Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 28, 2025

Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report.

SUNDAY, APRIL 27

■ Arcturus is the brightest star high in the east these evenings. Spica shines lower right of it by about three fists at arm’s length. To the right of Spica by half that distance is the distinctive four-star constellation Corvus, the springtime Crow.

■ Vega, the Summer Star, the zero-magnitude equal of Arcturus, now twinkles low in the northeast at nightfall. . . depending on your latitude. The farther north you are the higher Vega will be. If you’re in the latitudes of the southern US, you may have to wait a bit later for it to appear.

■ New Moon (exact at 3:31 p.m. EDT).

MONDAY, APRIL 28

■ In early twilight, watch for the very thin crescent Moon, a mere 1¼ days old, to become visible a little above the west-northwest horizon as shown below. Binoculars help! And can even binoculars show the faint Pleiades above it though the twilight glow?

As the Moon begins Brown Lunation Number 1266, watch it step up in the western twilight past the difficult Pleiades, Aldebaran, then bright Jupiter.

TUESDAY, APRIL 29

■ Now the Moon in the western dusk forms a not-quite-equilateral triangle with Jupiter and Aldebaran, as shown above.

■ Bright Arcturus climbs high in the east these evenings. Equally bright Capella is descending high in the northwest. Late twilight is when they stand at exactly the same height above your horizon.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30

■ The Moon shines over Jupiter, as shown. These are the two brightest things in the evening sky; Jupiter, even as far away from us as it is now, is nearly twice as bright as Sirius. Jupiter sets around 11 p.m., and the Moon sets about 50 minutes after it (for North America).

■ These spring evenings, the long, dim sea serpent Hydra snakes almost level far across the southern sky.

Hydra’s dim, irregular body and tail stretch from there all the way to Libra rising in the southeast. He carries Crater and Corvus on his back.

Hydra’s star pattern, from forehead to tail-tip, is 95° long. That’s more than a quarter of the way around the celestial sphere. No other constellation does that. Even the star pattern of the river Eridanus is only 66° from end to end.

THURSDAY, MAY 1

■ The thickening crescent Moon of May Day shines under Castor and Pollux, as shown.

■ High above the Big Dipper, nearly crossing the zenith, are three pairs of dim naked-eye stars, all 3rd or 4th magnitude, marking the Great Bear’s feet. They’re also known as the Three Springs (or Leaps) of the Gazelle, from early Arab lore. They form an east-west line that lies roughly midway between the Bowl of the Big Dipper and the Sickle of Leo. The line is 30° (three fists) long.

FRIDAY, MAY 2

■ Look for the Moon forming a gently curving line with Pollux and Castor this evening, as shown above. Mars looks on from their upper left.

■ Although it’s May now, wintry Sirius still twinkles very low in the west-southwest at the end of twilight. It sets soon after. How much longer into the spring can you keep Sirius in view?

■ Meanwhile summer is seven weeks away, but the Summer Triangle is beginning to make its appearance in the east, one star after another. The first in view is Vega. It stands out brightly low in the northeast after nightfall.

Next up is Deneb, lower left of Vega by two or three fists at arm’s length. Deneb takes about an hour to appear after Vega does, depending on your latitude.

The third is Altair, which shows up far to Vega’s lower right by about 11 p.m.

SATURDAY, MAY 3

■ Now the waxing Moon shines next to Mars. They’re only couple degrees apart. Meanwhile, Mars is less than 1° to the right of the Beehive star cluster, as binoculars or a telescope at low power will reveal.

SUNDAY, MAY 4

■ First-quarter Moon (exact at 9:52 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time). By evening for North America the Moon’s terminator will be showing a slight bit of convexity.

After dark the Moon will be under the Sickle of Leo, with Regulus to its left or upper left and Mars (similar to Regulus in brightness but different in color) farther to the Moon’s lower right.

■ And Mars skims across the northern edge of the Beehive cluster this evening and tomorrow evening.