Events, Moon, Planets in April Home Page Evènements du mois Monthly Sky Charts

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.Events .Moon .Planets .Minor Planets, NEOs .Comets .Shooting Stars .Occultations .Sun .check more! (occultations observers are advised to check in 'Events', and to turn to such dedicated sites like the I.O.T.A). Caution! According to our policy, our site is passing now DST for the northern hemisphere and ST South! check more details. don't forget to check the weather! For the US: the NOAA . color codes: Wwd worldwide, UsA USA-Americas, EuA Europe-Africa, AsP Asia-Pacific, Chk Check for Your Zone. check the site's concept and the instructions of use

Editor's Choice Fine Picture Archives Editor's Choice Sky At Tech News color codes: Wwd worldwide, UsA USA-Americas, EuA Europe-Africa, AsP Asia-Pacific, Chk Check for Your Zone. check the site's concept and the instructions of use

Events Home Page

.Events Seen All Month Long .Ephemerides Proper

(data from the former yearly ephemerides generator at Fred Espenak's NASA's eclipse website; miscellaneous data with the 'Astronomical Phenomena for The Year 2017,' a joint work by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and the U.S. Naval Observatory; to be found at the latter's site; all time UT except otherwise stated)

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1 (1) Wwd Tomorrow morning by dawn, at all latitudes, last crescent is seen close to Venus where available. Fine visual and photographic opportunities!

Where Venus morning star, last crescent close to it! Fine! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium

1 (2) Wwd Moon is at its apogee at 00:14 UT (distances non available)

2 Wwd Tomorrow morning by dawn, by all latitudes, last crescent is seen close to Mercury where available. Fine visual and photographic opportunities!

8 UsA First crescent, at all latitudes, is not that far from Mars since twilight! And much closer to Aldebaran, the bright star to constellation Taurus, the Bull in the area! Not that easy picture opportunity!

9 EuA AsP First crescent, by all latitudes, is not that far from Mars since twilight! And much closer to Aldebaran, the bright star to constellation Taurus, the Bull in the area! Not that easy picture opportunity! The show is seen

First crescent since twilight is close to Mars, and closer still to Aldebaran, the bright star to constellation Taurus, the Bull! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium

11 Wwd Moon reaches a northernmost declination at 23:59 UT

12 Wwd Moon is at a ascending node at 18:08 UT

14 UsA Waxing gibbous Moon, by all latitudes, is not that far from Regulus, the bright star to constellation Leo, the Lion tonight!

15 EuA AsP Waxing gibbous Moon, at all latitudes, is not that far from Regulus, the bright star to constellation Leo, the Lion tonight!

16 (1) Wwd The Lyrids shooting stars begin to be active today as they are until April 25, with a peak usually on April 21-22. check more at the date of the peak

16 (2) Wwd Moon is at its perigee at 22:02 UT (distances non available)

18 UsA EuA Moon close to full, at all latitudes, is near Spica, the bright star to constellation Virgo, the Virgin

Moon close to full close to Spica, the bright star to constellation Virgo, the Virgin! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium

19 (1) Wwd The Eta Aquarids shooting stars begin to be active today as they are until May 28. A important shower they are best viewed from the southern hemisphere check more

19 (2) AsP Full Moon, by all latitudes, is near Spica, the bright star to constellation Virgo, the Virgin

22 Wwd The Lyrids shooting stars usually are peaking April 21-22. check more back

24 Wwd Moon reaches a southernmost declination at 21:22 UT

25 (1) Wwd Moon is at a descending node at 15:02 UT

25 (2) Wwd There is a occultation of Saturn today by Moon! check more at Occultations; check more too at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

25 (3) Wwd There is a occultation of Pluto today by Moon! check more at Occultations; check more too at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

28 Wwd Moon is at its apogee at 18:20 UT (distances non available)

Occultations observers are advised to turn to such dedicated sites like the I.O.T.A as they may also check below at our Occultation section

Moon Home Page

New Moon is on April 5th, at 08:50 UT
First Quarter is on April 12th, at 19:06 UT
Full Moon is on April 19th, at 11:12 UT
Last Quarter is on April 26th, at 22:18 UT

(source: Ephemeris generator at Fred Espenak's NASA's eclipse website)

Planets Home Page

for what any remarkable configuration of a planet is, check our tutorial 'Planets Apparent Motion'

Mercury is reaching a greatest western elongation on Apr. 11th at 18:59 UT. Mercury thus is seen like a morning star. By mid-April Mercury is a fine morning star at the Tropics as it is high in the southern hemisphere. No show is available in the northern hemisphere

Venus and Mercury a fine show like morning stars in the southern hemisphere! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium

Venus is now no more available like a morning star in the northern hemisphere. It keeps to be at the Tropics or the southern hemisphere

Mars is a relatively feeble evening star worldwide, and in the vicinity all month long of Aldebaran, the bright star to constellation Taurus, the Bull

Mars a relatively feeble evening star worldwide as Aldebaran is not that far! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium

Jupiter is now rising by 1:05 a.m. local time in the northern hemisphere, 10:40 p.m. at the Tropics, and 10:15 p.m. in the southern hemisphere

Saturn is now rising by 3:00 a.m. local time in the northern hemisphere, 0:40 a.m. at the Tropics or the southern hemisphere. Following a ring aperture maximum, rings now are closing

Uranus is reaching its yearly conjunction on Apr. 23rd by 00:06 UT as it is not seen worldwide

Neptune after its conjunction last month, may be seen now before dawn in the southern hemisphere as that's barely true at the Tropics, and not availabe in the northern hemisphere

Pluto is now rising by 3:00 a.m. local time in the northern hemisphere, 0:40 a.m. at the Tropics or the southern hemisphere (according to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) since 2006, Pluto is not considered a planet anymore, but categorized like a dwarf planet instead along with Ceres, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea, and the prototype of a new category of 'trans-Neptunian', 'Pluto-class' objects)

Minor Planets, NEOs Home Page

.Minor Planets .Nearest NEOs

Minor Planets

Minor planets are those biggest asteroids in the Asteroid Belt which may be easily observed by amateurs from the Earth, namely Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta (due to the new categorization by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) by 2006, Ceres belongs to the 5 dwarf planets in the solar system with Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea). check data and charts at our section Minor Planets on the yearly Calendar page as our tutorial 'Asteroids and Asteroid Hunting' is of help too. Any remarkable event linked to a minor planet may have a notice here below

Pallas is reaching its opposition by April 10th, at the 7.9th magnitude. more about Pallas in 2019 at our "Minor Planets in 2019"

Nearest NEOs

Some small asteroids dubbed Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are regularly making close approaches at Earth. People interested in such close approaches may obtain recent and upcoming data at NASA site Near-Earth Object Program (their section "Close Approaches"). Date, miss distance in AU or Lunar Distance (LD), estimated diameter, and relative velocity are available. For further observational purposes, check at the Near-Earth Object Program ephemeris Generator. For more about NEOs see tutorial "About NEOs"

Comets Home Page

Once every time, the solar system treats us with a remarkable comet, a eery view spanning up to thirty degrees of sky! Most of the time however comets are the domain of dedicated observers as mostly weak and, at the most, hovering at the limit of the naked-eye visibility. A good site to get information about current such comets is the British Astronomical Association Comet Section page or also the Weekly Information about Bright Comets page (which often points to comets close to the visual magnitude). Our 'Comets and Comet Hunting' tutorial will also be helpful. Remarkable comets otherwise usually will be presented below!

Shooting Stars Home Page

->note: shooting stars afficionados will be aware of checking Moon at the dates of the showers

• Lyrids back are active Apr. 16-25 with their peak usually on Apr. 21-22. Their radiant is at R.A. 271° and dec. +34°. They have a hourly rate of 15-18
• Eta Aquarids back are active Apr. 19-May 28 as they usually have their peak on May 5-6. Their radiant is at R.A. 338° and dec. +1°. They have a hourly rate of 60, which makes them an important shower in the year. The shower is best viewed from the southern hemisphere
• Shooting stars afficionados may turn to such dedicated sites like IMO, The International Meteor Organization for more about the above and about possible minor showers this month

for more about the meteor showers of this month, for possible other meteor showers for this month, and for more about shooting stars, generally, see our tutorial "Shooting Stars"

Occultations Home Page

Each month, Moon occults some relatively bright stars, that is the Moon, beginning either with its bright or its dark visible face, is passing in front of a star. This is called an occultation. The Pleiades, on the other hand, due to their position near the eclipic, are often occulted by Moon too. Some planets, at last, along the year, may be occulted by Moon or they themselves, or their satellites, may be seen too occulting a star. The asteroids too may occult stars. Yearly lists of such phenomenons are to be found at Sky & Telescope/SkyTonight.com, either in their newsstand issues or at their site, as a list of occultations of most brilliant stars, the planets and the Pleiades are available at the I.O.T.A site (I.O.T.A. stands for "The International Occultation Timing Association"). Most notable occultations are signaled below

the configuration of Moon makes 2019 a great year of occultations of planets and minor planets by the Moon as, amazingly none of the bright stars usually occulted by Moon, like Aldebaran, Antares, Regulus or Spica, will be!

Saturn back is occulted by Moon on Apr. 25th, 2018 by 14:00 UT! The show is available for E. Australia, New Zealand, and W. South America. check more at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

Pluto back is occulted by Moon on Apr. 25th, 2018 by 20:00 UT! The show is available for Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Australia, Melanesia, S.E. Micronesia, and N.W. Polynesia. check more at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

check on this site for more about occultations, theoretically

Sun Home Page

click to last Sun