Spring is here. That means we’re more likely to head outside and enjoy warmer weather. But there are also other things you can can do in April — so long as we don’t have too many of those spring showers. Here are a few astronomical highlights you can enjoy this month.
All month: Jupiter
Jupiter, the king of the solar system, has been visible in our sky for months. But now, with the changing season, the giant planet is in a great position to be seen throughout the night.
Jupiter actually rises while the sun is still up. See if you can spot it before it truly gets dark. It will be high in the east and the brightest object in the sky (aside from the moon, of course).
If you have a pair of binoculars, turn them to Jupiter after dark. Four of Jupiter’s more than 60 moons — Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa — can be seen with the aid of binoculars. If you want, try to have some fun and look at them over a few nights: you’ll notice they change position over time as they revolve around their host planet.
April 17–18: Jupiter and the moon
While you’ll be able to see Jupiter all month, on this night, you can see the pair just about two degrees apart.
The moon will be about 85 per cent illuminated, which means it’ll be pretty bright. But it won’t drown out Jupiter completely.
Though Jupiter is about 673 million kilometres from Earth, its clouds reflect a lot of sunlight, giving it a fairly high albedo (the reflectivity of an object).
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Try stepping outside just after sunset and you’ll find them high in the sky in the southeast.
April 22: Full moon
While for astronomers a full moon can hamper observations, for most people a full moon can be quite enjoyable.
This month’s full moon will occur on April 22 at 1:24 EDT.
While everyone talks about the “super moon” (when the moon is the closest to Earth in its monthly orbit), April’s will be the smallest full moon of the year. Some people call it the “micro-moon” or “mini-moon.”
When the full moon occurs, it will be about 50,000 km farther than this year’s closest full moon that occurs on November 14.
Though it will be “micro,” it’s unlikely that you’ll notice a difference.
April 22: Lyrid meteor shower
After a dearth of meteor showers, we’re finally treated to the first one of in our warmer months.
We can see meteors any night as random space debris enters our atmosphere. But almost every month we enter a denser stream left over from a passing comet. This produces more meteors over several nights.
Meteor showers get their names based on which constellation the meteors appear to be coming from, called the radiant. In this case the radiant is the constellation Lyra, hence the name Lyrids. The comet responsible for the shower is C/1861 G1.
The Lyrid shower is active from April 16 to 25, with the peak being on the night of April 22–23. The rate per hour is only about 18 (compared to some showers which can produce 50 or even 100).
To enjoy the shower, you just need to head outside and look towards the constellation Lyra. No binoculars needed.
There is a downside to this shower, however: the moon. During the peak night, the moon rises early in the evening and is full. That means that only the brightest meteors will be able to be seen. But on the plus side, while the Lyrids don’t typically produce long trains in the sky, they do tend to produce fireballs, bright meteors that can sometimes be as bright as the moon.
April 28: Rising of the Summer Triangle
It’s a little early for summer, but one of the things that signals what is probably the most welcomed season of the year is around the corner: the Summer Triangle.
The Summer Triangle refers to a triangle comprised of three stars — Deneb, Vega and Altair — from three different constellations: Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila.
The first of the stars, the very bright Vega, rises in the northeast fairly early on in the evening. But you’ll have to stay up late to catch the last of the three stars — Altair — rising. By 2 a.m. on April 15, all three stars will be above the horizon. By the end of the month you can catch them all around 1 a.m.
Stay tuned for what you should be watching in the May sky.
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