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A Shot at Shooting Stars
MOON PHASES
Last quarter: April 6, 3:37 a.m.
New: April 14, 6:29 a.m.
First quarter: April 21, 12:20 p.m.
Full: April 28, 6:18 a.m. (Pink or Planter’s Moon)
IN HISTORY
April 1, 1960 – 50 years ago, NASA launches Tiros 1, the first weather satellite.
The Lyrid meteor shower is a great excuse for hauling the camping gear out to a remote spot in the high desert of the Colorado Plateau. I'd opt for the BLM area of Canyonlands Overlook or Indian Creek in southeastern Utah.
The nights are warming up . . . a bit, just in time for the annual shower,which peaks during the wee morning hours of April 22.
With a little luck, the night will be clear and not too cold. It's worth a shot, spending a few hours out under the stars, watching for the "shooting stars."
The 8-day-old moon will set about 2:45 a.m. That'll mark the opening of the prime viewing window, which will close with the beginning of morning twilight around 4:50. From a dark-sky site, you should see 15 to 20 fast-moving meteors per hour during that time. The radiant point will be high up in the southeast, near the boundary of Lyra and Hercules, about 8 degrees southwest of the bright (zero magnitude) star Vega.
While you're waiting for the meteors to peak and the moon is still up, you'll see Mars just 5 degrees from the moon in the constellation Cancer. Although the Red Planet has dimmed considerably from its best for the year in January, it is still easy to spot at magnitude 0.6. It starts the month brighter at 0.2 and ends at 0.7. Mars is well up in the sky after dark all month. It sets a few minutes after 4 early in the month and little before 3 by month's end.
Look for the day-old moon near Mercury on the 15th. You'll need binoculars to spot the pair during evening twilight. Have a look about 8 p.m., in the west-northwest about 13 degrees above the horizon.
Early in the month is the best time to see the elusive innermost planet in the evening this year, when it'll be brighter (magnitude minus 0.7) and a little farther from the sun. It'll be at its greatest eastern elongation on the 8th. For the first few days of April, it'll be about 3 degrees from much brighter (magnitude minus 3.9) Venus.
After midmonth, Mercury will sink rapidly toward the sun. It'll reach interior conjunction (between Earth and sun) on the 28th. It'll return to the morning sky in May.
The moon, still a thin crescent, having slipped past Mercury, will hover above Venus on the 16th. Venus will be hard to miss all month and can be seen in daylight if you know just where to look, from 20 to about 26 degrees east of the sun.
Not long past opposition, Saturn is ideally positioned for evening viewing in Virgo. Look for it high in the southeast around 10 p.m. and practically due south around midnight. Saturn shines at magnitude 0.7. The waxing gibbous moon will hover below Saturn on the nights of 24/25 and 25/26.
Jupiter will pop up in the predawn sky by the second week of April. Shining at magnitude minus 2, it can be spotted in twilight. A very old crescent moon will just above Jupiter on the morning of April 11.
While you're out taking in the night sky, be sure to salute Arcturus, the fourth brightest star in the night sky. Its name means "bear guard," but it's also known as the "spring star." It's a big neighbor, only about 40 light-years away and 23 times the diameter of our sun. Follow the arc of the Big Dipper's handle to find it in the constellation Boötes. This time of year it rises before the end of evening twilight and sets well after sunrise.
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