The first major meteor shower since January is set to peak in April. Did you know that the first week of April is celebrated as the International Dark Sky Week? March 31 to April 6 is celebrated throughout the globe and was planned to appreciate the beauty of the night sky, and to raise awareness of how poor-quality lighting creates light pollution, thereby, making it more difficult to view the celestial bodies. Well, this month has much more in store.
Moon and planets
Mercury was at its Greatest Western Elongation on April 11. Ideally, this would have been the best time to view Mercury since it would have been at its highest point above the horizon in the morning sky.
Get set to catch the full moon on April 19. The moon will be fully illuminated. This is known as the Full Pink Moon because it marks the appearance of the moss pink, or wild ground phlox, one of the first spring flowers. This moon is also known as the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Growing Moon, and the Egg Moon. Many coastal tribes called it the Full Fish Moon because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.
There will also be a close encounter between Jupiter and the moon, and a perfect opportunity to view a distant spiral galaxy — M101. It will be high in the sky around midnight; use a telescope to look for it in the constellation Ursa Major.
April ends with a planetary meetup — the moon, Saturn, and Pluto will pass closer to each other in the wee hours of April 25. Use a telescope — this is a great opportunity as you get to spot Pluto closer to Saturn.
Make a wish
The Virginids are the first of the meteor showers after the ones in January. They are a relatively small meteor shower, running from April 7-18 and peaking on April 12 this year. You can expect to see only around five meteors per hour. The showers originate from around the constellation Virgo in the southern sky.
The Lyrids Meteor Shower runs annually between April 16 and 25. An average shower, it produces around 20 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by dust particles left behind by comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, which was discovered in 1861. It peaks this year on the night of April 22 and the following morning. These meteors can sometimes produce bright dust trails that last for several seconds. The bright moon may tend to block out many of the faint showers, but keep gazing to catch a few of the bright ones.
