Monday, April 20, 2026
Thursday April 23 to Thursday April 30
The First Quarter Moon is Friday April 24. The Lunar X and V may be seen at this time. Venus climbs higher in the twilight. Jupiter dominates the north-western sky. In the morning Saturn, Mars, and Mercury form a line. On the 30th comet C/2025 R3 PANSTARS may be seen low in the western evening twilight.
The First Quarter Moon is Friday April 24. The Lunar X and V may be seen at this time.
Sky looking North-west on Friday April 24 as seen from Adelaide at 20:20 ACST (click to embiggen).
SThe First Quarter Moon is clearly visible above the horizon forming a triangle with Jupiter and Porcyon. The Lunar X and V may be seen in a telescope or strong binoculars. The inset shows the telescopic view at this time.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).
Saturn, Mars, and Mercury form a line in the wilight.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).
Venus is visible above the western horizon with Jupiter nearby, you may need a level, unobscured horizon to see it.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).
C/2025 R3 is not a sungrazer, it
only gets as close to the sun as between the orbits of Mercury and
Venus. Magnitude predictions run anywhere between magnitude 8 (about as
bright as Neptune) and 2.8 (about as bright as delta Crucis), not
spectacular but easily visible after nautical twilight.
A printable B&W spotters chart is here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1owJ0a64MuxgW644us2p5Ih0_yWw7G1Aq/view?usp=sharing
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).
Mercury is sinking in the morning twilight, forming a line with Saturn and Mars .
Venus climbs higher in the evening twilight.
Mars is climbing in the twilight above Mercury.
Jupiter is seen most of the evening, setting before midnight. Jupiter forms a broad triangle with the bright stars Betelgeuse and Procyon, and a narrower triangle with the stars Castor and Pollux.
Saturn is climbing in the twilight above Mercury and Mars.
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
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