The Night Sky in April 2013 – Constellation Guide

Here are the highlights of the night sky in April:

9 PM, western sky – Jupiter rising over the western horizon
10 PM, eastern sky – Saturn rises in the eastern sky and stays visible in the south-east throughout the night
10 PM, northern sky – Ursa Major constellation and the Big Dipper asterism are visible, with the pointer stars showing the way to Polaris, the North Star in Ursa Minor
the visual double Mizar and Alcor in Ursa Major that can be seen without binoculars
the spiral galaxy Messier 81 (Bode’s Galaxy) and starburst galaxy Messier 82 (Cigar Galaxy) in Ursa Major
10 PM, southern sky – Leo constellation with the bright stars Denebola and Regulus and the Leo Triplet of galaxies (Messier 65, Messier 66 and NGC 3628), easily visible in a telescope
the pair of large spiral galaxies Messier 95 and Messier 96 in Leo
three pairs of bright stars between Leo and Ursa Major known as the Three Leaps of the Gazelle, also representing the bear’s paws
2 AM, eastern sky – Lyrid meteor shower in the direction of Lyra constellation, with up to 20 meteors per hour, best seen on April 22
April 25 – partial lunar eclipse visible in most of Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia