Of the five bright naked-eye planets, the two most favorably positioned for viewing during April are in the evening sky. Dazzling Venus, low in the west-northwest for about two hours after sunset, and brilliant Jupiter, which soars high in the south-southwest at dusk and remains visible until well after midnight, accompanied by the "Twin Stars" of Gemini the Twins, Pollux and Castor.
The other planets, Mercury, Mars and Saturn, remain quite low to the east-southeast horizon and mired in the bright light of the advancing dawn, making all three rather difficult to see. Binoculars will certainly be beneficial in making a sighting of one or all of these worlds. Saturn will make some progress in increasing its altitude and edging into a somewhat darker background sky, but not until the end of the month.
