Thursday, May 15, 2025
Bright Starlink trains from G15-4 launch 16-17 May and G6-67 launch 16-19 may
Northern Evening sky as seen from Adelaide at 18:32 ACST on Friday May 16. The Starlink train from launch G15-4 is passing north east. Simulated in Stellarium.Click to embiggen. | North-Western Evening sky as seen from Adelaide at 18:28 ACST on Saturday May 17. The Starlink train from launch G15-4 is passing north west. Simulated in Stellarium.Click to embiggen. |
Whole sky map for Adelaide on Friday May 16 showing the Starlink pass direction of a single satellite. there are 28 satellites on this path taking 10 minutes for start to finish. magnitude 2.1 at brightest. | Whole sky map for Adelaide on Saturday May 17 showing the Starlink pass direction of a single satellite. there are 28 satellites on this path taking 10 minutes for start to finish. magnitude 2.6 at brightest. |
Alice Springs G15-4 launch passes
Whole sky map for Alice Springs on Friday May 16 showing the Starlink pass direction of a single satellite starting 18:28. there are 28 satellites on this path taking 10 minutes for start to finish. magnitude 2.2 at brightest. | Whole sky map for Alice Springs on Saturday May 17 showing the Starlink pass direction of a single satellite starting 18:28. there are 28 satellites on this path taking 10 minutes for start to finish. magnitude 2.9 at brightest. |
Perth G15-4 launch passes
Whole sky map for Perth on Friday May 16 starting 18:32 showing the Starlink pass direction of a single satellite. there are 28 satellites on this path taking 10 minutes for start to finish. magnitude 2.2 at brightest. | Whole sky map for Perth on Saturday May 17 starting 18:32 showing the Starlink pass direction of a single satellite. there are 28 satellites on this path taking 10 minutes for start to finish. magnitude 3.3 at brightest. |
Melbourne G6-67 launch passes
Whole sky map for Melbourne on Friday May 16 starting 18:01 showing the Starlink pass direction of a single satellite. there are 30 satellites on this path taking 2 minutes for start to finish. magnitude 3.4 at brightest. | Whole sky map for Melbourne on Saturday May 17 starting 17:52 showing the Starlink pass direction of a single satellite. there are 28 satellites on this path taking 10 minutes for start to finish. magnitude 3.6 at brightest. |
Hobart G6-67 launch passes
Whole sky map for Hobart on Saturday May 17 starting 17:52 showing the Starlink pass direction of a single satellite. there are 30 satellites on this path taking 4 minutes for start to finish. magnitude 2.1 at brightest. | Whole sky map for Hobart on Sunday May 18 starting 18:00 showing the Starlink pass direction of a single satellite. there are 30 satellites on this path taking 4 minutes for start to finish. magnitude 2.1 at brightest. |
While the Starlink satellites are the bane of astrophographers, the sight of a recently launched Starlink train is rather awesome. Over the next few days two recent launches will give some Australians an awesome view.
The Starlink train from launch G15-4 (13 May UT) will be visible in the early evening twilight of the 16-17th May from central and western states (not Darwin and for the eastern states they occur during bright twilight). When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use Heavens Above to get site specific predictions for your location. Choose G15-4 (13 May UT) form the drop down menu in the starlink prediction dialog.
The Starlink train from launch G6-67 (14 May UT) will be visible in the early evening twilight of the 16-19th May from Victoria and Tasmania. use Heavens Above
to get site specific predictions for your location. Choose G6-67(14
May UT) form the drop down menu in the starlink prediction dialog.
Labels: Satellite, unaided eye
Bright Passes of Tiangiong AND Starlink trains (later post), 16-24 May, 2025.
Tiangong as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Saturday 17 May at 18:38 ACST as it passes by Canopus. Simulated in Stellarium (the Tiangong will actually be a bright dot). Click to embiggen. | Tiangong as seen from Melbourne on the evening of Friday 16 May at 18:32 AEST as it passes by Canopus. Simulated in Stellarium (Tiangong will actually be a bright dot). Click to embiggen. | Tiangong as seen from Perth on the evening of Saturday 17 May at at 18:41 AWST as it passes close to Alpha Centauri. Simulated in Stellarium (Tiangong will actually be a bright dot). Click to embiggen. |
All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Friday 9 February for Adelaide. | All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Friday 9 February for Sydney. | All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Saturday 17 May for Perth. |
Relatively bright passes of the Chinese space station Tiangong visible in the evening from Australia aren't that common. Over the next few days most of Australia will see bright evening twilight passes of the Tiangong space station (weather permitting). Many of these go very close to bight stars and will be rather dramatic.
There are also some "bright Starlink trains from recent launches in the evening, I will d a separate post soon, after dinner. If you can't wait go to Heavens Above and look at the dedicated pass times for your site for Starlink G15-4, launched 13 May. Also some bright passes of Starlink G6-67 launched on the 14th, for Melbourne and Hobart.
The following tables are from data provided from Heavens Above.
Particularly impressive passes are highlighted in yellow, passes entering the shadow in blue.
Adelaide (ACST):
Date | Brightness | Start | Highest point | End | Pass type | ||||||
(mag) | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | ||
15 May | -0.8 | 19:00:02 | 10° | SW | 19:02:12 | 32° | SSW | 19:02:12 | 32° | SSW | visible |
16 May | -1.0 | 17:59:34 | 10° | SW | 18:02:26 | 29° | SSE | 18:04:44 | 14° | ESE | visible |
16 May | 0.9 | 19:36:13 | 10° | WSW | 19:36:55 | 15° | WSW | 19:36:55 | 15° | WSW | visible |
17 May | -2.1 | 18:35:40 | 10° | WSW | 18:38:50 | 63° | SSE | 18:39:31 | 47° | E | visible |
18 May | -0.5 | 19:11:57 | 10° | W | 19:14:25 | 34° | NW | 19:14:25 | 34° | NW | visible |
19 May | -2.0 | 18:11:08 | 10° | WSW | 18:14:20 | 74° | NNW | 18:17:18 | 11° | ENE | visible |
20 May | 0.4 | 18:47:44 | 10° | W | 18:50:09 | 20° | NW | 18:52:33 | 10° | NNE | visible |
21 May | -0.6 | 17:46:31 | 10° | WSW | 17:49:31 | 38° | NNW | 17:52:29 | 10° | NE | visible |
22 May | 1.3 | 18:24:20 | 10° | NW | 18:25:05 | 11° | NW | 18:25:51 | 10° | NNW | visible |
Brisbane (AEST):
Date | Brightness | Start | Highest point | End | Pass type | ||||||
(mag) | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | ||
16 May | 0.4 | 18:34:07 | 10° | SSW | 18:34:44 | 13° | SSW | 18:34:44 | 13° | SSW | visible |
17 May | 0.2 | 17:34:22 | 10° | S | 17:35:28 | 11° | SSE | 17:36:35 | 10° | SE | visible |
18 May | -1.0 | 18:09:16 | 10° | SSW | 18:12:02 | 27° | SSE | 18:12:14 | 26° | SE | visible |
19 May | -1.0 | 18:45:02 | 10° | WSW | 18:47:18 | 42° | WSW | 18:47:18 | 42° | WSW | visible |
20 May | -1.9 | 17:44:22 | 10° | SW | 17:47:28 | 50° | SSE | 17:50:23 | 11° | ENE | visible |
20 May | 1.4 | 19:22:18 | 10° | WNW | 19:22:36 | 11° | WNW | 19:22:36 | 11° | WNW | visible |
21 May | -0.3 | 18:20:32 | 10° | WSW | 18:23:22 | 30° | NW | 18:25:58 | 11° | NNE | visible |
23 May | 1.0 | 17:56:25 | 10° | WNW | 17:58:15 | 14° | NW | 18:00:04 | 10° | N | visible |
Darwin (ACST):
Date | Brightness | Start | Highest point | End | Pass type | ||||||
(mag) | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | ||
21 May | -1.2 | 19:25:27 | 10° | SSW | 19:28:12 | 28° | SE | 19:28:12 | 28° | SE | visible |
22 May | -0.6 | 20:01:10 | 10° | WSW | 20:04:03 | 34° | NW | 20:04:11 | 34° | NW | visible |
23 May | -2.3 | 19:00:06 | 10° | SW | 19:03:15 | 76° | SE | 19:06:20 | 10° | NE | visible |
24 May | 1.0 | 19:37:07 | 10° | W | 19:38:53 | 14° | NW | 19:40:39 | 10° | N | visible |
Hobart (AEST):
Date | Brightness | Start | Highest point | End | Pass type | ||||||
(mag) | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | ||
15 May | -1.8 | 17:54:23 | 10° | W | 17:57:32 | 63° | N | 18:00:02 | 15° | ENE | visible |
15 May | 1.0 | 19:31:20 | 10° | W | 19:32:12 | 15° | WNW | 19:32:12 | 15° | WNW | visible |
16 May | -0.9 | 18:30:41 | 10° | W | 18:33:41 | 37° | NNW | 18:34:44 | 28° | NNE | visible |
17 May | -1.4 | 17:30:05 | 10° | W | 17:33:12 | 51° | NNW | 17:36:19 | 10° | ENE | visible |
17 May | 0.4 | 19:07:23 | 10° | WNW | 19:09:31 | 17° | NNW | 19:09:31 | 17° | NNW | visible |
18 May | -0.1 | 18:06:24 | 10° | W | 18:09:09 | 26° | NNW | 18:11:52 | 10° | NE | visible |
19 May | 1.0 | 18:43:58 | 10° | NW | 18:44:50 | 11° | NNW | 18:45:42 | 10° | NNW | visible |
20 May | 0.7 | 17:42:07 | 10° | WNW | 17:44:21 | 18° | NNW | 17:46:35 | 10° | NNE | visible |
Melbourne (AEST):
Date | Brightness | Start | Highest point | End | Pass type | ||||||
(mag) | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | ||
15 May | -1.5 | 17:54:08 | 10° | WSW | 17:57:12 | 42° | S | 18:00:01 | 12° | ESE | visible |
15 May | 0.4 | 19:30:57 | 10° | WSW | 19:32:12 | 21° | WSW | 19:32:12 | 21° | WSW | visible |
16 May | -2.2 | 18:30:26 | 10° | WSW | 18:33:37 | 69° | SSE | 18:34:45 | 36° | E | visible |
17 May | -1.1 | 19:06:43 | 10° | W | 19:09:31 | 44° | NW | 19:09:31 | 44° | NW | visible |
18 May | -2.1 | 18:06:02 | 10° | WSW | 18:09:13 | 79° | NNW | 18:12:14 | 11° | ENE | visible |
18 May | 1.2 | 19:43:47 | 10° | WNW | 19:44:26 | 12° | WNW | 19:44:26 | 12° | WNW | visible |
19 May | -0.1 | 18:42:26 | 10° | W | 18:45:09 | 26° | NNW | 18:47:18 | 13° | NNE | visible |
20 May | -1.1 | 17:41:28 | 10° | W | 17:44:33 | 46° | NNW | 17:47:36 | 10° | NE | visible |
21 May | 0.9 | 18:18:18 | 10° | WNW | 18:20:14 | 15° | NW | 18:22:09 | 10° | N | visible |
Perth (AWST):
Date | Brightness | Start | Highest point | End | Pass type | ||||||
(mag) | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | ||
15 May | -0.1 | 19:02:51 | 10° | SW | 19:04:22 | 20° | SSW | 19:04:22 | 20° | SSW | visible |
16 May | -0.3 | 18:02:30 | 10° | SW | 18:04:51 | 19° | SSE | 18:06:55 | 11° | SE | visible |
16 May | 1.1 | 19:38:49 | 10° | WSW | 19:39:05 | 12° | WSW | 19:39:05 | 12° | WSW | visible |
17 May | -1.5 | 18:38:22 | 10° | SW | 18:41:22 | 38° | SSE | 18:41:42 | 36° | SE | visible |
18 May | -0.7 | 19:14:26 | 10° | WSW | 19:16:37 | 37° | W | 19:16:37 | 37° | W | visible |
19 May | -2.2 | 18:13:44 | 10° | WSW | 18:16:54 | 68° | SSE | 18:19:30 | 14° | ENE | visible |
19 May | 1.5 | 19:51:40 | 10° | WNW | 19:51:42 | 10° | WNW | 19:51:42 | 10° | WNW | visible |
20 May | -0.2 | 18:50:03 | 10° | W | 18:52:49 | 28° | NW | 18:54:49 | 15° | NNE | visible |
21 May | -1.5 | 17:49:00 | 10° | WSW | 17:52:08 | 60° | NNW | 17:55:15 | 10° | NE | visible |
22 May | 0.9 | 18:25:58 | 10° | WNW | 18:27:47 | 14° | NW | 18:29:35 | 10° | N | visible |
Sydney (AEST):
Date | Brightness | Start | Highest point | End | Pass type | ||||||
(mag) | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | Time | Alt. | Az. | ||
15 May | -0.6 | 17:56:04 | 10° | SW | 17:58:42 | 23° | S | 18:00:01 | 18° | SE | visible |
16 May | -1.3 | 18:32:11 | 10° | SW | 18:34:44 | 39° | S | 18:34:44 | 39° | S | visible |
17 May | -1.0 | 17:31:43 | 10° | SW | 17:34:35 | 29° | SSE | 17:37:21 | 10° | ESE | visible |
17 May | 0.5 | 19:08:21 | 10° | WSW | 19:09:31 | 20° | WSW | 19:09:31 | 20° | WSW | visible |
18 May | -2.2 | 18:07:43 | 10° | WSW | 18:10:53 | 74° | SSE | 18:12:14 | 31° | ENE | visible |
19 May | -0.4 | 18:44:04 | 10° | W | 18:46:52 | 28° | NW | 18:47:18 | 27° | NNW | visible |
20 May | -1.6 | 17:43:07 | 10° | WSW | 17:46:14 | 59° | NNW | 17:49:21 | 10° | NE | visible |
21 May | 0.8 | 18:20:01 | 10° | WNW | 18:21:58 | 15° | NW | 18:23:54 | 10° | N | visible |
When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use Heavens Above to get site specific predictions for your location, a small difference in location can mean the difference between Tiangong passing over a star or missing it completely.
As always, start looking several minutes before the pass is going to start to get yourself oriented and your eyes dark adapted. Be patient, there may be slight differences in the time of Tiangong appearing due to orbit changes not picked up by the predictions. Use the most recent prediction for your site.
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Thursday May 15 to Thursday May 22
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday May 20. Jupiter and Mars are visible in the evening sky. Jupiter sets shortly after the sky is fully dark and Mars is lowering in the
early evening sky. Look for the constellation Corona Borealis before midnight, the blaze star T Coronae Borealis (TCrB) may go Nova eventually. Saturn, Venus and Mercury are visible in the morning twilight. Some good space station Tiangong passes in the early evening.
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday May 20.
Saturn is visible in the twilight above Venus with Mercury on the horizon below.
If you look to the North just before midnight, you will see a prominent bright orange star, Arcturus, if you look northeast you will see a dainty circlet of stars. Corona Borealis, the northern crown. The blaze star T CrB is located on the right-hand side to the circlet, where the line of stars turns down, there are no other bright stars in the region, so when it erupts it will be easily visible. Viewing tips at my T CrB post.
Just above this is the asteroid Vesta, it was at opposition on the 2nd and theoretically visible to the unaided eye. it is roughly between the bright red Star Antares and Arcturus, and two and a half binocular widths from the bright star Beta Librae. See my opposition of Vesta page for more details and charts.
For local predictions for your site see the heavens above website https://heavens-above.com/.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).
Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).
Mercury is lowering in the morning twilight.
Venus is high in the morning twilight. It is below Saturn.
Mars is lowering in the evening sky.
Jupiter is low the the north-western horizon and is setting shortly after when the sky is fully dark.
Saturn is rising in the morning the twilight.
Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.
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/
Labels: weekly sky
Wednesday, May 07, 2025
Thursday May 8 to Thursday May 15
The Full Moon is Tuesday May 13. Jupiter and Mars are visible in the evening sky. Mars is high in the early evening sky. Look for the constellation Corona Borealis before midnight, the blaze star T Coronae Borealis (TCrB) may go Nova eventually. Saturn, Venus and Mercury are visible in the morning twilight. The eta Aquariid meteor shower still has good rates on the 8th.
The Full Moon is Tuesday May 13. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the earth, on the 11th.
Saturn is visible in the twilight near Venus with the crescent moon close to Mercury below.
The eta Aquariid meteor shower, which is produced by the debris from Halley’s Comet, should peak on May 7 (strictly speaking May 6, 3UT). dark sky sites could expect to see meteor every 3-4 minutes. Good rates will also be seen on the 8th.
If you look to the North just before midnight, you will see a prominent bright orange star, Arcturus, if you look northeast you will see a dainty circlet of stars. Corona Borealis, the northern crown. The blaze star T CrB is located on the right-hand side to the circlet, where the line of stars turns down, there are no other bright stars in the region, so when it erupts it will be easily visible. Viewing tips at my T CrB post.
Just above this is the asteroid Vesta, it was at opposition on the 2nd and theoretically visible to the unaided eye. it is roughly between the bright red Star Antares and Arcturus, two binocular widths from the bright star Beta Librae. See my opposition of Vesta page for more details and charts.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).
Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).
Mercury begins sinking in the morning twilight.
Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight. It is below Saturn.
Mars is high in the evening sky.
Jupiter is sinking in the the north-western evening sky when the sky is fully dark.
Saturn is rising in the morning the twilight.
Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.
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/
Labels: weekly sky
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower 5-9 May, 2025
Weather prediction looks okay.
You may have read that this year the eta Aquariids have a predicted ZHR of 50 meteors. The figure ZHR is zenithal hourly rate. This is the number of meteors that a single observer would see per hour if the shower's "point of origin", or radiant, were at the zenith and the sky was dark enough for 6.5-magnitude stars to be visible to the naked eye.
In practice, you will never see this many meteors as the radiant will be some distance below the zenith. Also, unless you are out deep in the countryside, the darkness will be less than ideal. How many are you likely to see in reality?
The table below gives predictions below for various towns, but they are only predictions and while based on average steam density there may be some differences year to year, but good rates were seen in previous years, and dark sky sites may possibly see one meteor every 3-4 minutes or so. There were many bright ones reported with persistent trains in 2014. People in the suburbs maybe will see less, but at least one every 6 minutes should be possible.
Predicted meteor rates for selected towns (taken from NASA shower Flux estimator below). If your city is not on the list you can expect a meteor rate similar to the closest city to you in latitude.
Town | Morning May 6 | Morning May 7 | Morning May8 |
Adelaide | 15 meteors/hr | 18 meteors/hr | 19 meteors/hr |
Brisbane | 16 meteors/hr | 19 meteors/hr | 21 meteors/hr |
Darwin | 17 meteors/hr | 20 meteors/hr | 22 meteors/hr |
Perth | 16 meteors/hr | 19 meteors/hr | 20 meteors/hr |
Melbourne | 15 meteors/hr | 17 meteors/hr | 18 meteors/hr |
Hobart | 14 meteors/hr | 17 meteors/hr | 18 meteors/hr |
Sydney | 15 meteors/hr | 18 meteors/hr | 20 meteors/hr |
The radiant of the shower is about five hand-spans up from the eastern horizon and three hand-spans to the left of due east at 4 am (see above for a spotter chart at 5 am). When looking, be sure to let your eyes adjust for at least 5 minutes so your eyes can be properly adapted to the dark.
Don't look directly at the radiant site, because the meteors will often start their "burn" some distance from it, but around a hand-span up or to the side. The best way to watch the Eta Aquariids is to let your eye rove around the entire patch of the sky above the north-east horizon, between the only two obvious bright stars in the northeast, Altair and Fomalhaut, and Saturn as the center of your field (again, see the spotter chart at 5:00 am above). The meteors are fast, with few fireballs and persistent trains.
Be patient, although you should see an average of a meteor every 3 to 4 minutes, a whole stretch of time can go by without a meteor, then a whole bunch turn up one after the other.
Make yourself comfortable, choose an observing site that has little to obstruct the eastern horizon, have a comfortable chair to sit in (a banana lounger is best), or blankets and pillows. Rug up against the cold. A hot Thermos of something to drink and plenty of mosquito protection will complete your observing preparations. As well as meteors, keep an eye out for satellites (see Heavens Above for predictions from your site). The Milky way will arch above you, with Saturn and Venus just below the radiant.
Use the NASA meteor shower flux estimator for an estimate of what the shower will be like from your location (you may need to enter your longitude and latitude, surprisingly, while Adelaide and Brisbane are hard-wired in, Sydney and Melbourne are not). See the image to the left for typical output. The peak is rather sharp.
You need to choose 31 Eta Aquariids and remember to set the date to 6-7 or 7-8 May 2025 and turn off daylight saving time. You can follow the progress of the shower at the IMO live Aquariid site.
Guides for taking meteor photos are here and here.
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/
Labels: eta aquarid, Meteors, unaided eye
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Thursday May 1 to Thursday May 8
The First Quarter Moon is Sunday May 4. Jupiter and Mars are visible in the evening sky. Jupiter is close to the crescent moon on the 1st. Mars is high in the early evening sky and on the 4th and 5th Mars is close to the Beehive cluster. On the 4th Mars is also close to the first quarter Moon. Look for the constellation Corona Borealis before midnight, the blaze star T Coronae Borealis (TCrB) may go Nova eventually. The asteroid Vesta is visible nearby and is at opposition on the 2nd. Saturn, Venus and Mercury are visible in the morning twilight. The eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks on the 7th.
The First Quarter Moon is Sunday May 4.
Saturn is visible in the twilight near Venus with the crescent moon close to Mercury below.
The eta Aquariid meteor shower, which is produced by the debris from Halley’s Comet, will peak on May 7 (strictly speaking May 6, 3UT). dark sky sites could expect to see meteor every 3-4 minutes. Good rates will also be seen on the 8th.
If you look to the North just before midnight, you will see a prominent bright orange star, Arcturus, if you look northeast you will see a dainty circlet of stars. Corona Borealis, the northern crown. The blaze star T CrB is located on the right-hand side to the circlet, where the line of stars turns down, there are no other bright stars in the region, so when it erupts it will be easily visible. Viewing tips at my T CrB post.
Just above this is the asteroid Vesta, at opposition on the 2nd and theoretically visible to the unaided eye. it is roughly between the bright red Star Antares and Arcturus, two binocular widths from the bright star Beta Librae. The inset shows the approximate binocular view of Vesta, near the star 16 Librae. See my opposition of Vesta page for more details and charts.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).
Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).
Mercury begins sinking in the morning twilight.
Venus climbs higher in the morning twilight. It forms a pair with Saturn.
Mars is high in the evening sky. Mars is close to the First Quarter Moon and the Beehive cluster (M44) on the 4th.
Jupiter is sinking in the the north-western evening sky when the sky is fully dark. Jupiter forms a line with the crescent moon on May 1.
Saturn is rising in the morning the twilight. It forms a pair with Venus.
Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.
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/
Labels: weekly sky