Thursday evening April 6^th and Friday morning April 7^th the waxing gibbous Moon will rise and then set with Regulus, the brightest star in Leo the Lion. During the course of the night the Moon will pass within about 1^o-2^o from Regulus.

April 6

April 7

   Thursday evening April 6^th, after sunset, look toward the west for a reddish appearing star. That is the planet Mars and about 2^o to the east, left side, from Mars is Dwarf Planet Ceres, the closest of the dwarf planets. Not sure about Mars? Look for the Pleiades, an open star cluster with the brighter stars having a small dipper shape. Below the Pleiades is Mars.

   Thursday evening April 6^th at sunset it may be possible to see the innermost planet Mercury in addition to seeing Mars and Jupiter, and at least with binoculars Dwarf Planet Ceres.

   
   
   

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.