The New Moon is Wednesday, May 8.  Comet 12P Pons-Brooks is visible in binoculars and will progressively climb higher over the week heading for the iconic Orion constellation. Between 3 and 6 May the waning Moon joins the lineup of Saturn, Mars and Mercury. On the 4th there is a spectacular close approach of the Moon to Saturn, with a daytime occultation in the eastern states. On the 5th The Moon is close to Mars and on the 6th it is close to Mercury. On the 6th-8th the eta Aquariid meteor shower is visible in the morning sky. The New Moon is Wednesday, May 8. The Moon is at perigee ..read more

Map of the Occultation path of the Moon and Saturn. The occultaion is on the 3rd UT, which is the morning of the 4th in Australia after sunrise. The Moon at 9:03 am AEST in Sydney on Saturday 4 May just as Saturn disappears behind the Moon. The insets shows the telescope view of Saturn going behind the Moon (left) and emerging from behind the Moon at 9:22 am AEST (right) On the morning of Saturday 4 May Saturn is occulted by the waning Moon as seen from eastern Australia (see table below for exact timings), from Brisbane south. This is a daytime occultation, which will require ..read more

The north-eastern horizon as seen from Adelaide at 5:00 am ACST, the eta Aquariid radiant is marked with a starburst. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).  The eta Aquariid meteor shower, which is produced by the debris from Halley’s Comet, will peak on May 6 (strictly speaking May 5, 21UT).    The moon is almost new, so the rates will be slightly better away from the nominal peak on the 6th as the Moon wanes. There has been predictions we might have a higher rate this year, so it is worthwhile to look out on the w ..read more

Printable Black and White chart for locating Comet 12P 27April-27 May. Click to embiggen and print. Use with a red light torch (or a standard torch with red cellophane over it) to preserve your night vision. Printable Black and White Binocular chart for locating Comet 12P from 27 April to 6 May. The circle represents the approximate field of view of 10x50 binoculars. The comet is within binocular range of nu Taurii until around 2 May. Click to embiggen and print. Use with a red light torch (or a standard torch with red cellophane over it) to preserve your night vision. Pri ..read more

North-west morning sky on Saturday, April 27 as seen from Adelaide at 02:01 ACST. The Moon is just about to cover (occult) the bright star Sigma Scorpii. The inset shows the moon at 3:32 ACST as the moon moves off Sigma Scorpii. Click to embiggen North-west morning sky on Saturday, April 27 as seen from Melbourne at 02:48 AEST. The Moon is just about to cover (occult) the bright star Sigma Scorpii.The inset shows the moon at 4:15 AEST as the moon moves off Sigma Scorpii. Click to embiggen North-east evening sky on Friday, April 26 as seen from Perth at 23:49 AWST. The Moon is jus ..read more

The Last Quarter Moon is Wednesday, May 1. Jupiter is lost in the western twilight sky. Comet 12P Pons-Brooks is visible in binoculars and will progressively climb higher over the week. In the morning Mars and Saturn are high in the morning sky with Mercury and Venus below. Venus is barely visible low in the morning twilight below the line up. Occultation of sigma Scorpii in the morning of the 27th.  The Last Quarter Moon is Wednesday, May 1. Evening sky on Saturday, April 27 as seen from Adelaide at 18:33 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).   Jupiter is lost in ..read more

The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday, April 16. Jupiter is very low in the north-western twilight sky. Comet 12P Pons-Brooks may be visible above Jupiter at the beginning of the week and will progressively climb higher over the week. In the morning Mars and Saturn are high.Venus is barely visible low in the morning twilight below the pair. Mercury joins Venus late in the week and is closest on the 20th. The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday, April 16.  The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on the 20th. Evening sky on Sunday, April 21 as seen from Adelaide at 18:39 ACST (60 ..read more

Printable Black and White chart for locating Comet 12P 10April-10 May. Click to embiggen and print. Use with a red light torch (or a standard torch with red cellophane over it) to preserve your night vision. Printable Black and White Binocular chart for locating Comet 12P. The circle represents the approximate field of view of 10x50 binoculars.Click to embiggen and print. Use with a red light torch (or a standard torch with red cellophane over it) to preserve your night vision. Photo realistic view of the evening sky simulated in Stellarium for Sunday, April 14 as seen fro ..read more

The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday, April 16. Jupiter is very low in the north-western twilight sky and is near the crescent Moon on the 11th. Comet 12P Pons-Brooks may be visible near Jupiter on the 14 and willl progressively climb higher over the week. In the morning Mars and Saturn spectacularly close on the 11th.Venus is barely visible low in the morning twilight below the pair.  The First Quarter Moon is Tuesday, April 16.  Evening sky on Thursday, April 11 as seen from Adelaide at 18:51 ACST (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Jupiter is low above the north-western ho ..read more

Total Solar Eclipse as seen from Dallas, Texas on 8 April (US time 9April in Australia). Simulated in Stellarium. Chart of the path of the solar eclipse from Fred Espenak's eclipse site  Sadly, none of the 2024 total solar eclipse is visible from Australia. However, there are several live streams of the event we Southern Hemispherians can log into. Again, sadly, the eclipse is starting at 16:38 UT on the 8th, and is greatest at 18:17 UT. This translates to around 2 am and 4 am on the 9th (Tuesday) in Eastern Australia, so you have to be up very, very early. If you are a dieh ..read more