Astroblog: Thursday April 2 to Thursday April 9

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Thursday April 2 to Thursday April 9

The Full Moon is Thursday April 2. Daylight savings ends on Sunday April 5. Venus climbs higher in the twilight. Jupiter dominates the northern sky. In the morning Mercury is in a excellent position to view well above the eastern horizon with are Mars below it. Comet C/2026 A1 may be visible in the western evening twilight from around April 6-7 (or it may completely fizzle out).

The Full Moon is Thursday April 2. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on April 7.

Eastern horizon on the morning of Saturday, April 4 as seen from Adelaide at 6:36 ACDST (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Mercury is visible with Mars below it low to the horizon.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Western sky on the evening of Saturday, April 4 as seen from Adelaide at 19:33 ACDST ( 30 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Venus is visible just above the western horizon, you will need a level, unobscured horizon to see it.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (30 minutes after sunset).

Northern sky on Saturday, April 4 as seen from Adelaide at 20:30 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Jupiter was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on January the 10th, but will be bright for many months. Jupiter forms a broad triangle with the bright stars Betelgeuse and Procyon, and a narrower triangle with the stars Castor and Pollux.

The inset shows the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

Western sky on the evening of Tuesday, April 7 as seen from Adelaide at 18:28 ACST ( 30 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). If it hasn't disintegrated, Comet C/2026 A1 may be visible low in the twilight.

Bright Venus will be your guide, the comet should be to the west and a bit below. The comets location is marked by a cross in the image.

As the twilight fades the comet and its tail may become more visible. As the days progress the comet gets higher, but it will also be dimming rapidly.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (30 minutes after sunset).

Whole sky on Saturday, April 4 as seen from Adelaide at 20:40 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Jupiter is prominent in the north.

Bright Canopus and Sirius are near the Zenith. Orion is now in the north-western sky.

The Southern Cross is rising in the Southern sky. The moon is waning and the fainter clusters and nebula are becoming easier to see.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury climbs higher in the morning twilight.

Venus climbs higher in the evening twilight.

Mars is low in the twilight below Mercury.

Jupiter is seen throughout the evening, setting after midnight. Jupiter was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on January the 10th. Jupiter forms a broad triangle with the bright stars Betelgeuse and Procyon, and a narrower triangle with the stars Castor and Pollux.

Saturn is lost in the twilight

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ACST, Western sky at 10 pm ACST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

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