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Caution! According to our policy, our site is passing now DST for the northern hemisphere, and ST for the southern hemisphere! 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
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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
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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 2020,' 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)
Wwd Venus is moving in twilight about Apr. 1-6 relative to cluster M45, those famed Pleiades! Great visual and photographic opportunities! Venus dead close into M45 on Apr. 3!
 | Venus closing in twilight to be full dead among the Pleiades. Rare sight! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software |
Wwd Venus a fine view as it is coming to add like a evening star to the fine bright stars, West by twilight, of the northern Great Winter Sky! Fine viewing and photographic opportunities! Moon will come to add
 | Venus a fine evening star among the bright, northern hemisphere's Great Winter Sky! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software |
Wwd A set of three planets are finely seen in the morning sky all along April -- and in the northern hemisphere like morning stars -- in April and moving relatively to each one. Pluto is also part of the show but not seen for the basic astronomy amateur. Fine viewing and and photographic opportunities! The show is seen well since the second part of night for the Tropics and the southern hemisphere as the show is beginning later in the northern hemisphere. Moon will come to add. By early April Mars and Saturn are close together and both close to Jupiter as then Mars is moving away
 | Three planets seen in a cluster since about mid-night at the Tropics or the southern hemisphere! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software |
 | Three planets seen in a cluster East, since late night and like morning stars, in the northern hemisphere! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software |
1 (1) EuA AsP First Quarter at all latitudes, is just amidst Gemini, the Twins! The show's seen as soon as by twilight
 | First Quarter dead close amidst Gemini, the Twins! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software |
1 (2) Wwd Moon reaches a northernmost declination at 09:12 UT
2 UsA First quartered Moon by all latitudes, close to cluster M44, the Beehive! Fine visual and photographic opportunities!
 | Moon finely close to the famed M44 cluster, the Beehive! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software |
3 EuA AsP Slightly waxing gibbous Moon at all latitudes, close to cluster M44, the Beehive! Fine visual and photographic opportunities!
4 Wwd Waxing gibbous Moon by all latitudes, close to Regulus tonight, the bright star to constellation Leo, the Lion!
7 Wwd Moon is at its perigee at 18:08 UT (distances non available)
13 Wwd Moon reaches a southernmost declination at 21:03 UT as it's also at a descending node at 02:58 UT
14 (1) Wwd Tomorrow morning by dawn by all latitudes, last quartered Moon is seen close to Saturn and Jupiter as Mars not that far! Fine visual and photographic opportunities! The show may be seen into the night or since about by mid-night function of the observer's latitude
 | Fine view by dawn of Moon close to a cluster of planets! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software |
14 (2) 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.)
15 Wwd Tomorrow morning by dawn at all latitudes, last crescent is seen close to Mars as Saturn and Jupiter are not that far! Fine visual and photographic opportunities! The show may be seen into the night or since about by mid-night function of the observer's latitude
16 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
19 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
20 Wwd Moon is at its apogee at 19:01 UT (distances non available)
21 Wwd The Lyrids shooting stars usually are peaking April 21-22. check more back
26 (1) Wwd First crescent at all latitudes, close to Venus tonight in twilight! With the bright stars of the Great Winter Sky, fine visual and photographic opportunities!
 | Inspiring sight in the evening twilight of Moon, Venus and the great stars of the northern hemisphere's Great Winter Sky! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software |
26 (2) Wwd There is a occultation of minor planet Vesta today by Moon! check more at Occultations; check more too at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)
27 Wwd Moon is at a ascending node at 17:54 UT
28 (1) UsA EuA First crescent by all latitudes, lies amidst Gemini, the Twins!
28 (2) Wwd Moon reaches a northernmost declination at 15:23 UT
30 EuA AsP First Quarter by all latitudes, close to cluster M44, the Beehive! Fine visual and photographic opportunities!
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 PageFirst Quarter is on April 1st, at 10:21 UT
Full Moon is on April 8th, at 02:35 UT
Last Quarter is on April 14th, at 22:56 UT
New Moon is on April 23rd, at 02:26 UT
First Quarter is on April 30th, at 20:38 UT
(source: Ephemeris generator at Fred Espenak's NASA's eclipse website)
Planets Home Pagefor what any remarkable configuration of a planet is, check our tutorial 'Planets Apparent Motion'
Mercury is reaching no remarkable position in April! It's seen like a fine morning star by early April at the Tropics or the southern hemisphere, and then descending to the horizon. The show is of no avail for the northern hemisphere
 | Mercury a fine morning star by early April at the Tropics or the southern hemisphere! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Stellarium software |
Venus is keeping a high evening star in the northern hemisphere and seen well into the night! Fine too at the Tropics and seen also into the night, as the show is somewhat lower in the southern hemisphere and Venus seen fewer into the dark!
Mars Mars Observation Campaign! is a fine morning star in the northern hemisphere and it may be observed by late night --or since by about 1.30 a.m. local time at the Tropics or the southern hemisphere. A Mars observation campaign, the Mars Observation Campaign 2020-2021 is now unfolding from March 19th, 2020 when Mars will reach 6" of apparent diameter, until March 10th, 2021 when Mars will be back to that value, a value afficionados deem the least observable. check more at our Mars Observation Campaign 2020-2021 page
 | Mars keeping into its Mars Observation Campaign 2020-2021! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Celestia software |
Jupiter is a fine morning star in the northern hemisphere and observable since late night. It's now too high at the Tropics or the southern hemisphere to qualify a morning star and may be said observable since about 1.30 a.m. local time
Saturn is a fine morning star in the northern hemisphere and observable since late night. It's now too high at the Tropics or the southern hemisphere to qualify a morning star and may be said observable since about 1.30 a.m. local time. Following a ring aperture maximum, rings now are closing
 | Saturn seeable since about mid- or late night, funtion of the observer's location! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon the Celestia software |
Uranus is reaching a conjunction on April 26th, 2020 by 10:19. Uranus thus is not observable worldwide
Neptune after its conjunction last March 2020 keeps too low to be observable worldwide by early April as it turns such by late month, as seen by late night, at the Tropics and the southern hemisphere only
Pluto is now variedly seen since late night -- in the northern hemisphere -- or since about 1.30 a.m. local time -- the Tropics and 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 PlanetsMinor 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
Juno is reaching its opposition by April 2nd, 2020, at the 9.5th magnitude. more about Juno in 2020 at our "Minor Planets in 2020"
Nearest NEOsSome 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 (JPL) site Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) (their section "Close Approaches"). Miscellaneous data are available. For further observational purposes, check at their ephemeris Generator (via Tools/Neo DB Query)
. For more about NEOs see tutorial "
Comets Home PageOnce 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!
A 6.7th-magnitude comet in the evening sky, for the northern hemisphere and the Tropics!
Comet C/2019 Y4 will adorn the evening sky in the northern hemisphere and the Tropics as it will reach the 6.7th magnitude by April. It moves from the Giraffe to Aldebaran via Perseus. In the northern hemisphere thus C/2019 Y4 will be visible after dusk, in the Giraffe, between West and northwest in April, ditto in the tropics, lower. In the southern hemisphere the comet will unfortunately not be visible. Comet C/2019 Y4 by May will keep moving South into Perseus as lower it will also be lighter (about the 2nd magnitude. by the Tropics, C/2019 Y4 will be lower still). Binoculars or a small telescope will be a good choice to spot the comet C/2019 Y4. click on a map of comet C/2019 Y4's motion (between Apr. 1-3O/2020, 1 day in 1 day, with magnitude, for 0h UT). The green hue of C/2019 Y4 is due to the cyanogen it contains and which becomes fluorescent because it is bombarded by sunlight's ultraviolet. C/2019 Y4 was last seen in the solar system at the time of the Great Pyramids of Egypt, in the 4th millennium BC. On May 27, it will pass as close as possible to Earth at 73 million miles and on May 31 it will be at its perihelion, by 24 million miles from the Sun
UPDATED! 2019 Y4 (ATLAS) brightening has stopped due to a major disruption event beginning by early April, on a sequel of something begun about mid-March! It looks lie a remnant nucleus is producing its own coma, and brightening however. Only observations will demonstrate how 2019 Y4 (ATLAS) will eventually evolve
Shooting Stars Home Page->note: shooting stars afficionados will be aware of checking Moon at the dates of the showers
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 PageEach 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. Are given here only planetary occultations; for bright stars occultations, check at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)
Pluto back is occulted by Moon on Apr. 14th, 2020 by 22:00 UT! The show is available for part of the AntarcticPeninsula. check more at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)
Minor planet Vesta back is occulted by Moon on Apr. 26th, 2020 by 11:00 UT! The show is available for Central and north easternAfrica, most of Middle East,southern Kazakhstan, N. andcentral India, China, most ofSouth East Asia, Philippines,southern Japan. 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| CAUTION! OBSERVING THE SUN IS DANGEROUS AND REQUIRES DEDICATED SAFE TECHNIQUES! |
