Interestingly, April begins and ends with a New Moon this year. I tell my students that “New Moon” essentially means “No Moon,” because the Moon can’t be seen at night during that phase. During a New Moon, the Moon is directly between the Sun and the Earth and is, thus, out entirely during the daytime. Of course, our calendar months are based on the cycle of the Moon’s phases. There are 12 complete lunar cycles in a solar year (along with a few extra days) and, hence, we have 12 months in a year.
This month’s challenge for beginners: finding Gemini, the Twins. First, find Orion. Next, draw a line from its super-bright star Rigel (below the famous Belt) through the bright, reddish star Betelgeuse (an equal distance above the Belt), and that line will roughly point toward Gemini.
Gemini has two bright stars, Castor and Pollux, that form the heads of the twins. Castor is whiter (think “Casper the Ghost”) and Pollux slightly more yellowish (like pollen). The Big Dipper roughly points toward Gemini as well (draw a line from the handle through the cup of the Dipper).
This month’s astrophotography challenge: See below. There is a plethora of potentially dazzling close encounters in the sky in April!
Sky highlights this month:
- April 1. New Moon. No foolin’, this is a great time to go observing at a dark site as moonlight will not be a limiting factor.
- April 4 — conjunction of Mars and Saturn. This should be a beautiful sight in the morning sky just before dawn for you early risers. These two planets will be very close together in the sky and of similar brightness. Venus will be nearby as well and will greatly outshine them both. Check it out!
- April 4 — conjunction of the Pleiades and the crescent Moon. If you sleep through the morning’s conjunction, you have another chance on April 4 to witness a beautiful alignment. In the early evening sky, a thin crescent Moon will pass near the Pleiades star cluster. This promises to be absolutely gorgeous and presents a great opportunity for photographers.
- April 16 — Full Moon. This is nicknamed the “Pink Moon” by some ancient Native American tribes for the time of year when certain pink flowers and vegetation would begin to bloom.
- April 22 — Lyrid meteor shower. This is an average meteor shower in terms of the number of “shooting stars” you may see per hour. It is best seen in very dark skies after midnight.
- April 29 — see Mercury! The closest planet to the Sun will reach its greatest distance (“elongation”) from the horizon this evening. Look for it around 45 minutes or so after sunset.
- April 30 — conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. The two brightest planets (from Earth’s perspective) will cross paths in the morning skies before dawn.
- April 30 — New Moon (again!). Perhaps you know that a second Full Moon falling in a calendar month is nicknamed a “Blue Moon” (OK, fellow nerds, I know that definition’s not quite accurate, but let’s go with it please!). In April, we have a second New Moon on the calendar. I’ve seen some refer to this as a “Black Moon.”
With all these great photography opportunities, April might be the time to dust off that DSLR or try out your cell phone camera on a steady mount. If you post any pics, be sure to tag the Parklander® and me on Instagram (@theparklander @jeterk1971) — We’d love to see your work!