This month the Emu in the Sky rises in all its glory and three planets grace the evening skies. Head away from city lights and you'll catch a beautiful sky show these school holidays.

In mid-April, the distinctive shape of the beautiful Indigenous constellation of the Emu is visible before midnight.

Unlike the constellations we are familiar with, the Emu is a "dark constellation" made up of dust clouds that form the dark lanes of the Milky Way so it is really only visible away from urban light pollution.

If you look south late in the evening you'll see the "head" of the Emu as a dark area between the Southern Cross and the pointers.

Follow the dust lanes from the pointers along the Emu's neck to its body and wings high in the sky in the constellation of Scorpius the scorpion.

If you have binoculars, sweep them along the stars that make the fringe of "feathers" around the wings — these are the stars that make up Scorpius' sting, which looks like a question mark on its side.

The head of Emu in the Sky lies just below the brightest star of the Southern Cross (Acrux), the body and wings encompass Antares, the brighest star of Scorpius. ( Ian Musgrave/Stellarium )

Just beyond the tip you'll see a fine group of stars that looks like a spatter of diamonds on velvet. This is the stellar cluster M7.

Moving back along the sting you'll come to another cluster of stars at the beginning of the question mark known as the "false comet".

Along the stem of the question mark — the body of the scorpion — you'll see a bright red star with two stars on either side. This is Antares or "the rival of Mars".

Mars and Saturn near the scorpion

This month, you'll also see another bright red object below and to the left of Antares and its attendants. This is Mars itself, outshining its rival.

Still further below Antares is a brightish yellow object, this is the planet Saturn. Antares, Saturn and Mars make an attractive triangle in the late evening sky all through April.

If you pay careful attention to Mars during April, you will see it come closer to Antares and Saturn, then stop on the 17th and reverse direction as Earth overtakes Mars in its orbit ahead of the planets closest approach next month.

On the 25th the waning Moon joins the trio to form a diamond shape in the sky.

April sky looking east at 10:00 pm on the 25th showing the Scorpius, with Mars, Antares, Saturn and the Moon. ( Ian Musgrave/Stellarium )

Jupiter in the north

While Mars and Saturn can be readily seen in the late evening in the eastern sky, Jupiter is visible all night long in the northern sky.

Yellow-hued Jupiter will be excellent in small or large telescopes during April. Even in small telescopes Jupiter's bands are easily visible.

If you have binoculars you will be able to follow Jupiter's four, bright Galilean Moons and even see eclipses of the Moons.

If you have a telescope you can get a better view of the Moons and their shadows as they pass across Jupiter's disk. On the 12th and 13th there will seem to be five Moons as Jupiter is near a 7th magnitude star.

But you will need a decent telescope to see Jupiter pass in front of the star just after midnight on April 12.

If you have a powerful telescope you will also be able to see a double transit of the Moons Io and Europa, with their shadows visible on Jupiter as well on April 12 and 19.

Moon and planets

The Moon visits all of the visible planets over the month and its location can help you identify the planets.