Wednesday, March 25, 2015
The Sky This Week - Thursday March 26 to Thursday April 2
The First Quarter Moon is Friday March 27. Venus is prominent in
the
twilight evening
sky. Mars is lost in
the twilight. Jupiter is the
brightest object in the evening sky once Venus has set. Jupiter is visited by the Moon on the 30th. Saturn is in the
head of the Scorpion and now visible in the evening. Mercury is lost to view.
The New Moon is Friday March 20. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on April 1st.
Evening sky on Saturday March 28 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
20:00 (8:00 pm) ACDST in South Australia. Mars is low in the twilight, with
Venus above it heading towards the Pleiades. Similar views will be seen
elsewhere
at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).
Venus is easy to see low above the western horizon in the twilight. At civil twilight, half an hour after sunset, it is around one and a half hand-spans above the horizon. On the 22nd the thin crescent Moon is below Venus, and then on the 23rd it is above Venus.
Mars is low in the western twilight sky and is effectively lost to view.
Evening sky on Monday March 30 looking north as seen from
Adelaide
at 22:00 ACDST showing Jupiter. The inset shows
Jupiter's Moons at this time. Jupiter is the brightest object
above the northern horizon. (click
to embiggen).
Jupiter is now easily seen in the evening sky. It is the brightest object above the north-eastern horizon when twilight ends, and continues into the northern sky as the night goes on. It is between the bright star Regulus in the sickle of Leo (this forms the head of the constellation of the Lion) and Pollux in Cancer. It is also not far from the rather nice Beehive cluster in Cancer, and looks very good in binoculars.
Jupiter was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest in our sky, on 7 February, but it will be an excellent object for may weeks to come. Jupiter is visible all night and is high enough for decent telescopic observation from around 10 pm. Jupiter's Moons will be putting on a good display in both binoculars and small telescopes.
On the 30th, The Moon is close to Jupiter. On April 1st from around 10:00 pm, Io's shadow traverses Jupiter's disk.
Evening sky on Saturday March 28 looking east as seen from
Adelaide
at 23:00 ACDST . Saturn is now visible above the horizon. (click
to embiggen).
Saturn climbs still higher in the morning sky. It is now easily visible before midnight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive constellation of the Scorpion curled above the horizon, with bright Saturn in its head, is very nice indeed.
Saturn is readily visible from around 23:00, but is still best after midnight.
Mercury is lost in the twilight.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Jupiter just past opposition and Saturn rising. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
The New Moon is Friday March 20. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on April 1st.
Venus is easy to see low above the western horizon in the twilight. At civil twilight, half an hour after sunset, it is around one and a half hand-spans above the horizon. On the 22nd the thin crescent Moon is below Venus, and then on the 23rd it is above Venus.
Mars is low in the western twilight sky and is effectively lost to view.
Jupiter is now easily seen in the evening sky. It is the brightest object above the north-eastern horizon when twilight ends, and continues into the northern sky as the night goes on. It is between the bright star Regulus in the sickle of Leo (this forms the head of the constellation of the Lion) and Pollux in Cancer. It is also not far from the rather nice Beehive cluster in Cancer, and looks very good in binoculars.
Jupiter was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest in our sky, on 7 February, but it will be an excellent object for may weeks to come. Jupiter is visible all night and is high enough for decent telescopic observation from around 10 pm. Jupiter's Moons will be putting on a good display in both binoculars and small telescopes.
On the 30th, The Moon is close to Jupiter. On April 1st from around 10:00 pm, Io's shadow traverses Jupiter's disk.
Saturn climbs still higher in the morning sky. It is now easily visible before midnight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive constellation of the Scorpion curled above the horizon, with bright Saturn in its head, is very nice indeed.
Saturn is readily visible from around 23:00, but is still best after midnight.
Mercury is lost in the twilight.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Jupiter just past opposition and Saturn rising. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: weekly sky
# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 12:48 am 
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