April Night Skies

A brief overview of what to see in the sky with the unaided eye during April evenings:

Stars and Constellations
●    Some prominent constellations visible in the evening sky are Bootes, Coma Berenices and Virgo
●    Follow the ‘handle’ stars of the Big Dipper star group southward to the star Arcturus in Bootes, and then further south to the star Spica in Virgo
●    Arcturus is a bright (first magnitude) orange star rising in the east during spring evenings
●    Spica is a bright (first magnitude) blue star lower in the southeastern sky during spring evenings
●    Coma Berenices is a small group of faint stars west of Arcturus, and nearly overhead by late evening
●    The region of sky in the direction of Virgo and Coma Berenices contains numerous galaxies that can be seen in a moderate-size telescope in a dark sky

Planets
●    Mercury is visible with difficulty very low in the eastern sky before sunrise and reaches greatest western elongation April 21
●    Venus is visible very low in the eastern pre-dawn sky
●    Mars is visible high in the western sky during the evening, moving from the Gemini to Cancer constellations
●    Jupiter is visible in the western sky after sunset in the Taurus constellation and sets near midnight
●    Saturn is visible low in the eastern pre-dawn sky in the Pisces constellation

Moon Phases
●    First Quarter Moon April 4, 22:15 EDT
●    Full Moon April 12, 20:22 EDT
●    Last Quarter Moon April 20, 21:35 EDT
●    New Moon April 27, 15:31 EDT 

Noteworthy Sky Events
●    April 21/22: peak of Lyrids meteor shower early morning of April 22, but the shower is active from April 14-30
●    April 25-29: Saturn and Venus close together in the pre-dawn sky

Sky Resources Online
Some website resources for sky charts, weekly sky events, and more information:
●    astrogeo.ca/skylights
●    www.heavens-above.com
●    In-the-sky.org
●    www.skyandtelescope.org
●    www.skymaps.com 

Star Chart for mid-April, mid-evening (courtesy of www.heavens-above.com):
 

March Night Skies

A brief overview of what to see in the sky with the unaided eye during March evenings:

Stars and Constellations
Some prominent constellations visible in the evening sky are Leo and Ursa Major (containing
the Big Dipper star group)
● Leo, rising higher in the southeastern sky, is dominated by the bright star Regulus
● The Big Dipper and Ursa Major are rising high in the northeastern sky
● The winter Milky Way and bright constellations of Gemini, Auriga and Orion are in the western sky
● East of Orion are the bright stars Sirius and Procyon with the constellations of Canis Major and Canis Minor, low in the southwestern sky

Planets
●   Mercury is visible during the first half of March, low in the western sky after sunset
●   Venus shines brightly in the western sky after sunset during the first half of March, then passes inferior conjunction March 22, and then appears in the eastern pre-dawn sky during late March
●   Mars is visible high in the southern sky during the evening in the Gemini constellation
●   Jupiter is visible in the western sky after sunset in the Taurus constellation
●   Saturn is not practically visible and is in superior conjunction with the sun March 12

Moon Phases

●    First Quarter Moon March 6, 11:32 EST
●    Full Moon March 14, 02:55 EDT
●    Last Quarter Moon March 22, 07:29 EDT
●    New Moon March 29, 06:58 EDT

Noteworthy Sky Events
●    March 14: Total lunar eclipse from 02:25 to 03:32 am EDT (early Friday morning)
●    March 20: Vernal equinox at 05:01 EDT 

Sky Resources Online
Some website resources for sky charts, weekly sky events, and more information:
●    astrogeo.ca/skylights
●    www.heavens-above.com
●    In-the-sky.org
●    www.skyandtelescope.org
●    www.skymaps.com

Star Chart for mid-March, mid-evening (courtesy of www.heavens-above.com):