Mercury - At Superior Conunction on April 16, little planet Mercury quickly pops out in the western sky in late April for the best viewing of this elusive planet in 2008. Since Mercury is very close to the sun, look for this planet only 9 degrees (the distance across the "Big Dipper" is 15 degrees by comparison) above the WNW horizon some 30 minutes after sunset....binoculars will assist in locating this bright starlike planet.

Venus - Now approaching conjunction with the sun in early morning skies, Venus is very difficult to spot in bright dawn twilight. Look for it early in the month, very close to the eastern horizon in bright twilight. Venus not be visible for many months until it returns in the evening sky in August 2008.

Mars - shrinks from 7 to 6 arc seconds during April and decreases in magnitude from 0.8 to 1.2. It is one degree east of third magnitude Epsilon Geminorum as the month begins and passes five degrees south of equally bright Pollux by April 28. In the middle of April, Mars sets around 2:00 a.m. EDT.

Jupiter - rises about 3:00 a.m. EDT on April 1, at about the same time that Mars sets on April 15, and around 1:00 a.m. EDT on April 30. It brightens by 0.2 magnitude and grows in apparent size from 37 to 41 arc seconds during this time. Jupiter is 90 degrees to the west of the Sun on April 10, a condition known as western quadrature.

For detailed postions of Jupiter's Moons try this interactive javascript utility.

Saturn - culminates at approximately 10:00 p.m. and sets in the west-northwest prior to 5:00 a.m. EDT. Saturn's rings open to 9.9 degrees by late April. The ring tilt angle then begins to decrease as the rings become increasingly edge-on. Saturn continues its westward or retrograde motion towards Regulus by almost a degree during April.

Eighth magnitude Titan, Saturn's brightest satellite, passes north of the planet on the nights of April 10 and April 26 and south of Saturn on the nights of April 2 and April 18. Two-faced Iapetus is due east or west of Saturn by the listed separations on the following dates: April 2 (35" east), April 8 (40" east), April 16 (33" east), April 20 (25" east), April 24 (14" east), April 28 (2" east), and April 30 (4" west). On the night of April 28, Iapetus is positioned to the immediate south of Saturn.

The Cassini spacecraft continues its observation of Saturn and its many moons and rings. For the latest images from Cassini, see:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm

For detailed postions of Saturn's Moons try this interactive javascript utility.

Uranus - appearing just ahead of sunrise in the southeaster skies, remains a very difficult morning target this month.

A finder chart for Uranus can be found Here.

Neptune - lies in northeastern Capricornus, 2.4 degrees north of the third magnitude star Delta Capricorni and is also too low in the sky to observe readily.

A finder chart for Neptune can be found Here.

Pluto - still a planet by ASO standards, moved slightly eastward into the constellation of Sagittarius where it dimly sits at magnitude 13.9, visible in moderate telescopes in the same realm of sky as much more brilliant Jupiter. Rising before dawn, Pluto will be high in the SE sky at sunrise.

Eris (pronounced "EE-ris") - formerly known as Xena, 2003 UB313, and "the tenth planet" - is magnitude 19 in central Cetus, high in the south during evening.

For detailed information please visit Astronomical Delights

The April Fireballs - occurs on April 14. As its name suggests, this can sometimes be a pretty spectacular display if the conditions are right and the skies are dark; however, even during times of the full moon, these huge and bright fireballs come streaking clearly across our crisp and clear springtime skies.

This unusual display lasts for the last two full weeks of April....there is no known radiant or seeming point of origin for this curious group, and they can be seen originating from just about any part of the dark night sky. They likewise are not - or appear to not be - associated with any other known major or minor meteor shower group.

The April Fireballs are characterized by tremendously bright meteors, nearly all of which demonstrate beautiful and long-lasting trails through the sky. The moonlight will slightly hamper observations in 2008 as the first quarter moon will dominate the sky until after midnight; however, with their brightness, the moon's light should not interfere for observing these very spectacular meteors.

Always look for the April Fireballs late in the night, preferably after midnight.

The Lyrid Meteor Shower -occurs on April 22. this is April's most dependable meteor showers and typically one of the best of each year, provided that moonlight allows sightings of the most faint members. Since the moon will be only two days past full and in the sky at the time of this shower's peak this year, this will be an poor year for the Lyrids in 2008.

This shower is comprised of cometary debris from Comet Thatcher, a very famous comet last seen in 1861. Althought this associated comet was not identified until only 100 or so years ago, this meteor shower from it's demise is one of the oldest known on record, being recorded by the ancient Chinese stargazers first in 687 B.C.

As with many meteor showers - and the comets they come from - this one seems to be waning with every encounter with the earth however. It is no longer the sky spectacle as recorded by those earliest skywatchers. Look for the meteors to emanate from a point on the Hercules-Lyra border, very near the brilliant blue-white star Vega. The radiant rises about 7:30 p.m. local time, but he best time to see the most meteors each year is always around midnight when the radiant is nearly directly overhead at midnight for northern hemisphere observers.

Comet P/29 Schwassmann-Wachmann - this comet, which exploded violently into nearly a dozen pieces in 2006, experienced another slighter outburst in January 2008, brightening up to magnitude 9. The comet at that time had assumed is characteristic "egg shape" which many times precedes a further brightening or activity of this mysterious comet. High in northern skies in the constellation of Auriga