2019-04-01_Astronomy

PATHOF THE

PLANETS

The planets

in the sky

These illustrations show the size, phase, and orientation of each planet and the two brightest dwarf planets at 0h UT

for the dates in the data table at bottom. South is at the top to match the view through a telescope.

The planets in April 2019

ARI

CET

FOR

SCL

GRU

PsA

AND

TRI

CAS

PEG

SGE

LAC

AQR

CAP

MIC

CrA

SGR

SCT

AQL SER

LY R

CYG

VUL

CRT

UMa

SCO

OPH

HER

DRA

CEN

COM

CVN

CrB

SER

VIR

LIB

PSC

Objects visible before dawn

Celestial equator

Moon phases Dawn Midnight

Sun

Path

of (^) the
Sun (^) (ec
liptic)
Path
of (^) the
Sun (^) (ec
liptic) Pluto
Saturn
Neptune
Ceres
Jupiter
Asteroid Pallas reaches
opposition April 9
Asteroid Iris reaches
opposition April 5
Merc
ury
Ven
us
Parthenope
The Moon passes 1.6° north
of Jupiter on April 23
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17
Venus
Mercury Mars
Ceres
Uranus
Saturn
Neptune
Pluto
10"
S
WE
N
Jupiter
40 ASTRONOMY • APRIL 2019
Planets MERCURY VENUS MARS CERES JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE PLUTO
Date April 1 April 15 April 15 April 15 April 15 April 15 April 15 April 15 April 15
Magnitude 0.8 –3.9 1.5 7.9 –2.3 0.5 5.9 7.9 14.3
Angular size 9.4" 12.3" 4.4" 0.7" 41.6" 16.7" 3.4" 2.2" 0.1"
Illumination 29% 85% 95% 98% 99% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Distance (AU) from Earth 0.718 1.357 2.126 1.971 4.739 9.928 20.844 30.730 33.736
Distance (AU) from Sun 0.455 0.728 1.584 2.729 5.318 10.055 19.850 29.937 33.780
Right ascension (2000.0) 23h10.2m 23h36.0m 4h30.5m 16h53.0m 17h34.2m 19h26.6m 1h59.3m 23h14.8m 19h38.9m
Declination (2000.0) –5°36' – 4°07' 22°51' –16°48' –22°40' –21°32' 11°39' –5°55' –21°46'