Visible Planets and Night Sky Guide for April
Originally published by EarthSky.
April 15: 1st quarter moon
The instant of 1st quarter moon will fall at 19:13 UTC on April 15, 2024 (2:13 p.m. CDT). A 1st quarter moon rises around noon your local time and sets around midnight. Watch for it high in the sky at sundown.
April 15 evening: Moon near the twin stars of Gemini
On the evening of April 15, 2024, the first quarter moon will shine near Castor and Pollux, the twin stars of Gemini. Although they are “twin brothers,” they don’t really look alike. Pollux is a bit brighter and a golden star, while Castor shines as a white light. They’ll rise before sunset and travel across the sky’s dome before setting a few hours after midnight.
April 17 and 18 evenings: Moon near Regulus
On the evenings of April 17 and 18, 2024, the waxing gibbous moon will float near the bright star Regulus, the brightest star in Leo the Lion. They’ll be visible until a few hours before sunrise.
Moon at apogee April 20
The moon will reach apogee – its farthest distance from Earth in its elliptical orbit around Earth – at 2 UTC on April 20, 2024 (9 p.m. CDT on April 19), when it’s 252,042 miles (405,623 kilometers) away.
Overnight April 21-22: Lyrid meteor shower
Overnight tonight, the Lyrid meteor shower peaks. But the moon is nearly full, hiding all but the brightest meteors in its glare. Diehards will be watching in the moonlight. Should you? Even one bright meteor – streaking along in the glare of the bright moon – would make it all worthwhile. Tips for watching a meteor shower in moonlight here.
April 22 evening: Moon near Spica
On the evening of April 22, 2024, the fat waxing gibbous moon will hang near the bright star Spica in Virgo the Maiden. They’ll rise before sunset and be visible until sunrise.
April evenings: Can you still see Jupiter?
For the first three months of April, Jupiter appears low in the west shortly after sunset. But during the month’s final week, it lies too low in the bright evening twilight to be easily seen. It’ll be challenging to spot.
April 23: Full moon near Spica
The full moon will glow brightly near the bright star Spica in Virgo the Maiden. The full moon occurs at 23:49 UTC (6:49 p.m. CDT) on April 23, 2024. It’ll be visible all night.
April 26 and 27 mornings: Moon near Antares
On the mornings of April 26 and 27, 2024, the waning gibbous moon will lie close to the bright star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion. They’ll be visible from early morning until dawn. Also, skywatchers in Asia and Africa will see the moon pass in front of – or occult – Antares near 21 UTC on April 26.
The Big Dipper and Leo the Lion
April is a great time to look up overhead in the evening sky and find the well-known pattern of stars we call the Big Dipper. It’s an asterism – or obvious pattern of stars – and part of the constellation Ursa Major the Great Bear. Also, you can find the constellation Leo the Lion. Leo has another well-known asterism known as the Sickle. The Sickle looks like a backward question mark that is punctuated by the bright star Regulus. In fact, the Big Dipper can help you locate Leo and the Sickle. An imaginary line drawn southward from the pointer stars in the Big Dipper – the two outer stars in the Dipper’s bowl – points toward Leo the Lion.
The Big Dipper and Polaris
Plus, the Big Dipper can direct you to find Polaris, the North Pole Star. The two outer stars in the bowl of the Dipper point to Polaris. It’s at the end of the handle of Ursa Minor the Little Bear, commonly known as the Little Dipper. Look for the Big and Little Dippers high in the northern sky on spring evenings. This view is for the Northern Hemisphere.
Cancer the Crab
Cancer the Crab, with its Beehive star cluster, needs a dark sky to be seen. It lies between the Gemini twin stars Castor and Pollux, and the bright star Regulus in Leo the Lion.
Once you’ve found Cancer – if your sky is dark – you can see the wonderful open star cluster called the Beehive. It contains some 1,000 stars.
April evenings: Jupiter
Jupiter appears low in the west shortly after sunset in the first three weeks of April. During the month’s final week, it lies too low in the bright evening twilight to be easily seen. At the beginning of the month, Jupiter sets about three hours after sunset. At month’s end, Jupiter lies low in the evening twilight and may be challenging to spot. Jupiter will lie near the delicate Pleiades star cluster.
April mornings: Mars and Saturn
Mars and Saturn lie low in the morning twilight in April 2024. They shine with similar brightness and have a close pairing on the mornings of April 10 and 11. Saturn will climb a bit higher as the month goes on, and Mars will not move as much on the sky’s dome. By month’s end, Saturn will rise about two hours before sunrise and Mars will follow it about an hour later. Both planets will be easier to find in the coming months as they climb out of the morning glare.
Where are Venus and Mercury?
Venus is too close to the sun to be visible this month, and it’ll emerge in the evening sky around the beginning of August. Mercury will disappear from the bright evening twilight at the beginning of April and return to the morning sky in May.
Sky dome maps for visible planets and night sky
The sky dome maps come from master astronomy chart-maker Guy Ottewell. You’ll find charts like these for every month of 2024 in his Astronomical Calendar.
Heliocentric solar system visible planets and more
The sun-centered charts come from Guy Ottewell. You’ll find charts like these for every month of 2024 in his Astronomical Calendar.
Rocket Launches can sometimes be seen in Garrett County. Especially those from Wallops Island.
Originally published by EarthSky and Space.
May
May 4 and 5: On the mornings of May 4 and 5, 2024 – especially if you’re out there watching meteors – notice the waning moon, a thin crescent, about to slip into the sunrise glare. The planets Mars and Saturn will be easy to spot. But – unless you are in Earth’s Southern Hemisphere – you might not see Mercury on these mornings. From the Northern Hemisphere, Mercury is vanishingly near the sunrise. But the morning of May 6 might be a good time to catch it (see the chart below) since the waning moon will be near it. Do you notice a lovely glow on the unlit side of the moon? That’s Earthshine! It’s reflected light from the Earth.
May 6: Can you still see the moon on the morning of May 6, 2024? If so, you might be able to find Mercury, too. They’ll both lie low on the horizon; binoculars might help locate them. Reddish Mars and golden Saturn will be higher in the sky.
May 6: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on its first crewed flight, with NASA astronauts and former Navy test pilots, commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams.
The Crew Test Flight to the International Space Station will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and last about a week. The short mission to the ISS aims to test out all major systems with astronauts on board. CFT follows two uncrewed flights by Starliner: A 2019 flight that did not reach the ISS as planned, and a 2022 attempt (following numerous changes to Starliner) that reached the ISS and met all other major flight objectives.
May 10: On the evening of May 10, 2024, the waxing crescent moon – glowing with earthshine – will lie between two bright stars. The golden star is Capella in the constellation Auriga the Charioteer. And in vivid contrast to golden Capella is the bright red supergiant star Betelgeuse, the brightest star in Orion the Hunter. You can follow them until almost midnight.
May 12: On the evening of May 12, 2024, the waxing crescent moon will shine near Pollux and Castor, the twin stars of Gemini. Even though they are known as twins, they really don’t look alike. Pollux is a bit brighter and it’s a golden star, while Castor is a white light. They’ll rise before sunset and travel across the sky’s dome before setting near midnight.
May 13: The thick waxing crescent moon will lie near M44, the Beehive star cluster, on the evening of May 13, 2024. You’ll need binoculars to spot dozens of the stars in the Beehive. Also nearby will be the bright twin stars of Gemini: Pollux and Castor. You can see them until around midnight.
May 18: Jupiter will lie on the opposite side of the sun from Earth on May 18, 2024, and can’t be seen. This point in its orbit is called a superior conjunction.
May 19 and 20: On the evenings of May 19 and 20, 2024, the fat waxing gibbous moon will hang near the bright star Spica in Virgo the Maiden. They’ll rise before sunset and be visible for several hours after midnight.
May 22: On the evening of May 22, 2024, the waxing gibbous moon will lie near the bright red star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion. They’ll be visible from early morning until dawn.