Owl Light
Where Inspiration & Inquiry Converge
  • Home
  • Literary Journal
  • Owl Light Sponsorship
  • Digital Owl
  • Contact Us
  • Login
  • Home
  • Literary Journal
  • Owl Light Sponsorship
  • Digital Owl
  • Contact Us
  • Login
  • Home
  • /
  • Uncategorized

The Night Sky-April 2020

April Offers the Pleiades Star Cluster and Lyrid meteor shower 

  • By Dee Sharples

The planet Venus continues to dominate the evening sky in April shining brilliantly at a whopping magnitude -4.7. An especially beautiful sight will occur from April 1-5 as Venus approaches and crosses the Pleiades star cluster. Venus will be impossible to miss standing about 45 degrees above the western horizon after sunset. As the sky darkens, the stars in this cluster (also called the Seven Sisters) will begin to come into view one at a time. Although you’ll be able to see the cluster naked-eye, a pair of binoculars will show the true beauty of it.

On April 1st, in the early morning hours, three planets Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn, will begin to rise in the southeastern sky. Jupiter rises first at 3:20 AM. It will be the brightest of the three planets shining at magnitude -2.3. Saturn and Mars follow together about 4:00 AM.  Saturn shines at magnitude 0.7 and Mars at magnitude 0.8. These last two planets will look like only fairly bright stars, but this gives you the opportunity to notice the distinct color difference between them. Saturn looks yellowish, while Mars has a reddish hue. The trio will rise earlier each morning, but the best time to enjoy this view is one hour before the sun rises.

When the Lyrid meteor shower peaks in the early morning hours of April 22, if it’s clear, there will be fantastic viewing conditions under a moonless sky (new Moon phase). An hour before twilight begins is the perfect time to be outside scanning the sky.  Dress very warm, find a dark observing site away from lights, and get comfortable in a chair. Let your eyes casually roam the sky. Meteors can appear in any direction. If you spot a meteor, you can trace its streak of light back to its origin from the constellation Lyra which now lies almost directly overhead. This year astronomers predict we’ll be able to spot approximately 18 meteors per hour. The Lyrid meteor shower is active from April 14th to 30th so if you’re out observing the sky in the early morning hours before dawn, you may spot a sporadic Lyrid.

The constellation Leo the Lion will be due south half-way up from the horizon this month at midnight on April 1st, 11:00 PM on the 15th, and 10:00 PM on the 30th. It’s easily recognized by the stars forming a backwards question mark which depict the lion’s head.

April promises the beginning of many nights and early mornings of comfortable observing opportunities.

Strasenburgh Planetarium         April 2020

Public observing on Saturday nights from the roof of Strasenburgh Planetarium, which would normally resume in April, will be canceled until further notice due to the COVID-19 outbreak.  For updates go to: http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/the-strasenburgh-scope/

For more information visit NASA at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200402.html

Posted on April 5, 2020 by owllightnews.com. This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.
NYS DEC Owl Rescues
Global Pandemic? Don’t Forget to Call Your Mother

    Recent Posts

    • Visual Studies Workshop Announces Project Space Residency Open Application Period
    • West End Gallery showcasing Brian S. Keeler, Treacy Ziegler
    • Hard
    • Eye-Magine – Future Youth Art Exhibit
    • “These Wilds” Announcement

    Recent Comments

    • Darlene on Let’s Talk About Beep!
    • Darlene Bentley on Hello! from a new Guest Editor, and Finding Joy in Hardship.
    • owllightnews.com on The Farm
    • Douglas Morgan on The Farm
    • owllightnews.com on Energizing and Engaging Fun at GEVA

    Archives

    • May 2025
    • April 2025
    • March 2025
    • February 2025
    • January 2025
    • December 2024
    • November 2024
    • October 2024
    • September 2024
    • June 2024
    • May 2024
    • April 2024
    • March 2024
    • February 2024
    • January 2024
    • December 2023
    • November 2023
    • October 2023
    • September 2023
    • August 2023
    • July 2023
    • June 2023
    • May 2023
    • April 2023
    • March 2023
    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • September 2022
    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017

    Categories

    • #2021
    • Agriculture
    • Animals
    • Antiques
    • Art
    • Astronomy
    • automobiles
    • Beekeeping
    • Birthday
    • Boating
    • books
    • Botany
    • Broome County
    • Buffalo
    • Canadice
    • Canandaigua
    • Cartoon
    • Children
    • Civics
    • Collecting
    • Comic Strip
    • Community Information
    • concert
    • Covid-19
    • Creative non-fiction
    • Dansville
    • Death
    • Democracy
    • Dogs
    • Editorial
    • Education
    • Environmental
    • Essay
    • Family Fun
    • Fantasy
    • Fiction
    • film
    • Finger Lakes
    • Food and Beverage
    • gallery
    • Gardening
    • Gender Rights
    • Great Lakes
    • Health
    • History
    • Holiday
    • Honeoye
    • Human Interest
    • Human Rights
    • In Memoriam
    • Innovation
    • Interview
    • Leisurely Pursuits
    • Literary Arts
    • Little Lakes
    • Live Theatre
    • Livingston County
    • media
    • Monroe County
    • Movies
    • Museums
    • Music
    • Naples, NY
    • Nature
    • Night Sky
    • No. 1
    • NYS
    • Obituary
    • online
    • Ontario County
    • Opinion
    • Outdoor Sports
    • OWL Light
    • Owl Light News
    • Owl Light Newsstand locations
    • Owl Light Sponsor
    • Owl Sponsor
    • OwlLight Blogpost
    • OwlLightNewsArchive
    • Performing Arts
    • Photography
    • Poetry
    • Politics
    • Press Release
    • Recipe
    • Reviews
    • Richmond, NY
    • Rochester
    • Satire
    • Science
    • Scifi
    • Seniors
    • Shop Local
    • Social Justice
    • sports
    • STEM
    • Steuben County
    • Sustainability
    • Theatre
    • Tioga County
    • Tompkins County
    • Travel
    • Uncategorized
    • Veterans
    • Weather
    • Women's Rights
    • Wood working
    • writing
    • Wyoming County
    • Yates County
    • Young Adult
    • youth
    • Zoom

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org
Powered by