In the Sky This Month

The Moon is full at 6:49 p.m. CDT as it lines up opposite the Sun in our sky. Among other names, the full Moon of April is known as the Egg Moon, Grass Moon, or Pink Moon

Spica, the brightest star of Virgo, stands just a whisker away from the full Moon tonight. They are low in the southeast as twilight fades, separated by about half a degree, which is less than the width of a pencil held at arm’s length.

Several bright stars and star patterns stand high in the sky this evening. Regulus, the brightest star of Leo, is in the south. Pollux and Castor, the twins of Gemini, are about the same height in the west. And the Big Dipper hangs upside-down in the northeast.

The Little Dipper is famous for the star at the tip of its handle: Polaris, the North Star. Its second-brightest star is Kochab, at the lip of the bowl. It’s to the right of Polaris at nightfall, and rotates directly above it in the wee hours of the morning.

The Lyrid meteor shower is building toward its peak, on Sunday night. Unfortunately, the Moon will be almost full then, so its glare will wash out all but the brightest of the “shooting stars.”

Several time bombs are in view this evening. The list includes most of the bright stars of Orion, which is low in the west, plus Spica, the brightest star of Virgo, in the southeast. All of these stars are destined to explode as supernovas.

The bright star Regulus, the heart of the lion, stays close to the Moon the next couple of nights. It will stand to the lower left of the Moon at nightfall this evening, and to the upper right of the Moon tomorrow evening.

Jupiter and Uranus are low in the west as twilight fades. Jupiter looks like a brilliant star. Uranus is above it tonight, by about the width of a finger held at arm’s length, but you need binoculars to see it. The planets will slide past one other on Sunday night.

The bright yellow-orange star Arcturus is in the east at nightfall. Arcturus is a little bit heavier than the Sun. Yet that small difference has a big effect on the star’s evolution: Arcturus entered a late stage billions of years earlier than the Sun will.

The Moon creeps up on the twin stars of Gemini this evening. As night falls, Pollux and Castor are above the Moon. Pollux is on the left, and is a bit brighter than its “twin.”