During April 2023, there are some amazing skywatching highlights! In the evening sky, you’ll be able to spot Mercury at its brightest point all year. The Moon’s monthly path will bring it close to several planets, creating a stunning view. And during the annual Lyrid meteor shower, the night sky will not be blocked by any of the Moonlight, so you’ll get an even clearer look!
April Skies
Look for Mercury in the sky after sunset at the start of April. Notice when the Moon moves close to different planets, and on April 23, watch for a meteor shooting across the sky — this is known as a “Lyrid meteor”.
April Sky-Gazing at its Best
– On April 11, you can find Mercury in the evening sky, if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere. Look for it low in the west just after sunset – best viewing is between April 3 and 11, as it will be a bit higher each night!
– On April 11th, Venus will appear close to the Pleiades star cluster in the western sky.
– Around sunrise on April 15th or 16th you’ll spot the Moon and Saturn together in the east.
– And on April 23rd, look for the thin crescent Moon close to Venus setting in the west.
On April 25th, you can see the Moon and Mars together in the western sky after it gets dark. On April 6th, there will be a full moon. Two weeks later on April 20th, the moon will become new again. Finally, on April 23rd, you’ll have the chance to watch for shooting stars from the Lyrid meteor shower if you stay up late at night or wake up really early in the morning.
It’s April, and there are some amazing things happening in the night sky! The Moon is at its first-quarter period. You can use binoculars or even a telescope to see all the craters and mountains on it in incredible detail. This month also marks the Lyrid meteor shower and a cool merging of Mercury and the planets – definitely something you don’t want to miss!
On April 11, Mercury – the smallest and fastest planet in our Solar System – will look its brightest from the evening sky. This is the highest point it can be seen for the year!
Mercury is only visible in the sky for a few weeks every three or four months. Usually, it’s too close to the Sun for us to see and its brightness gets lost in the Sun’s glare. Because Mercury orbits around the Sun very closely, it’s almost always near the Sun when seen from Earth and it can be spotted just above the horizon before sunrise or after sunset for only one or two hours.
Sometimes Mercury can be seen in the night sky, which is called an “apparition”. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s best to look from April 3rd to 11th as this is when it will appear higher up and more visible in the evening. As time goes on though, its brightness will slowly decrease until it can barely be seen since its crescent shape becomes smaller and smaller.
On April 11, you’ll see the planet Venus and a star cluster called the Pleiades side by side with just binoculars. The night sky is like a time machine – when you look into deep space, you’re really looking back in time. Light from Venus that you see on this day left the planet about nine minutes earlier, while light from the Pleiades stars left them around four centuries ago!
April has some super exciting events happening in the night sky! On April 15th and 16th, look east just before sunrise to see a crescent Moon up there together with bright planet Saturn. A week later on the 23rd, survey the western horizon at sunset to spot a slender crescent Moon right next to beautiful Venus. Finally, the 25th marks a special get-together of Mars and the crescent Moon—to catch these two, make sure to look high up in the western sky after dark.
Right now, the Moon will look like a half-moon at night on the 26th and 27th. This is known as the first quarter phase. It’s a great time to take out binoculars or camera lenses to explore the Moon’s craters and mountains around its day/night boundary (terminator). NASA’s Night Sky Network has lots of events that teach kids about this in their areas – check them out!
April brings a really cool event called the Lyrid meteor shower. This event can be seen in the night, where up to 20 shooting stars can be seen per hour on its peak day – April 23rd right before dawn! To make things even better this year, the new Moon will not interfere and brighten up the sky with its light too much , so it’s gonna perfect conditions for stargazing! So take advantage of that dark night and you will see some amazing shooting stars!
The Lyrids are named after the Lyra constellation, which is in the same area of the sky where we can see their meteors. They have been around for a very long time; they were first spotted in China almost 3,000 years ago! The Lyrids come from pieces of dust that get left behind a comet during its 400-year journey around the sun.
The Lyrids are special because they can produce meteor showers with shooting stars that don’t last long and make brief flashes of light. To observe them, find a spot outside without the glare of city lights, lay down flat and look up towards the sky. For better viewing, it’s best to look away from where the meteors seem to be coming from, which is near Vega – a bright star in the night sky.
If you head outside in the early morning of April, you just might be able to spot a few shooting stars and even experience some dust from a comet. The Moon will also go through different phases in April. If you want to keep up with NASA’s explorations into space and beyond, check out their website! That’s all for this month from Preston Dyches at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
This passage is talking about five different studies that show how medical technologies can have an effect on health outcomes. The first study looks at using electronic medication monitors to treat tuberculosis patients in China. The second study looks at the effects of severe schistosomiasis mansoni in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The third study looks at how apoptosis can be used to protect cells from damage in a mouse cone cell line. The fourth study looks at the effect of small incision lenticule extraction surgery on corneal reinnervation size observed through a confocal microscope. Finally, the fifth study is researching protective effects of autophagy.
1. Using the OCULUS keratograph to measure changes in eyes.
2. Examining how quick a government responds to COVID-19 and daily cases in 148 different countries
3. The effects of 0.01% atropine sulfate eye drops on short-sighted children
4. Understanding the spread of COVID-19 worldwide through visualization charts
5. Research study to figure out how much chronic political instability affects HIV/AIDS control in Guinea-Bissau
