The Moon.
First Quarter on the 2nd rising at 10.26, setting at 03.31
Full on the 9th, rising at 20.22, setting at 05.44
Last Quarter on the 17th rising at 03.19, setting at 11.02
New on the 25th, rising at 05.32, setting at 21.39
So she’ll be visible at night almost all month, though the 3rd week, when close to New will be best for Lunarphobes to observe fuzzies.
Planets.
Saturn is the only planet we can see during the night, and it’ll be there all night till 6am on the 1st and till 4.30am by the end of April. Still almost edge-on so not the inspiring sight we’ve become used to, but still worth looking for, particularly now that the rings don’t obscure the disc so much, allowing us to see the banding more clearly.
Venus has moved to the other side of the Sun so is now the Morning Star, rising due east at 5.45am an hour before the Sun on the 1st, but in bright twilight, so her very thin crescent 1.5% phase, will not be easy to see. As the month progresses she’ll rise earlier, but still maintain the hour ahead of the Sun. Her phase will thicken to 23% by the end of the month, making it a little easier to find her in dawn twilight.
All the rest of the planets are in the dawn sky, with Jupiter, at mag –2, leading the field, rising just ahead of Venus, at mag –4, at about 5.30am on the 1st earlier daily, till on the 30th it’ll be up by 3.45am. They’ll all keep a low profile that doesn’t make for good observing, unfortunately.
Jupiter will have faint Neptune within 3° all month, but you’ll need a telescope to see it. The other interesting conjunction is between Mars and Uranus, binoculars should show these getting within half a degree of each other on the morning of the 15th, with Venus 7.5° to their left, but only half an hour before the Sun comes up to spoil it. From the 19th to the 23rd, the crescent Moon will be passing by these planets, as she makes her daily 13° move from right to left.
So much for the east, but in the west at sunset, we’ve lost bright Venus, but have gained tiny Mercury. It starts the month quite close to the Sun, too close to observe, but pulls away from it through the month, so that by the 10th it’ll set more than an hour after the Sun and by the 30th, 2 hours. So this is Mercury’s month and though it gets a little less bright, it’ll be easy to see. Mercury goes through the month getting bigger, though less bright till by the 30th, it’ll be 9 arcsec wide, mag 1.0 and presenting a phase of 25%, and it'll set at 10.15pm.
On the 26th it’ll be joined by a crescent Moon 1.5° away, with the Pleiades just 3° away. Later that night the Moon will occult some members of the Pleiades, just as they set together.
Meteor showers. There is one this month the Lyrids, not a bountiful shower, but after the hiatus in the last few months it’s worth looking for particularly as the Moon will not be in the way, and the radiant gets up soon after dusk. They peak on the 22nd, but can be seen from mid to end of April.
What else? Mention of the Lyrids radiant reminds me that we should be able to see the last of the Summer Triangle stars, Altair, before midnight on the 24th, meaning that summer is here? Perhaps not, but much of the sights of summer are available after midnight, Lyra, Cygnus, Hercules, Virgo, Aquila, Serpens Caput and Sagittarius which houses the centre of the Milky Way and all its sights. Though heavily dependant on the light pollution of Doncaster, a transparent sky will enable you to see more sights than you can shake a telescope at.
Satellites The ISS has been visible from Doncaster during the last half of March and the Shuttle too, docking and undocking, passing across the sky as a pair, but in April it’ll be visible only from the 23rd and in the early hours.
Iridium Flares on the other hand are plentiful, far more than space here allows, but some of the brightest are
5th 21:30:25 20° up - due north
6th 21:24:06 22° up - due north
7th 21:17:51 24° up - due north
8th 21:11:33 26° up - due north
These aren’t the same satellite though it seems so. There is a similar flash almost every night till the 16th in the north at about the same time. You must go to www.heavens-above.com for more details of all satellites. The times are very precise and the flash is short so be looking at the right place at the right time or you’ll miss it.
Brian