The Sky Tonight

THE PLANETS

April - May 2010 - by Chris Marr

Mercury
Mercury might be just visible near the horizon soon after sunset during the early part of April, but it will then head back towards the Sun, cross between Earth and the Sun (not visibly) at the end of April, and then reappear as an early morning object in May. If you want to catch a glimpse of this little world and you don’t mind rising early to see it, then aim for 26 May when it will be at its greatest elongation from the Sun

Venus
Venus will be bright and prominent in the early evening sky during this period, moving from Aries to Taurus and in mid-May passing right through the bull’s horns. On 16 May Venus will appear very close to the dark part of the Moon, and if you’re heading north from Australia you may even see an occultation..

Earth
Apart from the close encounter between the Moon and Venus (mentioned above) on 16 May, the Moon is worth watching on 17 April as well when the Pleaides cluster (M45) is occulted by it, thus providing many opportunities to see the many bright stars in this cluster disappearing one by one. The Lyrids meteor shower peaks on 22 April, but you will have to wait until after midnight to catch the peak from Perth.

Mars
Mars spends most of this period in Cancer, hovering near the Beehive cluster (M44) but moves over into Leo in the last half of May. The Moon appears near Mars on 22 April and again on 20 May

Jupiter
Jupiter is a pre-dawn object at the moment and spends most of this period in Aquarius, moving into Pisces during the 2nd week of May. By the end of May it will be rising just after 1am. The Moon will appear nearby on 12 April and again on 9 and 10 May. More interestingly perhaps, following on from last year’s close encounters between Jupiter and Neptune, this year Uranus will be close by towards the end of May.

Saturn
Saturn spends this period moving slowly through Virgo, and the Moon will appear nearby on 25 and 26 April and again on 22 and 23 May.

Uranus
Having glided around the far side of the Sun, Uranus is now in the pre-dawn sky, moving through Pisces. It starts this period close to Jupiter, and by the end of May it is very close by, so if you’ve never caught a glimpse of this distant blue world, this might be an excellent opportunity. If you miss it now, don’t fret because the two planets will stay close for some time, with some very close encounters coming up later in the year.

Neptune
Like Uranus, Neptune has reappeared from its journey around the far side of the Sun and is now a pre-dawn object. By the end of May it will be rising just after 11pm, so will very soon be an evening object again. Neptune meanders through Aquarius for this whole period. The Moon will appear nearby on 10 April.

By Chris Marr
[Information Source: "Astronomy 2010" by Glenn Dawes, Peter Northfield and Ken Wallace]

Constellations

Have you ever wondered when a particular constellation will be visible? Check the culmination dates for the constellations, which are given for 2100 local time. Also included in this list are their common and genitive names, and their officially recognized abbreviations. These dates are valid world-wide, but not all constellations will be visible from all latitudes.