The annual Lyrid meteor shower, which peaks the night of April 22, is one of the main April highlights for sky-watchers.
This meteor shower, caused by debris left behind from a comet with a 416-year orbit, will be best seen from 2 to 4 a.m. looking east. With 20 to 25 meteors per hour likely, it is worth going out early to see them.
Brilliant Venus also graces the early morning eastern sky all month, and will guide the way to seeing dimmer Mercury and Saturn, standing side by side just below it. Look for the this “planet triangle” on the morning of April 12, 30 minutes before sunrise.
Jupiter is still a bright planet in the southwest, but the observing window for it closes dramatically. Jupiter sets around 1 a.m. on April 1, but before 11 p.m. on April 30.
A thin crescent moon will be seen just above Jupiter on April 2 and again on April 30.
On April 1, the crescent moon will be just to the left of M45 in the Messier catalog, the well-known Pleiades star cluster. With binoculars, this will be a truly beautiful sight.
Saturn is a very dim object in the eastern sky, and very low to the horizon. But on April 24, with a waning crescent moon hanging just above the ringed planet, it may be easier to spot.
Mars is the only planet that will be well up above the horizon for any length of time in April. It is now to the left and slightly above Castor and Pollux, the two first magnitude “head” stars of the Gemini twins constellation. Mars won’t set until 3 a.m. this month. But before that we can see it gradually move into Cancer the crab and approach Messier 44, the Beehive cluster of stars. By April 30, Mars will appear just above and right of the cluster, and will make another beautiful sight through binoculars or a low power telescope.
The full month for April is on the 12th.