2024, April 12: April Taurus Moon

April 12, 2024: After sundown, the waxing crescent moon is near the Bull’s horn, an April Taurus moon.  Jupiter approaches planet Uranus.

Moon and Venus, 2020
Photo Caption – The crescent moon appears near Venus as the brilliant planet approaches the star Elnath.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:14 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:29 p.m. CDT.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

Saturn, Mars in East-Southeast

2024, April 12: Saturn and Mars are in the east-southeast before sunrise.
Chart Caption – 2024, April 12: Saturn and Mars are in the east-southeast before sunrise.

Saturn and Mars are in the east-southeast before sunrise.  Saturn is emerging from bright sunlight, rising two minutes earlier each morning compared to sunrise.  In contrast, Mars rises one minute earlier every two to three days.

At forty-five minutes before daybreak, they are nearly side by side, almost 6° above the horizon.  Saturn is marginally visible without a binocular, while Mars blends in with the red hues of morning twilight.

2024, April 12: Through a binocular, Mars and Saturn appear side by side.
Chart Caption – 2024, April 12: Through a binocular, Mars and Saturn appear side by side.

Use a binocular to see them 1.1° apart, with Mars to the left.  Each morning the gap between them continues to open as Mars marches eastward faster than the Ringed Wonder.

Venus and Mercury

Venus is moving toward a conjunction and a wide swing into the western evening sky.  This morning, it rises 23 minutes before the sun.  The brilliant planet is lost in the sun’s glare.

After yesterday’s inferior conjunction, Mercury is already rising 11 minutes before the sun.  The speedy planet is heading toward an unfavorable appearance in the eastern morning sky.

Evening Sky

April Taurus Moon

April Taurus Moon
Chart Caption – 2024, April 12: Jupiter and the crescent moon are in the west with Taurus after sundown.

After sundown, bright Jupiter and the crescent moon shine from the western sky.  Jupiter is less than 15° above the horizon, while the lunar crescent is nearly halfway up in the sky.

The crescent moon, 23% illuminated, is near Taurus’ northern horn, Elnath.  It is 2.7° below the star.  The lunar orb is 8.2° to the lower right of the southern horn, Zeta Tauri.

Taurus looks like its namesake.  The head is made by rosy Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster.  Together they make a letter “V,” outlining the Bull’s head. This shape nearly fills a binocular field.  The horns extend upward from this pattern.

Resembling a tiny dipper, the Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters, rides on the Bull’s back.  This is a wonderous sight through a binocular.  The stellar bundle is over 12° above Jupiter.

Jupiter Approaches Uranus

Jupiter approaches planet Uranus
Chart Caption – 2024, April 12: Through a binocular, Uranus is above Jupiter.

Use the binocular to look for Jupiter’s four largest moons.  They resemble stars that appear to hug the planet.  Dimmer planet Uranus is above Jupiter in the binocular field.  Use the accompanying chart to find the more-distant planet in front of the stars.  Uranus is brighter than 53 Arietis (53 Ari on the chart) and 54 Arietis (54 Ari), but dimmer than Delta Arietis (δ Ari).

Trekking eastward, Jupiter appears to overtake Uranus on the 20th, but this occurs low in the west-northwest with a bright moon eastward.  Jupiter sets four minutes earlier each evening compared to sunset.  On conjunction evening, the planetary pair is less than 7° above the west-northwest horizon.

This evening Jupiter sets 135 minutes after sundown.  The moon sets nearly 80 minutes after Jupiter, ending today’s planet activity.

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