Monthly Observing Information
This page provides charts, and text concerning what is visible in the night sky during the month noted. All information is for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but they can still provide useful information for most other areas of the U.S.A. Sky charts, Saturn ring plane, and Venus phase images are for Midnight, on the 15th day of the month. Sky charts are 100 degree field of view, and show objects down to 12th magnitude. Times in the text information are in 24 hour format and have been adjusted for Daylight Savings Time. Subtract 12 hours from those over 12 to get the equivalent PM. RA and DEC given are for Epoch 2000.
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Baton Rouge Clear Sky Clock
Click on image for more info and details. This clock is for the Baton Rouge area only.
Kisatchie Clear Sky Clock
Click on image for more info and details. This clock is for the Kisatchie area only.
April
Moon Calendar
Sky charts
Saturn’s Ring Plane
Venus Phase
Sun and Moon Rise and Set
Date Moonrise Moonset Sunrise Sunset Twilight Twilight ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- 4/1/2018 20:46 07:51 06:54 19:24 05:33 20:45 4/2/2018 21:44 08:27 06:53 19:25 05:31 20:46 4/3/2018 22:41 09:05 06:51 19:25 05:30 20:47 4/4/2018 23:36 09:45 06:50 19:26 05:29 20:47 4/5/2018 ------ 10:27 06:49 19:27 05:27 20:48 4/6/2018 00:29 11:12 06:48 19:27 05:26 20:49 4/7/2018 01:20 11:59 06:46 19:28 05:25 20:50 4/8/2018 02:07 12:48 06:45 19:28 05:23 20:51 4/9/2018 02:52 13:40 06:44 19:29 05:22 20:51 4/10/2018 03:34 14:33 06:43 19:30 05:21 20:52 4/11/2018 04:13 15:28 06:42 19:30 05:19 20:53 4/12/2018 04:50 16:24 06:41 19:31 05:18 20:54 4/13/2018 05:26 17:21 06:39 19:32 05:17 20:55 4/14/2018 06:01 18:19 06:38 19:32 05:15 20:55 4/15/2018 06:37 19:20 06:37 19:33 05:14 20:56 4/16/2018 07:15 20:22 06:36 19:33 05:13 20:57 4/17/2018 07:56 21:26 06:35 19:34 05:11 20:58 4/18/2018 08:40 22:30 06:34 19:35 05:10 20:59 4/19/2018 09:29 23:35 06:33 19:35 05:09 21:00 4/20/2018 10:23 ------ 06:32 19:36 05:07 21:01 4/21/2018 11:22 00:36 06:31 19:37 05:06 21:02 4/22/2018 12:23 01:34 06:30 19:37 05:05 21:02 4/23/2018 13:27 02:25 06:29 19:38 05:04 21:03 4/24/2018 14:30 03:13 06:28 19:39 05:02 21:04 4/25/2018 15:33 03:55 06:27 19:39 05:01 21:05 4/26/2018 16:34 04:34 06:26 19:40 05:00 21:06 4/27/2018 17:35 05:12 06:25 19:41 04:59 21:07 4/28/2018 18:33 05:48 06:24 19:41 04:57 21:08 4/29/2018 19:32 06:24 06:23 19:42 04:56 21:09 4/30/2018 20:29 07:01 06:22 19:43 04:55 21:10
Information and images in this section from The Sky6 Professional
Solar System Information
Planet View Info Report for 4/ 1/2018 to 4/30/2018
Mercury
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
4/ 1/2018 6:45 19:22 0h41m30s 7°41'14" 3°15'09" 0.005 0.60092
4/ 8/2018 6:10 18:30 0h24m05s 4°05'22" 11°02'53" 0.051 0.59304
4/15/2018 5:43 17:53 0h18m19s 1°27'16" 20°12'21" 0.174 0.64372
4/22/2018 5:26 17:35 0h27m08s 0°51'12" 25°19'26" 0.306 0.72760
4/29/2018 5:17 17:33 0h47m32s 2°07'33" 27°00'30" 0.426 0.82833
Venus
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
4/ 1/2018 7:54 20:56 1h56m06s 11°21'59" 19°46'45" 0.942 1.57792
4/ 8/2018 7:51 21:09 2h29m01s 14°30'34" 21°29'17" 0.930 1.55227
4/15/2018 7:50 21:22 3h02m43s 17°21'47" 23°11'49" 0.918 1.52413
4/22/2018 7:50 21:36 3h37m16s 19°51'24" 24°54'18" 0.904 1.49342
4/29/2018 7:52 21:50 4h12m39s 21°55'22" 26°36'33" 0.889 1.46016
Mars
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
4/ 1/2018 1:59 12:05 18h35m08s -23°32'00" 93°10'21" 0.880 1.10830
4/ 8/2018 1:47 11:54 18h51m44s -23°26'07" 96°15'49" 0.879 1.04447
4/15/2018 1:35 11:43 19h07m50s -23°15'51" 99°26'30" 0.879 0.98191
4/22/2018 1:22 11:32 19h23m18s -23°02'10" 102°43'40" 0.879 0.92088
4/29/2018 1:09 11:20 19h38m04s -22°46'12" 106°08'25" 0.881 0.86164
Jupiter
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
4/ 1/2018 22:23 9:07 15h21m24s -17°09'38" 138°47'09" 0.996 4.62433
4/ 8/2018 21:53 8:38 15h19m12s -17°00'40" 146°13'16" 0.997 4.55391
4/15/2018 21:22 8:08 15h16m32s -16°49'56" 153°44'52" 0.998 4.49549
4/22/2018 20:51 7:38 15h13m28s -16°37'45" 161°20'22" 0.999 4.45023
4/29/2018 20:20 7:08 15h10m08s -16°24'27" 168°57'22" 1.000 4.41895
Saturn
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
4/ 1/2018 1:57 12:10 18h38m09s -22°15'19" 92°23'55" 0.998 9.99344
4/ 8/2018 1:30 11:43 18h38m49s -22°14'35" 99°08'16" 0.998 9.87723
4/15/2018 1:03 11:16 18h39m08s -22°14'12" 105°55'58" 0.998 9.76315
4/22/2018 0:36 10:49 18h39m07s -22°14'08" 112°46'55" 0.998 9.65290
4/29/2018 0:08 10:21 18h38m45s -22°14'27" 119°40'53" 0.998 9.54812
Uranus
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
4/ 1/2018 7:42 20:33 1h42m50s 10°04'58" 16°16'47" 1.000 20.85180
4/ 8/2018 7:15 20:07 1h44m20s 10°13'29" 9°47'03" 1.000 20.87982
4/15/2018 6:49 19:42 1h45m51s 10°22'06" 3°20'26" 1.000 20.89457
4/22/2018 6:23 19:16 1h47m22s 10°30'42" 3°11'14" 1.000 20.89587
4/29/2018 5:56 18:50 1h48m53s 10°39'12" 9°34'25" 1.000 20.88383
Neptune
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
4/ 1/2018 5:45 17:17 23h06m00s -6°46'08" 26°16'33" 1.000 30.83604
4/ 8/2018 5:18 16:50 23h06m53s -6°40'46" 32°55'47" 1.000 30.77867
4/15/2018 4:51 16:24 23h07m43s -6°35'44" 39°34'26" 1.000 30.70962
4/22/2018 4:24 15:57 23h08m30s -6°31'04" 46°12'29" 1.000 30.62984
4/29/2018 3:57 15:30 23h09m13s -6°26'52" 52°49'56" 1.000 30.54053
Pluto
Date Rise Set RA Dec Elongation Ill Fr DIST(AU)
4/ 1/2018 2:48 13:05 19h31m19s -21°26'59" 80°02'52" 1.000 33.69233
4/ 8/2018 2:21 12:38 19h31m36s -21°26'59" 86°52'48" 1.000 33.57820
4/15/2018 1:53 12:11 19h31m46s -21°27'13" 93°42'45" 1.000 33.46324
4/22/2018 1:26 11:43 19h31m50s -21°27'40" 100°32'34" 1.000 33.34920
4/29/2018 0:59 11:16 19h31m48s -21°28'22" 107°22'06" 1.000 33.23783
Planet Apsides Report for 2018
Mercury
4/23/2018 Aphelion Distance from Sun: 0.47 AU
Saturn
4/ 3/2018 Aphelion Distance from Sun: 10.08 AU
Planet Conjunction/Opposition Report for 4/ 1/2018 to 4/30/2018
Mercury
Date Hour Event
4/ 1/2018 18 Inferior Conjunction
Uranus
Date Hour Event
4/18/2018 18 Conjunction
Planet Data Report
Planet Mean Dist Period of Inclination Equatorial
From Sun Revolution Diameter
(AU) (km)
Mercury 0.39 88 days 7° 4880
Venus 0.72 224.7 days 3.4° 12100
Earth 1.00 365.24 days 0° 12756
Mars 1.52 687 days 1.9° 6794
Jupiter 5.20 11.86 years 1.3° 143200
Saturn 9.54 29.46 years 2.5° 120000
Uranus 19.18 84 years 0.8° 52290
Neptune 30.06 165 years 1.8° 50450
Pluto 39.44 248 years 17.2° 2200-2300
Moon Apsides Report for 4/ 1/2018 to 4/30/2018
Date Hour Apsis Distance (km) Diameter
4/ 8/2018 1 Apogee 404140 0.4928°
4/20/2018 10 Perigee 368718 0.5401°
Moon Nodes Report for 4/ 1/2018 to 4/30/2018
Date Time Node Illuminated Fraction
4/10/2018 3:08 Descending 0.33
4/23/2018 7:19 Ascending 0.55
Meteor Showers Report for 4/ 1/2018 to 4/30/2018
Date Meteor Shower ZHR RA DEC Illum. Frac. Longitude
4/11/2018 Virginids 5 14h04m -9° 0.19 22°
4/22/2018 Lyrids 12 18h08m 32° 0.49 33°
4/28/2018 alpha-Scorpiids 5 16h32m -24° 0.98 38°
Twilight Report for 4/ 1/2018 to 4/30/2018
Date Sun Astronomical Nautical Civil
Rise Set Begin End Begin End Begin End
4/ 1/2018 6:54 19:24 5:29 20:49 5:58 20:20 6:26 19:52
4/ 8/2018 6:45 19:28 5:19 20:54 5:49 20:25 6:17 19:56
4/15/2018 6:37 19:33 5:10 21:00 5:40 20:30 6:09 20:01
4/22/2018 6:30 19:37 5:01 21:06 5:31 20:35 6:01 20:06
4/29/2018 6:23 19:42 4:52 21:12 5:24 20:41 5:54 20:11
Information for this section is from Astronomy Lab 2.03
Last updated on Sunday, April 1, 2018, 02:30 PM.