Prepare appointments on your calendar! The month of April comes with many astronomical events and the sky promises many cosmic shows besides rain!
The position of the moon’s astronomical significance is shared this time by two major events: Passage of comet 364P/PANSTARRS This Lyriad meteor shower.
The first will happen on April 7, when the Jupiter-like comet will pass just over 15 million kilometers from Earth. Today, the comet will be in the constellation Vulpecula and is expected to be about 12.3 magnitude. Although this brightness is too low to be seen with the naked eye, the comet will be visible in both hemispheres of the planet with the help of telescopes.
Lyriads, the second main event on the moon, is a medium-sized meteor shower that usually produces around 20 meteors per hour at its zenith. It is produced from dust particles left by the comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, discovered in 1861. Rainfall, which falls between April 16-25 every year, is expected to peak on the night of April 22 and in the early morning hours this year. morning of the 23rd.
Visibility from the meteor shower will be aided by the phase of the growing moon, which will darken the sky for what should be the perfect spectacle. Look for a dark place after midnight for the best view of the rain. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Lyra, but they can appear anywhere in the sky.
Celestial map apps such as SkyMap, Celeste Chart, and Stellarium are great allies for guiding celestial observation, both with the naked eye and with the aid of binoculars and telescopes.
Calendar of the main astronomical events for the month of April 2023
06/04: full moon
04/11: Mercury at greatest eastern elongation (best view of planet)
04/11: Venus and Pleiades Conjunction; Conjunction of Jupiter and Sun
04/13: The Month Is In The Last Quarter
04/16: Moon and Saturn Conjunction
04/20: New month
04/20: Hybrid solar eclipse (not visible from Brazil)
04/21: Beginning of Mercury’s apparent retrograde path
04/22 and 23: Highest activity of the Lyrids meteor shower
04/28: First Quarter Month
Clear skies and good observations!
Source: Tec Mundo
I’m Blaine Morgan, an experienced journalist and writer with over 8 years of experience in the tech industry. My expertise lies in writing about technology news and trends, covering everything from cutting-edge gadgets to emerging software developments. I’ve written for several leading publications including Gadget Onus where I am an author.
