Observers in the UK with a clear sky at dusk should try to locate Venus low in the western sky an hour after sunset. The 3-day-old slim crescent Moon acts as a convenient guide, located some 12½ degrees (or half the span of an outstretched hand at arm’s length) to the upper left of the brightest planet. Conspicuous star Aldebaran lies in the same low-power binocular field of view as the Moon too. Note that the size of the lunar crescent has been enlarged for clarity. AN graphic by Ade Ashford.Observers in Western Europe should make the most of fine weather to locate Venus low in the western sky an hour after sunset, particularly on Wednesday 18 April when the 3-day-old slim crescent Moon acts as a convenient guide, located some 12½ degrees (or half the span of an outstretched hand at arm’s length) to the upper left of the brightest planet.
Stargazers in the British Isles with a clear sky around 10pm this evening should note the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) forming a right-angled triangle with Venus and the Moon in the deepening twilight, but don’t leave it much later as the brightest planet sets around 10:43pm as seen from the heart of the UK (stated times are in BST).
Prominent first-magnitude star Aldebaran lies in the same low-power binocular field of view as the Moon too. In the small hours of 19 April, the waxing lunar crescent actually occults (passes in front of) Aldebaran as seen from central and northern Russia, north and eastern Scandinavia, the north of Greenland and northernmost Canada.
It is a sad fact that overcast skies will spoil parts of this supermoon total lunar eclipse for some of you, but remain optimistic that your home sky will be clear! However, don’t despair if you’re clouded out — you can watch it online here! NASA will live stream the event from at least 1am—4:30am BST on Monday, 28 September, which is 8pm—11:30pm EDT on 27 September.
Just a day after producing a spectacular solar eclipse over the North Atlantic and Arctic, the Moon is making a more subtle return to our evening sky just after sunset. See if you can see a sliver of the New Moon this evening.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) recently captured a unique view of Earth centred just off the coast of Liberia from the spacecraft’s vantage point in orbit around the Moon, about 83 miles above the crater Compton, which is located just beyond the eastern limb of the Moon, on the lunar farside.
