Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Thursday April 16 to Thursday April 23
The New Moon is Friday April 17. Venus climbs higher in the twilight and is close to the crescent moon on the 19th. Jupiter dominates the northern sky and is close to the Moon on the 23rd. In the morning Mercury, Mars, Saturn and the thin crescent Moon do a nice dance on the 16th, then Mercury, Mars and Saturn form a spectacularly close triangle from the 19th-22nd.
The New Moon is Friday April 17. Moon at is at perigee, when it is closest to the earth on April 19
The Crescent Moon, Mercury, Mars and Saturn for a triangle approximately one hand-span across low to the horizon. On the 15th they all form a line in the twilight.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).
Mercury, Mars and Saturn for a close triangle approximately low to the horizon. Mars is closest to Saturn on the 20th (1.1°). On the 21st Mercury is 0.6° from Saturn and 1.6° from Mars. You may need binoculars to see these in the twilight. The inset is the binocular view at the time.
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 the thin crescent Moon just below, 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).
Mercury climbs higher in the morning twilight. On the 16th The Crescent Moon, Mercury, Mars and Saturn form a triangle approximately
one hand-span across low to the horizon. On the 15th they all form a
line in the twilight. On the 16th there is an attractive massing with three unaided eye planets just above the eastern horizon. Mercury at the top is 4° from Mars and 6° from Saturn, as a bonus, the slender crescent of the waning 28-day-old Moon is nearby.
On the 21st another nice close conjunction occurs with Mercury 0.6° from Saturn and 1.6° from Mars. You may need binoculars to see these in the twilight.
Venus climbs higher in the evening twilight.
Mars is low in the twilight below Mercury. It is closest to Mercury on the 20th.
Jupiter is seen throughout the evening, setting after midnight. Jupiter is near the waxing Moon on the 23rd. Jupiter forms a broad triangle with the bright stars Betelgeuse and Procyon, and a narrower triangle with the stars Castor and Pollux.
Saturn is low in the twilight below 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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