April Stargazing

Now that the spring and autumn weather (depending on where you live) is nice enough for stargazing without having to wear TOO many clothes, you should get out there and check out what’s up.  What’s to see?  I do a monthly “star cast” on Astrocast.TV called Our Night Sky, which you can watch below. It covers the highlights of the month, including planet gazing, star-hopping, and the lunar eclipse of April 14-15 (the variable date depends on where you live). It will be mostly visible to folks in North and South America, and the South Pacific.  For more information on it, visit MrEclipse.com.

There’s also a good possibility that the Lyrid meteor shower will perk up and deliver some serious hourly rates.  It will peak on April 23, in the early morning hours and its meteors will look like they’re coming from the constellation Lyra, the Harp. Some observers estimate there would be 200-1000 meteors per hour. If you do go out, be sure to dress warmly, since early spring and autumn morning hours are bound to be chilly!

Finally, there’s an annular solar eclipse on April 29th this month. If you live in Australia, are reading this from Antarctica, or points between, this one’s for you! Details can also be found at MrEclipse.com

Happy stargazing this month!