Moon
Full ~~~~~~~~~ 6th ---- 19:57 to 05:48
Last Quarter ~~~ 13th --- 02:46 to 11:34
New ~~~~~~~~~21st ---- 05:34 to 20:54
First Quarter ~~~ 29th --- 12:05 to 02:20
Planets
At dusk on the 1st, Jupiter will be shining brightly at mag –2.1, as it descends in the west.
It’ll set at 10:30pm so giving you little more than two hours of observing. By the
middle of April it’ll set before 10pm, and at month’s end it will be gone by 9, in bright dusk.
Venus starts the month 15°above Jupiter in the west at dusk. Brighter than Jupiter at mag -4.4 and presenting a 48% phase. It’ll set on the 1st soon after midnight,
accompanied by the Pleiades, 1° away, so should be worth some effort with a
camera, though difficult to get the best of the great difference in brightness.
It’ll set at the end of the month at about the same time so will, for the
month, be almost a fixture in the sky, reluctant to leave us, though the stars
behind it, like the Pleiades, will have set much earlier. The phase will be
reducing through the month and by the 30th it will be 28%, with much
the same brightness.
Mars will be some 43° high in the sky at dusk on the 1st. Getting smaller, down to 12
arcsec from it’s maximum of 14 last month, as we move further away from in on
our faster track round the Sun, but still brazenly bright at mag –0.7. It’ll
set at dawn so we have all night to study it. By the end of the month, it’ll
start the night high in the sky and at 10 arcsec and mag 0, will be continuing
to decline, and will set before 4am.
Uranus will not be worth seeking as it’s too close to the Sun all month.
Similarly Neptune isn’t easy though towards the end of the month will be available in the east rising before the Sun, but very soon swamped by it, Not worth the effort.
Saturn will rise at 9pm on the 1st, in Virgo, in the company of Spica, 5° to the right. At mag
0.3 and 19 arcsec, a little brighter than Spica, but higher up it will be
clearly yellow to Spica’s blue white. The rings are nicely widened so will be
beautiful to see, though it’ll not get higher than 28° above the southern
horizon. It’ll set after dawn so we have all night to observe. At the end of
the month it’ll be well up in the eastern sky by dusk and will set after dawn,
so will be available all night.
Unfortunately that isn’t as long as previous months, as daylight is stretching into the night, leaving us with less and less time to observe.
Mercury will be too close to the Sun all month, so is not available safely.
Meteor Showers.
Only the Lyrids this month, and they’re forecast to have a maximum of 15 per hour at the Zenith at peak on the 22nd. The radiant is in Lyra, rising later in the evenings in the north east.
The Moon won't be in the way.
Comets.
Always several around but none of visual magnitude except Garradd and that’s rapidly running away. Moving 20° across the sky from Ursa Major into Lynx.
For manmade satellites you'll have to go to http://www.heavens-above.com where you can fine dates and times of all the satellites buzzing round this little planet of ours.