Venus brings good planetary viewing in April as it shines brilliantly in the western sky after sunset.
On April 1, look for Venus 30 minutes after the sun has fully dipped below the horizon.
As darkness deepens, also look in the same direction for M45, the Pleiades star cluster, just above the planet.
Later in the month, on April 23, Uranus may be spotted with binoculars, just down and left of Venus, and M45 just up and right of it. The first quarter moon will be easily seen above and well east [left] of Venus this same night.
Jupiter appears higher in the western sky after sunset, still among the stars of Gemini, the twins. It remains brighter than all the nearby stars and does not set until 3 a.m.
The waxing crescent moon will pass just above Jupiter on April 22.
The full moon for April is on its first day and is the first full moon after the vernal equinox of March 20.
Easter Sunday is April 5. This religious day is always on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal [spring] equinox. This is why Easter is not observed on the same date every year.
Winter constellations have appeared to move well over into the western sky since we are several weeks into spring.
Seasons change of course due to Earth orbiting the sun and the tilt of the Earth on its axis. But Orion, Gemini, Taurus, Auriga and Canis Minor — major winter stars — can still be seen for several hours after sunset before they set in the west.
Meanwhile, the spring constellations of Leo, Bootes, Virgo and Corvus are in full display across the eastern and southern skies.
Leo has 1st magnitude Regulus at the bottom of the backward question mark front end [high in the south], and Bootes has bright Arcturus, third brightest star of all, right in its middle [due east].
Virgo in the southeast sky has the 14th brightest star Spica right in its middle too.
Regulus and Spica are hot blue-white stars, while Arcturus is an orange star.
Mars, Mercury and Saturn form a small triangle of planets and are pushing up into the eastern pre-dawn sky. On April 20 they will be just 2 degrees apart from each other — Mercury lowest, Mars upper left and Saturn upper right.
Spotting them will be difficult this month because of their low altitude, so a clear view to the horizon is necessary. Binoculars will help because they will be somewhat in morning twilight at first. It is worth a try this month, but viewing Mars and Saturn will improve into May and June.
Look northeast April 21 to April 23 between 2 a.m. and dawn for the annual Lyrid meteor shower, which generally produces 20 meteors per hour. Meteors tend to be more abundant in those pre-dawn hours.