April, Mid-Northern Latitudes (April 15th, 10:30 p.m. local time)

Western Horizon
Eastern Horizon

->You will note that our site is passing DST for the northern hemisphere, this month, as it's passing Standard Time for the southern hemisphere. more details

West

We are in spring now. A fine view is provided, West, as we're seeing, for its last gleamings, the great winter sky. Those great constellations and stars you saw during last winter are now tending to the horizon. Orion, the Hunter, or Aldebaran, of Taurus, the Bull, are now much low. Their upper parts, only, are of interest. A row above, Procyon, of Canis Minor, the Little Dog, Gemini, the Twins -this large quadrilateral of stars- and Auriga, the Charioteer, with the bright Capella, are still well accessible! Sirius, the sky's brightest star, may be a fine view, at about 15° above the horizon, southwest! Perseus, Perseus, is now tending low, northwest, as Lynx, the Lynx and Camelopardalis, the Giraffe are high and feeble. High, too, but southwest instead, Cancer, the Crab may be a fine view, with the famed M44, this open cluster, Praesepe, the Beehive, a fine binocular target. Starting under Cancer, Hydra, the Hydra, this long chain of stars is seen down to the southeast as Sextans, the Sextant, Crater, the Cup or Corvus, the Crow are anchored along -albeit Corvus is better southeast. Leo, the Lion, interestingly is much high, above Hydra. to a printer-friendly chart
West for the tropics. West for the mid-southern latitudes

East

Let's turn East now! The bright star, due East, is Arcturus, of Bootes, the Hersdman. Bootes is this fine, kite-shaped constellation left of Arcturus. The other bright star, southeast, is Spica, of Virgo, the Virgin. Arcturus, along with Spica, are the actors of the famed astronomical saying, 'Arc to Arcturus, speed on to Spica.' What does that mean? Just that, when you extend the arch of stars of the Big Dipper's handle, and follow this direction, you'll easily find, first, Arcturus, and Spica then! Just great! Virgo, along with Coma Berenices, is harbouring deep-sky galaxy fields. As Hercules, the Heroe, is rising northeast -a fine show- Draco, the Dragon occupies most of the northeast! Should you enjoy a plain northern horizon, just see how Cepheus -an often overlooked constellation- is just passing over the northern horizon, with the Polaris above it! Fine! to a printer-friendly chart
East for the tropics. East for the mid-southern latitudes

(color maps with Stellarium; printer-friendly charts with Cartes du Ciel, Patrick Chevalley)