The Sky This Week - Thursday April 12 to Thursday April 19

The New Moon is Monday, April 16.  Venus is low in the twilight and is visited by the Moon on the 19th. Jupiter is now rising in the early evening skies. Mars and Saturn are now visible in the late evening skies. Mercury returns to the morning skies.

The New Moon is Monday, April 16.

Evening twilight sky on Saturday April 14 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 18:14 ACST (30 minutes after sunset). Venus is just above the horizon in the twilight. The crescent Moon is above it close to the bright star Aldebaran.

Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (30 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Venus is rising higher in the twilight. While is is now much easier to see, you will still need a flat unobscured horizon to see it at its best. Venus is now visible to the unaided eye from 15 minutes after sunset and easy to see 30 minutes after sunset and can potentially be viewed as late as an hour after sunset if you have a flat, unobstructed horizon.

Evening sky on Saturday April 14 looking east  as seen from Adelaide at 23:00ACST. Jupiter is  high above the horizon. Close to the horizon Saturn is just rising, and Mars will soon follow.

The inset is a simulated telescopic view of Jupiter and its moons at 1:30 ACST on the 15th, with Ganymede and its shadow transiting the face of Jupiter.

Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

Morning sky on Saturday April 14 looking north as seen from Adelaide at 5:14 ACST (90 minutes before sunrise). Mars and Saturn are high above the northern horizon and good telescopic viewing.

Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise).

Venus  is now sufficiently high in the evening twilight to be readily visible above the horizon if there are not too many trees or buildings in the way. It is  now over a hand-span above the horizon 30 minutes after sunset. It is bright enough to be visible 15 minutes after sunset and easy to see 30 minutes after sunset and can potentially be viewed as late as an hour after sunset if you have a flat, unobstructed horizon.

Mercury has returned to the morning sky, but will be difficult to see until next week.

Jupiter  is rising in the early evening, and is now a good telescopic object in the late evening. There are some good Jovian Moon events this week.

 Mars is in Sagittarius the archer and is now rising in the late evening. Mars is moving away from Saturn although the pair are still obvious together.   Mars is brightening ahead of opposition later this year.

Saturn has entered the evening sky, although telescopically it is still best in the morning sky. It is within binocular range of several attractive clusters and nebula. It is close to the bright globular cluster M22 and the pair are visible in binoculars and wide field telescope eyepieces. Saturn is at aphelion on the 17th and appears motionless against the background stars.

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.
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/