THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
The Southern Cross returns to the autumn skies, alongside the peak of the Pi Puppids
When to use this chart
1 Apr at 24:00 AEDT (13:00 UT) 15 Apr at 23:00 AEDT (12:00 UT) 30 Apr at 22:00 AEDT (11:00 UT)
The chart accurately matches the sky on the dates and times shown for Sydney, Australia. The sky is different at other times as the stars crossing it set four minutes earlier each night.
APRIL HIGHLIGHTS
This month a meteor shower is ideal for Southern Hemisphere observers. Conditions for the Pi Puppids are perfect in 2020 with maximum expected around the 23rd, right on new Moon. They are visible from around 15 to 28 April. Although the Pi Puppid rates are low (typically 3 to 5 per hour) with the peak varying every year (40 per hour in 1977), they’re worth the wait, being bright with trains and occasional fireballs. It’s best to observe in the evening
before the radiant in Puppis gets low.
THE PLANETS
Venus dominates the early western evening sky. It can be seen crossing the edge of the Pleiades on the 3rd and 4th. The planetary action continues with Jupiter rising just before midnight, to be followed around 30 minutes later by Saturn.
STARS AND CONSTELLATIONS
A welcome feature of autumn evenings is the Southern Cross. It may come as a surprise that the stars making up Crux were well-known to the mid-latitude Northern Hemisphere ancients who created the constellations. At that time, precession had the Cross and Centaurus sitting on their southern horizon. Ptolemy catalogued Crux’s stars as part of the Centaur’s hind legs. It’s interesting that such a prominent star as Alpha Crucis ended up with the modern (boring) name Acrux.
During April Mars is close to the ringed world, arriving at 01:00. All three planets are best observed in the mid-morning sky. Early in the month, Mercury is well-placed to see in the eastern dawn sky, dropping into the solar glare in late April.