Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday April 6th through Sunday April 12th.

The moon is at third quarter on Thursday night into Friday morning, so we’ll have a waning gibbous moon for the first part of the week and a waning crescent moon for the weekend.

Venus is in the western skies at sunset and is setting at 9:40 p.m. at midweek. A look at Venus in a telescope or binoculars shows that it is still almost fully illuminated at 92%, but that will decrease as Venus moves toward greatest elongation in August, when it will be half illuminated like a quarter phase moon.

Jupiter is still very high in the skies at sundown and is setting at 2:30 a.m. at midweek.

The planets in the morning skies continue to converge but are not at their closest conjunction until next week. Mercury is rising at 6:05 a.m., just a little over an hour before sunrise. Mars follows at 6:20 a.m., and finally Saturn at 6:45 a.m.

In space anniversaries this week, Sunday April 12 marks 65 years since Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel to space and orbit the Earth on the Vostok 1 mission. Gagarin spent just under 2 hours in space and orbited the Earth one time before returning to Earth. And 20 years later on April 12, the first flight of the Space Shuttle program launched with astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen. Columbia orbited the Earth for over two days before landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Public viewing at the Physics, Math, and Astronomy building is on Wednesday nights from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. PMA is located on the southeast corner of Dean Keeton and Speedway. Take the elevator to the 17th floor and follow the signs to the telescope.

Public viewing at the 9-inch refractor at Painter Hall is on Friday and Saturday nights from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. Painter Hall is located on 24th street about halfway between Speedway and Guadalupe and is northeast of the UT Tower. Take the elevator to the 5th floor then take the stairs up to the 6th floor and follow the signs up to the telescope.

All events are free and open to all ages, and no reservations are required. Note that viewing times and availability change throughout the year so please check the schedule before planning a visit. Observing events are weather permitting. Please call 512-232-4265 for star party status information, which is updated 30 to 45 minutes before the scheduled viewing start times.

Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report.