By Duncan Lunan

The Moon will be New on April 5^th and Full on April 19^th.  On the evening of April 13^th the Moon passes through the cluster Praesepe, in Cancer, ending at 11 p.m. (BST) well before moonset.

On the spring equinox, March 20^th, Glasgow City Council held a media event to unveil the updated recreation of the Sighthill stone circle, the first astronomical one in the UK for over 3000 years, which I designed and built in 1978-79.   The Equinox was the 40^th anniversary of its completion by Royal Naval helicopter, but the hill on which it stood has now been removed to make way for new housing development.   After a petition which drew over 6500 signatures, the stones were removed intact in April 2016, a new platform was created for them further east, and following observations last year I was able to calculate the alignments to mark the solstices, equinoxes and key lunar events at the new site, which we shall be watching over coming years to compare their accuracy with the previous site’s.

The planet Mercury is in the morning sky, in Aquarius, rising after 5 a.m. and best seen soon after greatest western elongation from the Sun on April 11^th but dropping down towards the horizon, to the lower left of Venus.  Mercury is near the Moon on the 3^rd and at its closest to Venus on the 16^th and 17^th.

Venus is now very low in the morning sky but still bright, rising at 5.00 a.m. and visible for about half an hour.  Venus is near the waning Moon on the 2^nd.

Mars moves through Taurus, starting the month near the Pleiades and passing Aldebaran in the Hyades cluster mid-month, setting around midnight.   The Moon is near all three on the 9^th.

Jupiter, in the morning sky in Ophiucus, now rises at 1.00 a.m., comes to its stationary point on April 10^th and begins to move retrograde  (east to west).   Jupiter is near the Moon on the 23^rd and 24^th.

Saturn in Sagittarius rises about 3 a.m., near the Moon on the 25^th, and reaching its stationary point on the 30^th.

Uranus and Neptune are not visible in April, with Uranus in conjunction with the Sun on April 22^nd.

The Lyrid meteor shower of debris from Comet Thatcher  (no relation)  peaks on the night of 22^nd/23^rd April, and will be best seen around 1 a.m. although spoiled by moonlight.

The next meeting of the Astronomers of the Future Club will be on Thursday April 25^th, from 19:15 to 21:00 hrs at the RSAS Barassie Works Club, 4 Shore Road, Troon, KA10 6AG.   The speaker will be science communicator Laura Thomas on “The Moon: our next step in the journey to Mars”, which she was unable to give to the AOTF Club last summer for reasons beyond our control.

“Starfield, science fiction by Scottish writers”, edited by Duncan Lunan, is available from the publishers at https://www.shorelineofinfinity.com/product/starfield. Duncan’s recent books “Children from the Sky”, “The Stones and the Stars”, “Incoming Asteroid!” and “The Elements of Time” are available from the publishers, on Amazon or through booksellers;  details are on Duncan’s website, www.duncanlunan.com.