Westlanden 01.04.2024 – What can we see in the starry sky next week?
Tuesday April 2
00.15: Mercury is stationary in ecliptic longitude. The planet reverses its direction of motion relative to the stars and starts moving against the usual direction.
05.15: Last Quarter The Moon is in the phase of Last Quarter. The left half of the Moon is now illuminated and the Moon is mainly visible in the late night and early morning
Saturday April 6
06.45: The Moon is 1.7° east of Saturn (+1.1m), in the constellation Aquarius
07.14: Last crescent moon. This morning, under favorable conditions, we can see the last crescent moon before the upcoming New Moon. It is currently 2.7 days before the New Moon; the Moon is waning and 9.5% illuminated. The apparent width of the crescent moon is 3.1′ and is barely visible at the end of the night, shortly before sunrise.
8:58 PM: All moons east of Jupiter
Between 8:58 PM and 10:50 PM, all Galilean moons are east of Jupiter. Seen from Jupiter these are Europa, Io, Ganymede and Callisto. Jupiter is at an altitude of 11° above the west-northwest horizon, and a good view of the horizon is needed to see this. The Sun is 14° below the horizon. Binoculars on a tripod are sufficient to observe the moons of Jupiter.
Sunday April 7
19.51: Moon at perigee The Moon is at the point of its orbit closest to the Earth: the perigee. The distance between the Earth and the Moon is 358,850 km. The apparent diameter of the Moon is larger than average (33’18.0”), due to its smaller distance. The Moon is shrinking, 2% illuminated and is visible shortly before sunrise, so towards the end of the night.
Monday April 8
20.21: It is New Moon. As seen from Earth, the Moon faces the same direction as the Sun, so the far side of the Moon is illuminated and the dark side of the Moon faces Earth. Moreover, the New Moon is only above the horizon during the day. The Moon is currently invisible due to this combination of causes.
