There is a major meteor shower this month, the Lyrids, peaking on the evening of April 21. Unfortunately, an almost-full moon will shine in the sky all night, making viewing conditions not very ideal for seeing many meteors. The radiant
There is a major meteor shower this month, the Lyrids, peaking on the evening of April 21. Unfortunately, an almost-full moon will shine in the sky all night, making viewing conditions not very ideal for seeing many meteors.
The radiant is between Lyra and Hercules but won’t even begin to rise until 9:30 p.m. when the moon is already well up in the eastern sky.
More on the
Southern Cross
Several readers commented on the fact that one of the featured constellations I wrote about last month, the Southern Cross, was not visible in last month’s map.
That is because our map can only show on part of the evening sky and we chose to illustrate the sky only until 10 p.m. or so. Unfortunately for last month that just missed the time the Cross rose in the sky.
However, since the stars rise around four minutes earlier each night (because of our orbit around the sun) this means that by the end of the month those stars rise roughly two hours earlier.
Therefore, the Southern Cross will be on our map this time since it will be up in the south by 10 p.m. at the beginning of April.
The planets
Mercury:
Mercury is traveling behind the sun this month but by the last few days of April emerges low in the western sky at evening twilight. The Pleiades sits near the small planet but that little cluster, along with the other stars associated with the winter sky, is getting progressively lower in the west and more difficult to see as the days get longer.
Venus:
Like Mercury, Venus is also preparing to go behind the sun, although it still has a couple months to go. But it is very close to the sunrise, rising less than an hour before the sun in early April and half an hour in late April. By then it will be too challenging to see until it reappears in the evening sky in late summer.
Mars:
Mars starts off the month on the side of the brother Castor in the constellation of Gemini. As the month progresses, the planet begins to shift eastward toward the other twin Pollux and by the last day of April appears as almost a third “brother” in the constellation. On April 11, a first quarter moon skims by the red planet, making for a nice sight with binoculars or a telescope.
Jupiter:
Jupiter rises in the east by 2 a.m. in early April and two hours earlier at the end of the month. It will appear right above a 3rd quarter Moon on April 27, very early in the morning. The giant planet is heading toward opposition in July, so is getting bigger and brighter in our night sky as we approach that date.
Saturn:
Saturn is nicely placed at the “top” of the sky as night falls in the constellation of Leo. The pale golden planet is only a few degrees from the star Regulus, the heart of the lion. Three days after visiting near Mars, the moon pays a call on the Saturn and Regulus on April 14.
Moon phases
New moon:
April 5
First quarter:
April 12
Full moon:
April 20
Third quarter:
April 28
• Carolyn Kaichi can be reached at hokupaa@bishopmuseum.org or 847-8203. She is the planetarium director for the Bishop Museum on O‘ahu.
