Big Dipper

Mercury is 7 degrees south of the Moon at 10:00 UT.

Neptune is 6 degrees south of the Moon at 1:00 UT.

Comet C/2011 L4 (PanSTARRS) passes two degrees to the west of the bright spiral galaxy M31 on the nights of April 4 and April 5. Updates on Comet PanSTARRS and a finder chart can be found at http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/185665152.html

The Curtiss Cross, an X-shaped illumination effect located between the craters Parry and Gambart, is predicted to begin at 12:37 UT.

Last Quarter Moon occurs at 4:37 UT.

Mercury is at aphelion today.

Moore Winter Marathon Results There are amazing astronomical objects to see in the winter night sky, and Sir Patrick Moore chose a few of them for his last Moore Winter Marathon. To find out how everyone got on, Chris Lintott and Lucie Green travel to the Kielder observatory in Northumberland to enjoy some of the darkest skies in Britain. Jon Culshaw joins them to take part in Patrick's final challenge, and the rest of the team set up their telescopes to try to catch an asteroid which is about to whizz past the Earth, closer than any before. Upcoming broadcasts of this edition can be found by clicking here.

The Moon is at perigee, subtending 32 arc minutes from a distance of 367,504 kilometers (228,357 miles), at 4:00 UT; Mercury is at greatest western elongation (28 degrees) at 22:00 UT.

Uranus is in conjunction with the Sun at 0:00 UT; Saturn is 3 degrees north of the Moon at 20:00 UT.

The Moon is 0.01 degree south of the first-magnitude star Spica (Alpha Virginis), with an occultation visible from French Polynesia, Melanesia, northern Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and southeast Asia, at 15:00 UT; Venus is in superior conjunction at 18:00 UT.

Full Moon (known as the Crow, Lenten, and Sap Moon) occurs at 9:27 UT.

Jupiter is 5 degrees north of the first-magnitude star Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri) at 18:00 UT.

A double Galilean satellite shadow transit (Ganymede’s shadow follows Europa’s) begins at 14:49 UT.

The vernal equinox occurs at 11:02 UT.

The Moon is at apogee, subtending 29 arc minutes from a distance of 404,261 kilometers (251,196 miles), at 3:00 UT; the Lunar X (also known as the Purbach or Werner Cross), an X-shaped illumination effect involving various rims and ridges between the craters La Caille, Blanchinus, and Purbach, is predicted to occur at 11:54 UT; First Quarter Moon occurs at 17:27 UT; asteroid 14 Irene (magnitude 8.3) is at opposition at 23:00 UT.

Jupiter is 1.5 degrees north of the Moon at 1:00 UT.

A double Galilean satellite shadow transit (Europa’s shadow follows Ganymede’s) begins at 10:51 UT; Mercury is stationary at 21:00 UT.

New Moon (lunation 1116) occurs at 19:51 UT.

Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) is at perihelion, a distance of 45 million kilometers or 28 million miles from the Sun, at 3:00 UT; Neptune is 6 degrees south of the Moon at 16:00 UT.

A double Galilean satellite shadow transit (Europa’s shadow follows Ganymede’s) begins at 8:15 UT.

The Moon is at perigee, subtending 32 arc minutes from a distance of 369,957 kilometers (229,881 miles), at 23:00 UT; the Curtiss Cross, an X-shaped illumination effect located between the craters Parry and Gambart, is predicted to occur at 23:22 UT.

Mercury is in inferior conjunction at 13:00 UT; Last Quarter Moon occurs at 21:53 UT.

Saturn is 3 degrees north of the Moon at 15:00 UT.

Full Moon (known as the Hunger, Snow, or Storm Moon) occurs at 20:26 UT.

Venus is at aphelion at 7:00 UT; Neptune is in conjunction with the Sun at 7:00 UT.