Spring stars move into better view this month, rising earlier and standing higher in the sky during the evening hours. Venus, the brightest object in the night sky after the Moon, moves into the early morning. Jupiter, the brightest object after Venus, is dropping lower in the evening sky. It has close encounters with the Moon at the beginning and end of the month.
The full Moon of April is known as the Egg Moon or Grass Moon.
Apogee April 13
Perigee April 27
Moon phases are Central Time
The Moon will reach last quarter early tomorrow as it lines up at a right angle to the line connecting Earth and the Sun. The Sun will illuminate half of the Earth-facing lunar hemisphere, making it look as if some cosmic giant had sliced the Moon down the middle.
The Sun appears in Pisces today, which is the spring equinox. That spot is known as the First Point of Aries because, more than 2,000 years ago, the Sun appeared in Aries at the equinox. A “wobble” in Earth’s axis has shifted that point into Pisces.
An owl stares out from the Big Dipper. Known as the Owl Nebula, it consists of concentric bubbles of gas blown into space by a dying star. It’s round, and seen through a telescope or in photographs, it has two dark patches that look like an owl’s eyes.
Coma Berenices is low in the eastern sky in early evening. It consists of a faint spray of sparkly stars, although you need dark skies to see them. Many galaxies lie within it, including NGC 4383, which is puffing out a chimney of gas that’s 20,000 light-years long.
Only one constellation is named for a real person. Coma Berenices represents the hair of Queen Berenice II of Egypt, who reigned more than 2,200 years ago. The constellation is in the east in mid-evening. Its stars are faint, so you need a dark sky to see them.
The constellation Sagittarius is low in the south-southeast at dawn. Its brighter stars form the outline of a teapot. The center of the Milky Way Galaxy is immersed in the faint “steam” rising from the teapot’s spout.
Spica, the brightest star of the constellation Virgo, rises below the Moon this evening, and the Moon will move closer to it during the night. Spica consists of two stars locked in orbit around each other. Both stars are bigger, brighter, and hotter than the Sun.
Earth’s atmosphere bends and splits sunlight, creating rainbows and other displays, including the rarely seen “green flash.” Under clear, clean skies it appears with the first burst of sunlight before sunrise or the last glimpse at sunset.
The Moon will grow dark tonight as it passes through Earth’s shadow, creating a total lunar eclipse. Almost all of the Americas will see the entire eclipse sequence, which begins with a partial eclipse starting at 12:09 a.m. CDT.
As the Sun drops below the western horizon, Earth’s shadow climbs into view above the opposite horizon. It forms a dark blue-gray band that climbs higher as the evening progresses. It’s also visible in the dawn sky, shortly before sunrise.
