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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through April 4th, 2018. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.

The full moon on the 31st is the second full moon this month, and this uncommon occurrence of two full moons in a single month is called a blue moon. The next blue moon won’t happen until October 31st, 2020. The blue moon of March is even more unusual, being the second blue moon of this year. Two blue moons in one calendar year will not recur until 2037.

The moon shines brightly though a majority of the nighttime hours. After the full moon, it rises after sunset on following nights. Moonrise on April 1st is at 8:42 p.m. and is at 11:35 p.m. on the 4th.

Venus, the brightest planet, blazes in the west after sunset, and it can be seen until it slips below the horizon at about 10:40 p.m. By observing Venus nightly, binoculars will help you to monitor the gradual approach of Venus to the beautiful Pleiades Star Cluster in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Look above Venus to find the cluster. Venus will be four degrees from the cluster, placing the planet within the same binocular field of view as the Pleiades, on the 4th.

The second brightest planet, Jupiter, in the constellation Libra the scales, makes its eye catching appearance in the southeast sky by 11:00 p.m. Earth’s rotation carries Jupiter across the meridian at about 3:45 a.m. By dawn, Jupiter gleams in the southwest.

At dawn, the other two bright planets outside of Earth’s orbit–Mars and Saturn– make a striking pair, and appear close together in the southern sky amidst the background stars in the constellation Sagittarius the Archer. The changing perspective from Earth’s orbit–as we look outward to Mars and to the more distant and slowly moving Saturn–makes Mars and Saturn seem to pass each other. Mars will appear to the lower right of Saturn until the 2nd, when it is a little over a degree below Saturn. Its position will be farther to the left of Saturn on the following mornings. Mars continues to move away from Saturn until early July, when, because of perspective, it will reverse course and start to head back toward Saturn.

Tiangong-1, China’s first–and now abandoned–space station, may tumble to Earth within a day of Sunday, April 1. While the chance of any danger from the satellite’s reentry through the atmosphere is extremely small, the remaining opportunities to see it cross the sky are now very limited. The satellite’s appearance is difficult to forecast because its rate of fall due to the drag caused by the atmosphere is increasing and as a result, Tiangong-1’s orbit now lowers by about 3 miles per day, a rate that will dramatically increase during its remaining days in orbit. Enter your location to the Heavens-Above satellite prediction website to create updated predictions of where and when to see Taingong-1 and many other satellites.

 Free views of the Sun during the day and of the moon, planets and other celestial objects at night are available to the public in clear weather through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes from Tuesday through Sunday, before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for the schedule. The next free public star party on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, April 21st.

Follow the Sky Report on Twitter for updates of astronomy and space-related events.

From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.