The Night Sky This Month – April 2024
(Looking for last month’s ‘Night Sky’? Find it at this link…)
As April arrives, the bright northern-winter constellations Taurus, Orion, and Canis Major turn to the west after sunset and are on their way out for the year. Jupiter lingers low in the western sky after sunset, while Mars and Saturn work their way higher in the morning sky. The Lyrid meteors arrive, the first major meteor shower since January, but face the light of a full Moon this year. Oh, and did I mention? There’s a total solar eclipse passing across North America on April 8. Here’s what to see in the night sky (and day) this month…
2 April 2024. Last Quarter Moon, 03:15 UT
6 April. Look for Mars, Saturn, and the thin crescent Moon rising in the east before sunrise. Both planets shine at about magnitude +1.2, but look for the clear difference in color between ochre Mars and pale-yellow Saturn. They both fit with the Moon into the field of view of low-power binoculars.
8 April. New Moon, 18:21 UT
8 April. A total solar eclipse passes in a narrow band across Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, while most of the rest of the continent will see a partial solar eclipse. This is the last total solar eclipse across the populated regions of the continent until 2044. If you’re off to see this event – good luck with the weather. But there are other ways to enjoy this spectacular even, and we have links to live video of the event and some thoughtful reading here.
10 April. Look again to the east before sunrise to see Saturn and Mars separated by just half a degree.
15 April. First Quarter Moon, 19:13 UT
20 April. Look low in the west to find still-bright Jupiter in the evening twilight. Now aim a telescope at the planet and look 0.5° to the north to find Uranus. The distant ice giant shines at magnitude +5.7, but the bright sky makes it challenging to find.
21-22 April. The Lyrid meteor shower peaks in the early-morning hours. This is the first significant meteor shower since the Quadrantids in early January. The Lyrids display some 15-20 meteors per hour in good conditions and trace their apparent paths back to a point between the constellations Hercules and Lyra, both of which rise in the east around midnight. The nearly-full Moon obscures the brightest meteors this year.
22 April. Look for the bright star Spica in the constellation Virgo just half a degree from a fat almost-full Moon.
23 April. Full Moon, 23:49 UT
29 April. Let’s end the month with a challenging observation. Grab a telescope and look to the east before sunrise to find Mars and Neptune separated by just 0.04o. This astonishing conjunction is hard to see in the brightening sky. Mars, at magnitude +1.1, far outshines dim Neptune at magnitude +7.8. Mars spans about 4.7” while Neptune spans just 2.2”. You will see detail on the disk of neither planet. But it’s rare indeed to see two major planets this close.