In April, there are some exciting events happening in the night sky. First, on April 11, the planet Mercury will be visible in the evening sky, which is a rare occurrence. This will be the best time to view Mercury for the year. It is usually difficult to see Mercury because it is too close to the Sun in the sky.
On the same night, planet Venus will be visible next to the Pleiades star cluster. This makes for a cool reminder that space is like a time machine, and the farther you look into space, the farther back in time you can see.
Later in April, there will be some exciting close approaches of the Moon with three of the bright planets. On April 15th and 16th, you can see the crescent Moon rising with Saturn in the southeastern sky before sunrise. On the evening of the 23rd, you can see the slim crescent Moon close to Venus in the west after sunset. On April 25th, the Moon will be close to Mars in the west after dark.
Around April 26th and 27th, the Moon will be at its first quarter phase, which is a great time to observe the Moon’s craters and mountains with binoculars or a telescope.
The Lyrid meteor shower will also happen in April, which can produce up to 20 meteors per hour at its peak. The Lyrids peak this year in the pre-dawn hours of April 23rd, but you may see shooting stars on the morning before and after the peak as well. The best way to see the Lyrids is to find a comfortable spot away from bright city lights and look straight up.
