Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for April Fools Day, Wednesday, April 1st.  The Sun will rise at 7:24.  It’ll be up for 12 hours and 45 minutes, setting at 8:10.  The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 6:29 tomorrow morning.

Lets take a look at the bright planets for this week.  Brilliant Venus is in the west by 8:40 p.m. It will set at 11:23 p.m.  Mars appears much lower and to the right of it.  The Red Planet will set tonight at 9:48.  Jupiter will appear In the southeastern sky in the evening.  It will set at 5:20 a.m.  It’s near the sickle-shaped head of Leo the lion, and it’s the second brightest star-like object in the sky after Venus.  All four moons will be visible in telescopes tonight, but tomorrow morning the moon Io will duck behind Jupiter at 2:55, but will not pop into sunlight until after Jupiter sets.  Early risers will be able to spot Saturn which will rise in the east-southeast at 12:30 a.m.  It will be low in the south at 5 to 6 a.m.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan.  They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The Moon, evening planets and bright constellations at 9:30 p.m. April 1, 2015. Created using Stellarium.

Jupiter as seen in a telescope at 9:30 p.m. April 1, 2014. Europa will partially occult Io starting at 9:41 p.m. for 4 minutes. They will appear to merge. Later at 11:21 p.m. Io will be partially eclipsed in Europa’s shadow for about 4 minutes. Europa will dim slightly. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).

The Moon at 9:30 p.m. April 1, 2015. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).

Saturn, the Moon with Scorpius and Leo at 5:30 a.m. April 2, 2015. Created using Stellarium.

What Saturn and its moons might appear like in a telescope at 5:30 a.m., April 2, 2015. Small telescopes will show only the moon Titan. Created using Cartes du Ceil (Sky Charts).