Monthly Archives: April 2022

32 inch Cassegrain Project

Planets of the Month: April 2022

By Erich Karkoschka
Mercury is the only planet in the evening sky after April 10.
It is easily visible after mid-month as dusk fades.  It sets
shortly after the end of twilight.  On the 29th, Mercury is on the edge of the Pleiades, a nice sight in binoculars.
Venus and Mars have been close together in the morning sky for many weeks.  Now, Venus is getting faster so that Mars cannot keep up.  By the end of the month, they are 15 degrees apart. Venus is five magnitudes brighter than Mars and slightly losing
altitude at the beginning of twilight while Mars is slowly
gaining altitude.  
At the beginning of April, Venus is still almost half illuminated, but gets more round as the month progresses.

The moon is a thin crescent on the 2nd at dusk and on the 28th
at dawn with Full Moon mid month (16th).  On the 4th it is close to the Pleiades.  The most beautiful sight will be the moon, Venus, and Jupiter close together on the morning of the 27th.  Remembering this triangle during dawn, one can try to see how long one can watch it naked eye.  Jupiter becomes invisible at sunrise, 6:00 am while Venus can be seen at least another half hour, possible even past noon if the sky is very clear.

Jupiter rises during dawn at the beginning of the month, well
to the lower left of the three other planets.  Jupiter passes Neptune on the 12th in less than 0.1 degree distance.  This happens once every 13 years, but this time the distance is
closer than most other times.  Neptune is faintly visible in a
telescope since both planets only rise after the start of dawn.
Venus is approaching Jupiter and reaches it on the 30th. The two brightest planets will be less than half a degree apart, a sight one should not miss.  Around the 18th, the four bright planets of the morning sky are almost perfectly equally spaced. April is a good time to watch the planets move among the stars and between each other, each with its own speed.
Saturn starts the month between Venus and Mars.  On the 5th, Mars passes Saturn less than half a degree south, a nice sight of two planets with equal magnitude but different colors. For the next months, Saturn will be the first of the morning planets to rise, by 2 am at the end of the month.
Uranus is the only planet in the evening sky until April 10.
Afterwards it will be too low to find it during late dusk.
32 inch Cassegrain Project

Planets of the Month: March 2022

By Erich Karkoschka
Mercury finishes its morning apparition during the first week of March.  On the 2nd it passes the fainter Saturn less than 1 degree south of it.
Venus and Mars stay within 5 degrees of each other.  Their minimum distance is 4 degrees on the 15th.  They rise well before dawn starts.
On the 29th, Venus passes Saturn 2 degrees north of it. Venus is at greatest western elongation on the 20th as spring starts.  In a telescope it appears as half a disk.  
Slower Mars will pass Saturn on the 4th of April 0.3 degrees south.  The last week of March is a good time to watch the triangle of Venus, Mars,
and Saturn changing shape from day to day.  
March has two New Moons, on the 2nd and 31st.  It is visible on the 3rd as a very slim crescent at bright dusk.  The almost Full Moon is close to Regulus on the evening of the 15th and close to the trio of planets in the morning sky on the 28th.  It is still
visible on the 29th and possibly on the 30th to the lower right of
Jupiter.
Jupiter joins the other morning planets on the 26th, but only poorly visible near the horizon.
Saturn may not be visible naked eye on the 2nd, but will rise earlier and earlier.  By the end of the month, it will rise together with Venus and Mars.
Uranus is the only planet in the evening sky.  You can find it with binoculars in Aries.