Monday 28th April to Sunday 4th May 2025
In the dawn twilight of Monday 28th, Venus will be an easy target to spot shining at a magnitude of -4.4 which is very bright. Around
Using a telescope will show Venus as a beautiful crescent shape, but please be careful, as the Sun will be rising in the same direction shortly afterwards and you mustn't risk catching an accidental glimpse of it in your eyepiece!
Sticking with crescent shapes, look towards the west as darkness falls on the evening of Wednesday 30th, around 9pm, to see a 13%-lit waxing crescent Moon, with a magnitude -1.8 Jupiter just below and to the left of it. Further left and closer to the horizon will be the red giant star Betelgeuse in the constellation of Orion.
You may notice a bright star just above the Moon. This is Elnath that is a blue-white giant star and the beta star (or second-brightest) in the constellation of Taurus. Elnath has a magnitude of +1.65 making it the 27th brightest star in the night sky overall. By comparison, Betelgeuse shines at an average magnitude of +0.5 and is the 10th brightest - remember, the magnitude scale works backwards!
Finally there are three good opportunities to spot the International Space Station next week, but you will need to be an early riser! Tuesday 29th April at 4.20am, Thursday 1st May at
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2025
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