by Jim Knoll
April has a lot of interesting astronomy events and they are all visible with just your eyes.
April 2 morning. Mars and Saturn are very close in the morning sky (1.5 degrees) with Jupiter another 6 degrees to the upper right. View around 5 or 5:30 am.
April 3 evening. To the west, Venus (brightest object in the night sky in that area) will have a conjunction (get very close) to the Pleiades or 7 Sisters Cluster. In fact, Venus will be in the cluster. View around 7 or 7:30 pm.
Throughout April in the morning around 5 or 5:30 am. Mars (red), Saturn, and Jupiter form a nice line of planets with Mars closest to the horizon and Jupiter furthest with Saturn in the middle. The Moon joins the group April 14 – 16.
April 21-22. The evening or April 21 or even better the morning of April 22 will be the Lyrid Meteor Shower. Toward the east after 10 pm or early in the morning around 5 am look straight up. The shower radiant will be near the star Vega in the constellation Lyra and in the constellation Hercules right next door. Might see up to about 20 meteors per hour.
Sorry, no TAAA Public star parties in April and May. After the Monsoon, we will start them up again. Check our TAAA Website calendar for more info (tucsonastronomy.org) or follow a particular event here on our Facebook Page.
Clear skies and stay safe.
NASA Image, Robert Gendler