166In mid-April, the winter stars
settle down to the western
horizon in the late evening. As
Earth continues in its orbit, the
sun appears to move around
the celestial sphere. From
our vantage point, the sun is
moving in front of the winter
sky, so the winter stars appear
to be getting closer to the sun
at sunset and are obscured
by twilight.
For several days centred
around April 3, we will lose
from view a familiar star
cluster: the Pleiades. It hasn’t
left the sky; in fact, it is hiding
in plain sight. The brilliant
planet Venus has moved in
front of it and the bright glare
is obscuring the much fainter
starlight beyond. You may still
be able to catch a glimpse of the
Pleiades if you use binoculars.
Venus has been “hanging”
above the western horizon for
several months. It has been
orbiting from behind the sun
and is slowly catching up with
Earth throughout April. It
will begin to get lower in our
western sky as it gets ready to
“dive” down between Earth
and the sun in May.
Day of MonthDay of WeekBegin Civil Twilight (h:m)Sunrise Time (h:m)Az. (Deg.)Transit Time (h:m)Az. (Deg.)Sunset Time (h:m)Az. (Deg.)
1 Wed 6:12 6:42 82 13:06 50S 19:32 278
2 Thu 6:10 6:40 82 13:06 50S 19:33 279
3 Fri 6:086:38 81 13:06 50S 19:34 279
4 Sat 6:066:37 81 13:06 51S 19:35 280
5 Sun 6:056:35 80 13:05 51S 19:37 280
6 Mon 6:03 6:33 80 13:05 51S 19:38 281
7 Tue 6:01 6:31 79 13:05 52S 19:39 281
8 Wed 5:59 6:29 78 13:04 52S 19:41 282
9 Thu 5:57 6:27 78 13:04 53S 19:42 282
10 Fri 5:55 6:26 77 13:04 53S 19:43 283
11 Sat5:53 6:24 77 13:04 53S 19:44 283
12 Sun 5:51 6:22 76 13:03 54S 19:46 284
13 Mon 5:49 6:20 76 13:03 54S 19:47 284
14 Tue 5:48 6:18 75 13:03 54S 19:48 285
15 Wed 5:46 6:17 75 13:03 55S 19:50 286
16 Thu 5:44 6:15 74 13:02 55S 19:51 286
17 Fri 5:42 6:13 74 13:02 55S 19:52 287
18 Sat 5:40 6:11 73 13:02 56S 19:53 287
19 Sun 5:38 6:10 73 13:02 56S 19:55 288
20 Mon 5:37 6:08 72 13:02 56S 19:56 288
21 Tue 5:35 6:06 72 13:0157S 19:57 289
22 Wed 5:33 6:05 71 13:0157S 19:59 289
23 Thu 5:31 6:03 71 13:0157S 20:00 290
24 Fri 5:29 6:01 70 13:01 58S 20:01 290
25 Sat5:28 6:00 70 13:01 58S 20:02 290
26Sun 5:265:58 69 13:00 58S 20:04 291
27 Mon 5:24 5:57 69 13:00 59S 20:05 291
28 Tue 5:23 5:55 68 13:00 59S 20:06 292
29 Wed 5:215:53 68 13:00 59S 20:08 292
30 Thu 5:19 5:52 67 13:00 60S 20:09 293APRIL