Highlights

Your guide to the night sky this month 

Wednesday 1

Mag. +0.8 Mars sits 1˚ to the south of the ringed planet Saturn this morning. Off-white Saturn shines at mag. +0.9, a similar brightness to orange Mars.

Saturday 4

A challenging target for astrophotography, the bright planet Jupiter will appear 45 arcminutes from Pluto this morning. Jupiter shines at mag. –2.0, Pluto at mag. +14.4. At this time Jupiter will be 3.6 million times brighter than Pluto.

Wednesday 22

The annual Lyrid meteor shower reaches its peak this evening. It has a peak ZHR of 18 meteors per hour but can show variable rates up to 90 meteors per hour. Conditions this year are perfect as there’s a new Moon on 23 April at 03:26 BST (02:36 UT).

Thursday 2

The crater Clavius will be bathed in dark shadow in the early hours save for two crater rims inside it which form the clair-obscur effect known as the Eyes of Clavius.

This evening, asteroid 3 Juno reaches opposition in Virgo, shining at mag. +9.5.

Sunday 5

Peak of the weak meteor shower known as the Kappa Serpentids. The peak ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate) for this shower is just four meteors per hour.

This evening the Moon appears at perigee, its closest point to Earth, at 19:08 BST (18:08 UT).

Monday

13

The rising 69%-lit waning gibbous Moon will be occulting the Lagoon Nebula, M8. The Moon clears the nebula at 03:30 BST (02:30 UT). Although the nebula won’t be visible, it may be possible to see some of the embedded cluster stars under occultation.

Thursday 23

The Moon is new today, making this a great time to try this month’s Deep-Sky Tour on page 56. This month we’re looking at galaxies of all shapes and sizes near the bottom of the Bowl of Virgo.

Monday 27

This evening the 20%-lit waxing crescent Moon lies 1.4˚ to the south of the fifth magnitude open cluster M35 in Gemini.

Wednesday 8

This morning’s full Moon, 03:35 BST (02:35 UT) occurs close to perigee, a ‘supermoon’, and will appear larger than an average full Moon.

Ganymede’s shadow is on Jupiter’s central meridian at 05:30 BST.

Wednesday 15

Early risers can see a 48%-lit waning crescent Moon in a triangle with Jupiter and Saturn at 04:30 BST (03:30 UT).

At 09:30 BST (08:30 UT) Ganymede’s shadow is on Jupiter’s central meridian.

Saturday 25

The blazing planet Venus reaches 30% phase today. Venus can currently be seen in the evening sky over towards the west after sunset, shining away at mag. –4.5.

Friday 3

The planet Venus will cross the Pleiades open cluster this evening. Turn to page 46 for more information. Venus is currently shining at mag. –4.3.

Thursday 16

As the 37%-lit waning crescent Moon rises around 05:00 BST (04:00 UT) this morning, look out for mag. +0.6 Mars, 2.9˚ to its north.

Sunday 26

Mag. –4.4 Venus appears 6.5˚ from this evening’s 12%-lit crescent Moon. A stirring visual sight, this is a must take shot if you’re into astrophotography.

Thursday

30

The Moon reaches first quarter phase this evening, the second first quarter Moon of the month.

Friday 17

This evening it’s the turn of the weak Alpha Virginids meteor shower to reach its peak. The ZHR for this shower is just five meteors per hour. These meteors have a slow entry speed of around 20km/s.

Saturday 18

A lack of a Moon in this evening’s sky makes this an excellent time to try for our challenge on page 55. This month we’re asking you to take a photo of the shadow cast by the planet Venus.