs higher. Venus is now very low on the horizon and difficult to see. Mercury joins the lineup and is close to Venus on the 20th. You will need binoculars to see mercury.

The inset is the binocular view of Venus and Mercury at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (45 minutes before sunrise).

Whole sky on Saturday, Saturday, April 20 as seen from Adelaide at 19:10 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Orion is now in the north-west. Bright Sirius is dominant in the north-western sky. Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are a wealth of binocular objects to discover. As the Moon waxes , the fainter clusters will begin to dim.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury emerges into the twilight and is close to Venus on the 20th.

Venus is very low in the morning twilight, it is sinking towards the horizon and will be lost in the twilight by the end of the Month. Mars and Saturn draw away from Venus. Mercury is close to Venus on the 20th.

Mars is rising in the morning twilight and moving away from Venus.

Jupiter is visible very low in the early evening twilight sky.

Saturn climbs higher in the morning twilight. Saturn draws away from Mars rising higher in the morning sly.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 12:08 am 0 comments


Printable Black and White chart for locating Comet 12P 10April-10 May. Click to embiggen and print. Use with a red light torch (or a standard torch with red cellophane over it) to preserve your night vision.	Printable Black and White Binocular chart for locating Comet 12P. The circle represents the approximate field of view of 10x50 binoculars.Click to embiggen and print. Use with a red light torch (or a standard torch with red cellophane over it) to preserve your night vision.

Photo realistic view of the evening sky simulated in Stellarium for Sunday, April 14 as seen from Adelaide at 18:48 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Jupiter is very low above the north-western horizon and within binocular distance of Uranus and the comet 12P (the inset is the approximate binocular view of the trio).	Photo realistic view of the evening sky on Sunday, April 21 as seen from Adelaide at 18:39 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Jupiter is almost lost above the north-western horizon. Comet 12P is close to the pair of Xi and omicron Tau (the inset is the approximate binocular view of the trio).

Comet 12P Pons-Brooks has been subject to a little bit of hype ("the Devil Comet" because at one stage its U shaped Coma could be interpreted, if you squinted hard, as devils horns), but it is truly a beautiful little comet. While we have seen some gorgeous images coming from the northern hemisphere, most of them require serious kit. Nonetheless even simple camera/mobile phone may get some nice images.

While the comet is a reasonably bright magnitude 4.5, about as bright as the star Taygeta (19 Tau) in the Pleiades, it is so low to the horizon that you will be difficult to see it through the horizon murk over the next week or so. You will definitely need binoculars, even if you can see the brighter stars of the nearby Pleiades clearly. While the comet is much brighter than Vesta in the Vesta challenge, it is lower in the horizon murk and a more extended object, making it more of a challenge.

On the 14th the comet will be within binocular distance of Jupiter. Although the comet is magnitude 4.5 at this time and theoretically dimly visible to the unaided eye, atmospheric extinction will mean it is more like magnitude 6. The comet will look like a faint fuzzy dot.

At astronomical twilight (an hour after sunset) it will be around three finger-widths above the horizon (and you will need a level, unobstructed horizon to see it). You may have better success looking a bit earlier, when it will be higher despite the brighter twilight sky. Terry Lovejoy was successful in capturing the comet with 7x 1 second exposures at 100 ASA using a Sony A7iii.

Using a more ordinary camera, try zooming in around 3x and using mutiple1 second 100 ISO imaging (you WILL need a tripod for this). Higher ISO (ASA) values will make the sky brighter as well as the comet, so will not be as effective. You may wish to play around with the settings if you have time before the comet sets.

12P Pons-Brooks will climb higher and brighten as it rises (not much though). It should be more or less easily located in binoculars by sweeping up from Jupiter (see printable charts and maps above).

On the 21st the comet will be at it's brightest (unless it undergoes another outburst, it has had nights where it was substantially brighter) at magnitude 4.4 (although atmospheric extinction means it is more like magnitude 5.3 at astronomical twilight, an hour after sunset). At this time it will be nearly two hand-spans above the horizon, almost on top of the two stars Xi and omicron Tau (both around magnitude 3 and readily visible, see charts above). If you can't readily see the pair locate the rather obvious Aldebaran (and the Hyades) and sweep down an to the west by about three binocular widths and the pair should be obvious.

Again, you may wish to look earlier when the comet is higher, and the twilight brighter. While the comet will still look like a fuzzy dot in binoculars, you may be able to see a short tail.

For imaging try zooming in so the pair of Xi and omicron Tau take up a decent proportion of the field of view (not too much as the resolution of most point and click cameras and mobile phones degrade severely on zoom) and take multiple 1 second images (I use between 10-20 images), you may try higher ISOs to try and capture more comet detail. Stack the images with an appropriate stacking software. Free Stacking software includes Deep Sky Stacker and Autostakkert for Windows, and StarStaX for macOS.

After this 12P Pons-Brooks begins to fade, but still remains "bright", sweeping your binoculars up from Xi and omicron Tau should pick it up. on the 29th it is within binocular distance of nu Tau (see charts, sweep west of Aldebaran fro around two binocular widths). At this time, at nautical twilight is over two hand-spans from the horizon and magnitude 4.5 and another good opportunity for imaging.

Labels: 12P, Astrophiz, astrophotography, comet

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 5:42 pm 0 comments

The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday, April 16. Jupiter is very low in the north-western twilight sky and is near the crescent Moon on the 11th. Comet 12P Pons-Brooks may be visible near Jupiter on the 14 and willl progressively climb higher over the week. In the morning Mars and Saturn spectacularly close on the 11th.Venus is barely visible low in the morning twilight below the pair.

The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday, April 16.

Evening sky on Thursday, April 11 as seen from Adelaide at 18:51 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Jupiter is low above the north-western horizon and within binocular distance of Uranus. Jupiter will also be not far from the thin crescent Moon and the comet 12P.

While the comet is a reasonable bright magnitude 4, it is so low to the horizon that you will be unlikely to see it through the horizon murk. You will have to wait for next week for the chance of a decent view.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

Evening sky on Sunday, April 14 as seen from Adelaide at 18:48 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Jupiter is very low above the north-western horizon and within binocular distance of Uranus and the comet 12P (the inset is the approximate binocular view of the trio).

While the comet is a reasonable bright magnitude 4, it is so low to the horizon that you will be difficult to see it through the horizon murk. You will definitely need binoculars. Over the week the comet will climb higher above the horizon murk and should be early located in binoculars by sweeping up from Jupiter.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time.

Morning sky on Thursday, April 11 as seen from Adelaide at 05:41 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Mars and Saturn are at their closest and can be seen in a medium power telescope eyepiece. Venus is below Mars and Saturn. You may need a low level horizon to see Venus at its best.

The inset is the medium powers telescopic view of Mars and Saturn at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Morning sky on Saturday, April 13 as seen from Adelaide at 05:43 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Mars and Saturn are pulling apart as Saturn climbs higher. Venus is now very low on the horizon and difficult to see.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time.

Whole sky on Saturday, Saturday, April 13 as seen from Adelaide at 20:27 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Orion is now in the north-west. Bright Sirius is high in the north-western sky. Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are a wealth of binocular objects to discover. As the Moon waxes , the fainter clusters will begin to dim.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury is lost in the twilight.

Venus is very low in the morning twilight, it is sinking towards the horizon and will be lost in the twilight by the end of the Month. Mars and Saturn draw away from Venus.

Mars is rising in the morning twilight and moving away from Venus. Mars and Saturn come closer to each other being closest on the 11th.

Jupiter is visible very low in the early evening twilight sky. It is coming closer to Uranus and is within binocular distance of Uranus. On the 14th it will be close to comet 12P Pons-Brooks.

Saturn climbs higher in the morning twilight. Mars and Saturn are closest on the 11th. Then Saturn draws away from Mars.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 6:14 pm 0 comments


Total Solar Eclipse as seen from Dallas, Texas on 8 April (US time 9April in Australia). Simulated in Stellarium.	Chart of the path of the solar eclipse from Fred Espenak's eclipse site

Sadly, none of the 2024 total solar eclipse is visible from Australia. However, there are several live streams of the event we Southern Hemispherians can log into. Again, sadly, the eclipse is starting at 16:38 UT on the 8th, and is greatest at 18:17 UT. This translates to around 2 am and 4 am on the 9th (Tuesday) in Eastern Australia, so you have to be up very, very early. If you are a diehard eclipse fan, here are some live streams for you (many may be oversubscribed or choked for band width, so you may have to hop around to find one that works).

Time and date: Live-stream starts 2 am AEST on the 9th. https://www.timeanddate.com/live/eclipse-solar-2024-april-8

Virtual Telescope Project: Live-stream starts around 3 am AEST on the 9th. https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/webtv/

NASA TV. Live-stream starts around 3 am AEST on the 9th. https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/live/

Exploratorium. https://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse

Space.com. Live-stream stars around 3 am AEST on the 9th. https://www.space.com/watch-total-solar-eclipse-april-8-online-free-livestreams

Labels: eclipse, live-stream, solar eclipse, webcast

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 5:38 pm 0 comments


ISS as seen from Brisbane on the evening of Saturday 7 April at 4:27 AEST. Simulated in Stellarium, the ISS is passing directly over the Moon. Click to embiggen.	ISS as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Friday 5 April at 6:59 ACDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot). Click to embiggen.	ISS as seen from Perth on the evening of Friday 5 April at 6:03 AWST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot). Click to embiggen.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Saturday 7 April for Brisbane.	All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Friday 5 April for Adelaide.	All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Friday 5 April for Perth.

I normally don't bother with morning passes of the ISS, as geeing up is a pain. However, this time the ISS passes coincide with a very nice lineup of the Crescent Moon, Mars, Saturn, and Venus. In some cases the ISS passes through the lineup, and for Brisbane on the 7th, the ISS passes over the Moon! Well worth getting up for.

Also in this time frame there are a series of bright Tiangong passes in the late evening twilight/early evening and the early morning. See Heavens Above for details.

The following tables are from data provided from Heavens Above. Particularly impressive passes are highlighted in yellow. Daylight savings ends on Sunday April 7.

Passes from Adelaide (ACDST/ACST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
03 Apr	-1.2	06:54:56	10°	SSW	06:57:25	18°	SSE	06:59:53	10°	ESE	visible
04 Apr	-0.9	06:07:18	10°	S	06:08:56	13°	SSE	06:10:33	10°	SE	visible
05 Apr	-2.7	06:54:31	10°	SW	06:57:50	45°	SE	07:01:06	10°	ENE	visible
06 Apr	-1.8	06:07:13	15°	SSW	06:09:26	27°	SE	06:12:22	10°	E	visible
07 Apr	-1.0	04:21:24	17°	SE	04:21:24	17°	SE	04:23:19	10°	ESE	visible
07 Apr	-3.5	05:54:34	10°	WSW	05:57:53	51°	NW	06:01:10	10°	NNE	visible
08 Apr	-3.7	05:08:38	45°	SW	05:09:34	80°	SE	05:12:56	10°	NE	visible
09 Apr	-1.2	04:23:03	21°	E	04:23:03	21°	E	04:24:24	10°	ENE	visible
09 Apr	-1.8	05:56:00	12°	W	05:57:37	15°	NW	05:59:39	10°	NNW	visible
10 Apr	-2.1	05:10:31	23°	NNW	05:10:31	23°	NNW	05:12:18	10°	NNE	visible
11 Apr	-1.7	19:21:38	10°	N	19:22:52	17°	NNE	19:22:52	17°	NNE	visible
12 Apr	-1.6	18:34:30	10°	NNE	18:36:07	13°	NE	18:37:12	11°	ENE	visible
12 Apr	-1.0	20:09:11	10°	WNW	20:10:09	17°	WNW	20:10:09	17°	WNW	visible

Passes from Brisbane (AEST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
07 Apr	-1.4	04:52:10	10°	SSW	04:54:53	22°	SE	04:57:34	10°	E	visible
08 Apr	-0.8	04:05:41	12°	SSE	04:06:22	13°	SE	04:07:58	10°	ESE	visible
09 Apr	-3.7	04:53:03	24°	SW	04:54:56	80°	SE	04:58:18	10°	NE	visible
10 Apr	-1.7	04:07:33	29°	E	04:07:33	29°	E	04:09:40	10°	ENE	visible
10 Apr	-1.9	19:03:56	10°	NNW	19:05:25	22°	N	19:05:25	22°	N	visible
11 Apr	-2.3	04:55:06	23°	NW	04:55:06	23°	NW	04:57:24	10°	N	visible
11 Apr	-2.1	18:16:20	10°	N	18:18:45	18°	NE	18:19:54	16°	E	visible
11 Apr	-0.4	19:52:27	10°	W	19:52:51	12°	W	19:52:51	12°	W	visible
12 Apr	-3.0	19:03:29	10°	WNW	19:06:47	49°	SW	19:07:12	46°	SSW	visible

Passes from Darwin (ACST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
08 Apr	-2.7	20:03:56	10°	NNW	20:06:08	34°	N	20:06:08	34°	N	visible
09 Apr	-0.9	05:58:51	10°	S	06:01:03	16°	SE	06:03:15	10°	E	visible
09 Apr	-2.3	19:16:15	10°	N	19:18:51	21°	NE	19:20:49	14°	E	visible
09 Apr	-0.2	20:53:36	10°	W	20:53:47	11°	W	20:53:47	11°	W	visible
10 Apr	-1.9	20:04:02	10°	WNW	20:07:00	29°	SW	20:08:23	21°	S	visible
11 Apr	-3.7	05:58:04	14°	SSW	06:00:55	77°	SE	06:04:14	10°	NE	visible
11 Apr	-3.5	19:15:13	10°	NW	19:18:33	72°	SW	19:21:55	10°	SSE	visible
12 Apr	-2.0	05:12:41	30°	ESE	05:12:41	30°	ESE	05:15:28	10°	ENE	visible

Passes from Hobart (AEDST/AEST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
03 Apr	-2.0	05:49:23	21°	SSW	05:50:46	27°	SSE	05:53:47	10°	E	visible
04 Apr	-1.2	05:03:18	20°	SE	05:03:18	20°	SE	05:05:08	10°	ESE	visible
04 Apr	-3.6	06:36:14	11°	SW	06:39:31	77°	SSE	06:42:55	10°	ENE	visible
05 Apr	-3.0	05:50:13	36°	SSW	05:51:11	49°	SSE	05:54:31	10°	ENE	visible
06 Apr	-1.3	05:04:16	23°	ESE	05:04:16	23°	ESE	05:05:57	10°	E	visible
06 Apr	-3.2	06:37:13	16°	WSW	06:39:35	40°	NW	06:42:47	10°	NNE	visible
07 Apr	-3.8	04:51:24	69°	NNW	04:51:24	69°	NNW	04:54:41	10°	NE	visible
08 Apr	-0.9	04:05:41	15°	ENE	04:05:41	15°	ENE	04:06:20	10°	ENE	visible
08 Apr	-1.9	05:38:38	15°	WNW	05:39:19	15°	NW	05:41:25	10°	N	visible
09 Apr	-1.5	04:53:03	16°	N	04:53:03	16°	N	04:53:58	10°	NNE	visible
12 Apr	-1.1	19:07:11	10°	NNE	19:07:11	10°	NNE	19:07:11	10°	NNE	visible

Passes from Melbourne (AEDST/AEST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
03 Apr	-0.9	05:49:24	10°	S	05:50:43	12°	SSE	05:52:06	10°	SE	visible
04 Apr	-1.9	06:36:46	10°	SSW	06:39:49	28°	SSE	06:42:49	10°	E	visible
05 Apr	-1.4	05:50:13	17°	S	05:51:22	20°	SSE	05:53:58	10°	ESE	visible
06 Apr	-0.4	05:04:17	12°	SE	05:04:17	12°	SE	05:04:52	10°	ESE	visible
06 Apr	-3.6	06:37:13	14°	SW	06:40:05	75°	SE	06:43:28	10°	NE	visible
07 Apr	-2.8	04:51:24	41°	SSE	04:51:42	42°	SE	04:54:57	10°	ENE	visible
08 Apr	-0.4	04:05:41	13°	E	04:05:41	13°	E	04:06:12	10°	E	visible
08 Apr	-2.9	05:38:39	24°	W	05:40:00	33°	NW	05:43:05	10°	NNE	visible
09 Apr	-2.4	04:53:03	32°	NNE	04:53:03	32°	NNE	04:55:03	10°	NE	visible
10 Apr	-1.3	05:40:31	10°	NW	05:40:31	10°	NW	05:40:36	10°	NW	visible
11 Apr	-0.8	19:52:51	10°	NNW	19:52:51	10°	NNW	19:52:51	10°	NNW	visible
12 Apr	-2.0	19:05:11	10°	N	19:07:12	18°	NE	19:07:12	18°	NE	visible

Passes from Perth (AWST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
03 Apr	-0.9	05:59:06	10°	S	06:00:52	13°	SSE	06:02:39	10°	ESE	visible
05 Apr	-2.1	05:58:12	10°	SSW	06:01:20	33°	SE	06:04:27	10°	ENE	visible
06 Apr	-1.3	05:10:18	10°	SSW	05:12:55	20°	SE	05:15:29	10°	E	visible
07 Apr	-0.7	04:24:21	13°	SSE	04:24:22	13°	SSE	04:25:59	10°	ESE	visible
07 Apr	-3.7	05:58:03	10°	SW	06:01:26	68°	NW	06:04:47	10°	NE	visible
08 Apr	-3.3	05:11:35	29°	SSW	05:13:05	58°	SE	05:16:26	10°	ENE	visible
09 Apr	-1.2	04:26:00	22°	E	04:26:00	22°	E	04:27:42	10°	ENE	visible
09 Apr	-2.1	05:58:58	11°	W	06:01:12	18°	NW	06:03:35	10°	N	visible
10 Apr	-2.8	05:13:29	32°	NNW	05:13:29	32°	NNW	05:16:01	10°	NNE	visible
11 Apr	-2.5	19:23:40	10°	NNW	19:25:50	29°	NNE	19:25:50	29°	NNE	visible
12 Apr	-2.1	18:36:01	10°	N	18:38:26	19°	NE	18:40:09	13°	E	visible
12 Apr	-0.9	20:11:56	10°	WNW	20:13:05	18°	W	20:13:05	18°	W	visibl

Passes from Sydney (AEDST/AEST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
04 Apr	-1.7	06:38:37	10°	SSW	06:41:34	26°	SE	06:44:30	10°	E	visible
05 Apr	-1.1	05:50:47	10°	SSW	05:53:07	17°	SSE	05:55:27	10°	ESE	visible
06 Apr	-0.7	05:04:17	11°	SSE	05:04:35	12°	SSE	05:05:49	10°	SE	visible
06 Apr	-3.6	06:38:23	10°	SW	06:41:48	81°	SE	06:45:11	10°	NE	visible
07 Apr	-2.6	04:51:23	19°	SSW	04:53:26	42°	SE	04:56:41	10°	ENE	visible
08 Apr	-1.4	04:05:41	23°	SE	04:05:41	23°	SE	04:07:51	10°	E	visible
08 Apr	-2.6	05:38:45	10°	WSW	05:41:42	27°	NW	05:44:36	10°	N	visible
09 Apr	-3.7	04:53:03	51°	WNW	04:53:24	54°	NW	04:56:42	10°	NNE	visible
10 Apr	-1.1	04:07:33	17°	NE	04:07:33	17°	NE	04:08:24	10°	NE	visible
11 Apr	-1.1	04:55:06	10°	NNW	04:55:06	10°	NNW	04:55:10	10°	NNW	visible
11 Apr	-0.5	19:52:48	10°	NW	19:52:52	11°	NW	19:52:52	11°	NW	visible
12 Apr	-3.3	19:04:24	10°	NNW	19:07:12	48°	N	19:07:12	48°	N	visible

When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use Heavens Above to get site specific predictions for your location, a small difference in location can mean the difference between ISS passing over the Moon or a planet or missing it completely.

As always, start looking several minutes before the pass is going to start to get yourself oriented and your eyes dark adapted. Be patient, there may be slight differences in the time of the ISS/Tiangong appearing due to orbit changes not picked up by the predictions. Use the most recent prediction for your site.

Labels: ISS, Mars, Moon, Satellite, Saturn, tiangong, unaided eye, Venus

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:23 pm 0 comments

The New Moon is Tuesday, April 9. Daylight savings ends April 7. Jupiter is low in the north-western twilight sky and is bracketed by the crescent Moon on the 10th and 11th. In the morning Mars and Saturn come closer together ahead of their close approach on the 11th.Venus is visible low in the morning twilight below the pair. From the 6th to the 8th the crescent Moon joins the lineup. Over the next few mornings you may be able to see the International Space Station near the line up.

The New Moon is Tuesday, April 9. There is a total eclipse of the Sun visible from North and Central America, On the 9th. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on the 8th.

Evening sky on Thursday, April 11 as seen from Adelaide at 18:51 ACST (60 minutes after sunset). Jupiter is low above the north-western horizon and within binocular distance of Uranus. Jupiter will also be not far from the thin crescent Moon and the comet 12P.

While the comet is a reasonable bright magnitude 4, it is so low to the horizon that you will be unlikely to see it through the horizon murk. You will have to wait for next week for the chance of a decent view.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

Morning sky on Saturday, April 6 as seen from Adelaide at 06:11 ACDST, . Mars and Saturn are coming closer together below the crescent Moon.

At this time may places in Australia will see the International Space Station (Zarya) pass close to the pair. See https://heavens-above.com/ for predictions from your site.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time.

Morning sky on Sunday, April 7 as seen from Adelaide at 06:01 ACST. Venus is below Mars and Saturn with the crescent Moon between.

At this time may places in Australia will see the International Space Station (Zarya) pass close to the lineup. See https://heavens-above.com/ for predictions from your site.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time.

Morning sky on Thursday, April 11 as seen from Adelaide at 05:41 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Mars and Saturn are at their closest and can be seen in a medium power telescope eyepiece. Venus is below Mars and Saturn. You may need a low level horizon to see Venus at its best.

The inset is the medium powers telescopic view of Mars and Saturn at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Whole sky on Saturday, Saturday, April 6 as seen from Adelaide at 20:27 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Orion is now in the north-west. Bright Sirius is high in the north-western sky. Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are a wealth of binocular objects to discover. With the new Moon, the fainter clusters are once again visible.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury is lost in the twilight.

Venus is low in the morning twilight, it is sinking towards the horizon and will be lost in the twilight by the end of the Month. Mars and Saturn draw away from Venus and come closer to each other being closest on the 11th.

Mars is rising in the morning twilight and moving away from Venus. Mars and Saturn come closer to each other being closest on the 11th. On the 6th the crescent Moon is above the lineup.

Jupiter is visible low in the early evening twilight sky. It is coming closer to Uranus and is within binocular distance of Uranus.

Saturn climbs higher in the morning twilight. Saturn has passed Venus and is heading towards Mars. Mars and Saturn come closer to each other being closest on the 11th. On the 7th the crescent Moon is between the pair and Venus.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 1:54 am 0 comments