Day & Date

Times

Rain Date

Times (rain date)

Objects Visible

Thurs., April 9*

7:30 to 10:30 pm

Apr. 10

7:30 to 10:30 pm

First Quarter Moon, Orion Nebula, SATURN, Mizar and Alcor (double star)

Fri., May 1

8:30 to 11:30 pm

May 2

8:30 to 11:30 pm

First Quarter Moon, SATURN, Mizar and Alcor, Messier 13 (globular star cluster)

Apr. 2

First Quarter Moon

4/5

*

The waxing gibbous Moon passes near the Beehive star cluster (Messier 44).

9

*

WCSU Observatory Public Night (weather permitting), 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Rain date April 10 (same times, again weather permitting). Visible objects include the Full “Pink” Moon, Saturn, and Mizar & Alcor.

16

The Moon reaches apogee at 404,232 km [251,178 miles] from Earth’s center.

17

Last Quarter Moon

19

*

Look before dawn to see the waning crescent Moon passing near the bright planet JUPITER.

22

*

Look nearly overhead in the hours just before dawn, toward the bright white star Vega, to see meteors from the Lyrid meteor shower. Moonlight will hardly hamper the viewing of these moderately fast meteors, but you should be in a location which is away from much direct lighting. From a dark site, an observer might expect to see one or two dozen meteors per hour.

22

!

VENUS and the thin waning crescent Moon are close together before sunrise, and (if you can follow them in daylight, with a telescope) even closer after sunrise (closest approach around 10 a.m.).

24

New Moon

26

*

The planet MERCURY reaches greatest eastern elongation, 20 degrees from the Sun. It is also near the slim waxing crescent Moon after sunset in the WNW sky. (Mercury is visible, low after sunset, for most of April. Earlier in the month it is lower but much brighter than when it reaches greatest eastern elongation.

28

The Moon reaches at perigee at 366,040 km [227,446 miles] from Earth’s center.

May 1

WCSU Observatory Public Night (weather permitting), 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. Rain date May 2 (same times, again weather permitting). Visible objects include the First Quarter Moon, Saturn, Mizar & Alcor, and the globular star cluster Messier 13.

6

Look ESE in the “wee hours” before dawn to see meteors from the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. This is normally a rich, reliable shower, but this year the waxing gibbous Moon’s light will somewhat hamper viewing of the fainter meteors. On a moonless night from an otherwise dark location, a single observer might expect to see several dozen fast meteors per hour.

9

FULL Flower MOON

10

*

The waning gibbous Moon passes very near the bright orange star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion. Antares will be occulted (covered) by the Moon around 5 p.m. EDT, but the Moon will not have risen in New England yet.

13

The Moon reaches apogee at 404,915 km [251,602 miles] from Earth’s center.

17

Last Quarter Moon

24

New Moon

26

The Moon reaches perigee at 361,153 km [224,410 miles] from Earth’s center.

30

First Quarter Moon

MERCURY

—

is visible low in the WNW sunset sky during April and the first week of May. It reaches greatest eastern elongation on  April 26 but has vanished into the Sun’s glare by mid-May.

VENUS

—

blazes in the E predawn sky during April and May. At apparent magnitude -4.7 for much of this period, Venus is the third brightest object in the sky (behind only the Moon and Sun). Venus and the waning crescent Moon come extremely close on the morning of April 22.

MARS

—

JUPITER

—

appears in the SE sky in the “wee hours” before dawn, above Capricornus but below the western parts of Aquarius.

SATURN

—

, still in Leo, is high in the S sky during middle evenings (April) and early evenings (May).