Both of the inner-most planets of our Solar System, Mercury and Venus, will be seen at their best for all of 2023 during the first two weeks of April this year. Mercury will appear 5 degrees above the western horizon at magnitude –1.1, 45 minutes after sunset on April 1; itself setting a hour after sunset. Venus, stunningly bright and so, unmistakable, will be above and left of Mercury.

Mercury gains altitude each night until April 19th and on April 21st, the crescent Moon joins the planet, just above and left of it. Venus will move along a path between two star clusters associated with Taurus the Bull; the Pleiades and the Hyades. By April 10th Venus will be just below the Pleiades (M 45)open star cluster. Check this out with binoculars!

On April 22nd the Moon and Venus will appear very close together; with both of them near the Hyades open star cluster. This will be another great view to see through binoculars. By the end of April, Venus will have moved further east and lie between the horn stars of zodiac constellation Taurus the Bull.

Mars has faded considerably in the last two months; it is over 100 million miles from Earth now, but it will be seen all month among the stars of the Gemini twins. It will not set until around midnight. On April 25th the waxing crescent Moon will just above the red planet. Both of them will be seen in the sky just below Castor and Pollux, Gemini’s two 1st magnitude stars, that mark the heads of each of the twins.

Saturn returns to view but in the early morning eastern sky rising around 5 am. However the observing window for it will not improve much until the end of the month. Early on it will be quite low to the east horizon. Jupiter will not be visible at all this month. It is in conjunction with the Sun. But things improve for seeing both Saturn and Jupiter in the eastern mornings skies by May; and then into the summer months.

The LYRID meteor shower peaks on April 22nd with ideal conditions for it because the Moon will not interfere. Lyra the harp in the sky from where the meteors appear to come rises close to the zenith(top of the sky) just before dawn. This is toward the east-northeast sky. The rate of meteors from the Lyrids averages about 18 to 25 per hour.
The Full Moon of April is on the 6th.

March begins with a splendid CONJUNCTION of the two brightest planets as seen from Earth; Venus at magnitude –3.9 and Jupiter at magnitude –2.1. Look west on March 1st for brilliant Venus even before full darkness, and locate Jupiter just a Moon’s width apart, and below and left of Venus! They will remain close on both March 2nd and 3rd, but Venus’s faster orbit speed will take it above and away from Venus later in the month. Find a location where the western horizon is clear to enjoy this beautiful sight. The planetary duo will set before 8:30 pm.

Venus is some 127 million miles from Earth right now, while Jupiter is 537 million miles away. Yet their appearing side by side to us now is because they are both in the same direction in the sky from Earth as we look out there. Obviously their respective orbits move them continuously (as does Earth’s orbit). But sometimes that combined motion lines things up just so, that they appear close together in our skies. This is what we call a conjunction. This one in March, will be great —- and Bright!!

While Venus will appear to move away from Jupiter all month, on March 22nd we can look for Jupiter near a crescent Moon. This is another conjunction, and this pair will set about 70 minutes after sunset in the western sky.

There will be 2 occasions for sky-watchers with binoculars to spot Uranus, the 7th planet out from the Sun, and one, though a Gas Giant planet, that is quite dim. It is over a billion miles from the Sun!

On March 24th look for the crescent Moon; than scan below it to find the dim, bluish Uranus at magnitude +5.8. By March 30th Venus will be in conjunction with Uranus. With binoculars Uranus will be seen just a degree below Venus.

Mars is bright among the stars of Taurus the Bull; well up in the western sky. Mars is seen between the horn stars of the Bull. On March 29th Mars, with binoculars, will be found just above M 35, a nice open cluster of stars in Gemini. It will look like Mars is nestled among its stars.

Full Moon comes early this month; on March 7th.