Skywatch: What's going on in the sky in April?

The planets Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter offer a show in the morning before sunrise in April, while a sun March and the Pleiades cluster revel in the evening.

Mercury and Venus seem to get closer before sunrise until mid-April, which is perfect for dog walkers and joggers, so you can find an unobstructed view of the low-lying eastern horizon.

Before the dawn of April 1, in the east-southeast sky, the brilliant Venus rises. The wisp of a decreasing crescent Moon is just south of Venus, along the horizon. The next morning, April 2, the moon was close to Mercury (magnitude 0.7, brilliant). Over the next two weeks, catch the two planets that are approaching each other.

Heading west along the ecliptic (the invisible path of the planet-paved sky) before sunrise, see Saturn (zero magnitude, bright) in the constellation. Sagittarius, which has the shape of a teapot. Find the ringed planet near the handle of the teapot.

The great gas Jupiter hangs to the south before sunrise. At the beginning of the month, Jupiter rises around 1 am, according to the US Naval Observatory. With a luminous magnitude of -2.2, the big planet seems to clear at -2.4 by the end of the month.

The waning gibbous moon provides morning visits to Jupiter on April 23 and the moon goes to Saturn on April 25.

The new moon occurs on April 5, but catch the glow of a young moon in the west after sunset from April 6 to 9. The full moon takes place on April 19th.

EarthMars, its planetary neighbor – attenuates its magnitude 1.4 – is suspended in the western sky of the evening with Seven sisters in the Pleiades star group (Messier 45). You can see the foggy blur of the bunch in a dark sky. As April progresses, the red planet gains distance between it and the Pleiades.

the Meteors of Lyrid are expected to peak on the evening of April 22-23, according to the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. About 20 shooting stars are expected at the summit, but the waning gibbous moon – with 88% of the moon's illuminated face, according to the Naval Observatory – gets up at 23:31. The shining moon could easily wash the meteors.

Down-to-earth events:

● April 1st – "Stars Tonight" at David M. Brown Planetarium, 1426 N. Quincy St., Arlington, next to Washington-Lee High School. 7:30 pm $ 3. amisoftheplanetarium.org.

● April 5th – "Your place in the universe: understanding our great existence in disorder", conference of astrophysicist Paul Sutter, presenting his book under the same title. At the University of Maryland Observatory, College Park. 20h www.astro.umd.edu/openhouse.

● April 6th – Exploring the Sky, organized by the National Parks Service and the National Capital Astronomers, at Rock Creek Park, near the Nature Center, on the grounds south of Military and Glover NW. 20:30. capitalastronomers.org.

● April 12 – "Understanding Dark Matter: The Archeology of the Milky Way – The Mystery of the" Invisible "Mass, Lecture by Princeton Physicist, Mariangela Lisanti. Organized by the Philosophical Society of Washington at the John Wesley Powell Auditorium of the Cosmos Club, 2170 Florida Ave. NW. 20h pswscience.org.

● April 13 – "How Solar System Planets Help Us Understand Exoplanets," Noah Izenberg, a planetary geologist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, at the regular meeting of astronomers in the nation's capital. Held at the Observatory of the University of Maryland, College Park. 7:30 pm capitalastronomers.org.

● April 14 – "Tidal disturbance events: how a star's death gives life to a black hole", lecture given by astrophysicist Erin Kara, at the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club meeting, 163 Research Hall, George Mason University. 19h novac.com.

● April 20th – "Galactic Formation in the Universe: The Beginning", lecture by Massimo Ricotti, Assistant Professor of Astronomy, University of Maryland Observatory, College Park. 20h www.astro.umd.edu/openhouse.

● April 24 – "The New Moon: Recent Developments in Lunar Science", Lecture by Global Scientist Brett Denevi of the Laboratory of Applied Physics. 8 pm Lockheed Martin Imax Theater, National Museum of Air and Space. airandspace.si.edu.

● April 29 – "Is Pluto a planet?" A friendly discussion with Alan Stern, lead investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission, and Ron Ekers, former president of the International Astronomical Union. The event is organized by the Philosophical Society of Washington at the John Wesley Powell Auditorium of the Cosmos Club, 2170 Florida Ave. NW. 20h pswscience.org.

Blaine Friedlander can be contacted at [email protected].

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