Focus on the planets

Mercury appears just above the eastern horizon before sinking into dawn’s glow during the first week of April. It will reappear low in the western evening sky as the month comes to an end. Venus is in the east at dawn. The bright planet rises about three-quarters of an hour before the Sun as April opens and progressively earlier each day during the month.

Mars rises after midnight and stands high in the south just before dawn. The Red Planet shines with a deep shade of orange that gains in brightness throughout the month.

Jupiter rises in the west about a half-hour after sundown and remains in the sky until shortly after midnight as the month opens.

Saturn follows Jupiter on to the western horizon and is situated below and slightly to the right of its giant neighbor. As sunset gets later, and the two planets set earlier, opportunities to observe the duo lessen each night.

Uranus and Neptune can be picked out nestled among the stars of Capricornus with binoculars or a small telescope. Look for them low in the southeast at morning twilight.

Our celestial neighborhood

With the Russian Mir now part of space history, attention is turning to the international space station . Last year, on July 25, the Russians joined together two modules the length of an 11-story building that contain living, working and control sections. The ISS is orbiting Earth every 90 minutes at an average altitude of 235 miles.

The first crew arrived on Nov. 2, consisting of two Russian cosmonauts and U.S. Commander Bill Shepard. Their four-month mission was to prepare the interior for future crews and to install solar array structures and the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module. The first crew returned to Earth on March 19 after having spent 141 days in space. The new crew consists of U.S. astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms and a Russian commander. Their task is to “open for business,” according to NASA. They will undertake 18 experiments, conduct space walks and welcome three space shuttle missions and one Soyez mission as well as unload unmanned Progress Cargo Ships during their four-month stay.

April events

1 Sunrise, 6:17 a.m.; sunset, 7:02 p.m. Remember to set your clocks ahead one hour as daylight-saving time takes effect. Moon in first quarter, 5:03 a.m.

5 The moon is at perigee, or closest approach to the Earth, today.

7 Full moon, 11:22 p.m. The full moon of April is called the Grass Moon or Egg Moon.

13 If you rise with the chickens, look to the south for orange-red Mars to the right of the moon.

15 Easter. Historically calculated as the first Sunday after the full moon after the spring equinox. Moon in last quarter, 11:32 a.m.

17 The moon is at apogee, or most distant from the Earth today.

18 The sun enters Aries on the ecliptic.

20 The sun enters the astrological sign of Taurus but, astronomically, has just entered Aries. Look low in the east about an hour before sunrise for a thin crescent moon with Venus to its upper left.

23 New moon, 11 a.m.

24 A very thin crescent moon, Saturn and Jupiter form a vertical line, in that order from bottom to top, in the west at dusk.

30 Sunrise, 5:27 a.m.; sunset, 7:39 p.m. Moon in first quarter, 1:08 p.m.