The Sky This Week: April 20 – 24
Jupiter and Mars rise before midnight, Mercury shines its brightest for 2016, and the onset of spring chases Orion the Hunter from the night sky.
Wednesday, April 20
Saturn rises shortly after 11 p.m. local daylight time this week and climbs highest in the south shortly before morning twilight starts to paint the sky. The ringed planet shines at magnitude 0.2 among the much fainter background stars of southern Ophiuchus. Any telescope will show you Saturn’s 18″-diameter disk surrounded by a spectacular ring system that spans 41″ and tilts 26° to our line of sight.
Thursday, April 21
Full Moon arrives at 1:24 a.m. EDT tomorrow morning, but it looks completely illuminated all night. It rises in the east shortly before the Sun sets and reaches its peak in the south around 1 a.m. local daylight time. The Full Moon lies in southern Virgo, only 10° east of that constellation’s brightest star, 1st-magnitude Spica. By coincidence, today also marks the Moon’s apogee, the farthest point in its orbit around Earth. It reaches this position at 12:05 p.m. EDT, when it lies 252,495 miles (406,351 kilometers) from Earth’s center.
Friday, April 22
The annual Lyrid meteor shower reaches its peak this morning. Unfortunately, the Full Moon nearly ruins the shower this year. The best views likely will come just before morning twilight commences. The Moon then hangs low in the southwest and the constellation from which the meteors appear to radiate, Lyra, lies nearly overhead. If you face away from our satellite, you should see at least a few shooting stars. The only good news to come from the Moon’s interference is that it will wane to its New phase in two weeks when the Eta Aquariid meteor shower reaches its peak.
Saturday, April 23
Asteroid 6 Hebe currently lies among the background stars of eastern Leo the Lion, just a stone’s throw from 2nd-magnitude Denebola. This region rides high in the southeast during the early evening hours and peaks in the south around 11 p.m. local daylight time. This evening, 10th-magnitude Hebe lies some 3° north-northwest of Denebola.
Sunday, April 24
The waning gibbous Moon passes 5° north of Mars at midnight EDT. But the scene improves dramatically by the time this part of the sky climbs highest in the south around 3 a.m. local daylight time. The Moon then stands above both Mars and Saturn while the 1st-magnitude star Antares lies just below. All four objects appear within a 10°-wide circle.
Source
Astronomy Magazine
Article’s Author, Richard Talcott
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