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The Night Sky This Month: April

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Here are some of the things to see in April:

  • 8:30 pm, western sky – Venus visible low above the western horizon in the evening
  • 11:30 pm, southeastern sky – Jupiter climbs in the sky just before midnight
  • 5 am, southwestern sky – Saturn and Mars rising in the direction of Sagittarius before dawn, with Jupiter visible in the same area of the sky
  • 10 pm, northern sky – Ursa Major visible high overhead, with the recognizable Big Dipper asterism and the Pointer Stars pointing the way to Polaris in Ursa Minor; Ursa Major is home to the bright double star system Mizar and Alcor, the galaxy pair Messier 81 and Messier 82, and many other notable stars and deep sky objects
  • 10 pm, southern sky – Leo constellation, with the bright stars Denebola and Regulus marking the Lion’s tail and heart; Leo contains the Leo Triplet of galaxies (Messier 65, Messier 66 and the Hamburger Galaxy) and the galaxy pair Messier 95 and Messier 96 among other interesting objects
  • 2 am, eastern sky – the Lyrid meteor shower, peaking on the night of April 21 to 22, with up to 20 meteors per hour visible after midnight

Related: April constellations