The Sky This Week - Thursday April 5 to Thursday April 12

The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday, April 8.  Venus is low in the twilight. Jupiter is now rising in the early evening skies. The waning Moon visits Saturn and Mars on April the 7thrd. Mars, bright Jupiter and Saturn form a line together with the bright stars Antares and Spica in the morning skies. Mars and Saturn are now visible in the late evening skies.

The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday, April 8. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on the 8th.

Evening twilight sky on Saturday April 7 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 18:27 ACST (30 minutes after sunset). Venus is just above the horizon in the twilight.

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.

Evening sky on Saturday April 7 looking east  as seen from Adelaide at 23:59 ACST. Jupiter is  high above the horizon. Close to the horizon is the triangle of Saturn Mars and the Last Quarter Moon.

The inset is a simulated telescopic view of Jupiter and its moons at 23:00 ACST, 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 Sunday April 8 looking north as seen from Adelaide at 5:09 ACST (90 minutes before sunrise). Mars, Saturn and the Last Quarter Moon form a triangle. The inset shows the binocular view of Mars, Saturn and the Moon. Because of the closeness of the bright Moon the faint deep-sky objects will be difficult to see.

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.

Mercury is lost to view.

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 away from Saturn and the globular cluster M22.   Mars and Saturn and M22 start the week within binocular range of each other. On the evening of the 7th and the morning of the 8th the Last Quarter Moon is close to Saturn and Mars, forming a triangle. The proximity of the Moon makes viewing the fain deep sky objects difficult.

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. Mars and Saturn are within binocular range of each other. On the evening of the 7th and the morning of the 8th the Last Quarter Moon iis close to Saturn and Mars, forming a triangle. The proximity of the Moon makes viewing the fain deep sky objects difficult.

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/