The Sky Tonight
by Jim Spigelmire
Spring is fully here, and so, thankfully, are warmer evening temperatures. I hope you got to see Comet PANSTARRS in March. If you’re lucky, you may still be able to catch it in your binoculars very low in the western sky at dusk as it approaches Cassiopeia. The comet is growing dimmer each day as it continues on its way out of our solar system, maybe never to return again.
April ends the long meteor dry spell (which began after the Quadrantids ended in January) with the Lyrid meteor shower visible in the early morning hours April 16-25, peaking on the 22nd.
Early evening observers will find the Sickle asterism of Leo already high in the eastern sky near zenith with the bright star Arcturus lower in the northeastern sky in the constellation Bootes. Canes Major (which boasts the brightest star in the northern sky, Sirius) and Orion will already be in the western sky as they continue their eternal pursuit of Taurus the bull and the Pleiades.
Jupiter still dominates the early evening sky in Taurus. Look for some excellent naked-eye or wide-field viewing on the 13th, when our largest planet aligns with the young moon, Aldebaran, and the Hyades; and on the 14th, when it passes only about 2-deg north of the moon.
The ringed planet, Saturn (in Libra) reaches opposition (its closest approach to Earth and opposite the Sun) this month on the 27th. This is when it appears largest and brightest in telescopes. The rings are opened to 18-deg, which makes it a great target in telescopes large and small. Saturn should be above the horizon by 10 PM and viewable all night long.
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April Events
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Date
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New Moon
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10
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Jupiter, Hyades, Moon aligned
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13
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Jupiter 2-deg north of Moon
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14
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Lyrid meteors peak
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22
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Full Moon
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25
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Saturn at opposition
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27
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