Thursday March 27 to Thursday April 3

The New Moon is Saturday March 29. Jupiter and Mars are visible in the evening sky. Jupiter is past opposition and is visible all evening long, forming a line with the stars Aldebaran and Elnath. The Moon joins the line-up with Jupiter on the 3rd. Mars is high in the early evening sky. Look for the constellation Corona Borealis in the morning skies, the blaze star T Coronae Borealis (TCrB) may go Nova eventually.  The Crescent Moon is near Saturn in the morning twilight on the 28th.

The New Moon is Saturday March 29. The moon is at perigee, when it is closet to the Earth, on the 30th.

Eastern twilight sky on the morning of Friday, March 28 as seen from Adelaide at 06:30 ACDST (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Saturn is visible low in the twilight. Below the thin crescent moon.

 

 

 

 

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

 

Northern sky on the morning of Saturday, March 29 as seen from Adelaide at 06:02 ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen)

If you look to the North at astronomical twilight (90 minutes before sunrise), you will see a prominent bright orange star, Arcturus, if you look downwards and to the right 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.

 

 

 

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

 

North-western evening sky on Thursday, April 3 as seen from Adelaide at 20:32 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset), Jupiter is in the north-west forming a line with the stars Aldebaran and Elnath and the crescent Moon.

The inset is the telescope view of  Jupiter at this time.  (click to embiggen). 

 

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

Northern sky on Saturday, March 29 as seen from Adelaide at 20:38 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Mars forms a triangle with Castor and Pollux. 

 

The inset is the telescope view of  Mars at this time.  (click to embiggen).

   

 

 

 

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

Whole sky on Saturday, Saturday, March 29 as seen from Adelaide at 20:38 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Jupiter is in the north-west.  Mars is in the north. 

 

Orion  the hunter is high in the north-west.

 

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

 

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

 

 

Mercury is lost in the evening twilight.

Venus is lost in the twilight. 

Mars is high in the evening sky. Mars was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on January the 16th. 

Jupiter is high in the the north-western evening sky when the sky is fully dark. Jupiter forms a line with the stars Aldebaran and Elnath. The Moon joins the line-up Jupiter on the 3rd.

Saturn returns to the morning the twilight. It is near the crescent Moon on the 28th.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. 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/