The second half of April will be a great time to watch the night sky! Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars will all be visible in the eastern sky before dawn plus there will be an active meteor shower.Â
Image Credit: EarthSky
Jupiter and Venus will be the two brightest planets while Mars looks faintly red and Saturn slightly yellow. On April 24-27 the moon will pass right by these four planets, at least that's what it will look like from our vantage point. That will likely be the easiest time this month to locate them all and figure out which is which. You won't start to see Mercury until the end of the month, and that's the only planet that will be visible in the evening sky instead of before dawn.Â
In addition to these planets, you can also look for shooting stars this month. The Lyrid meteor shower will be active April 15-29, according to the American Meteor Society. Peak activity is expect the night between Thursday, April 21 and Friday, April 22, but the nights before and after this should also be a good time to watch. This shower is best viewed before dawn and can produce some bright fireball meteors. Look toward the northeast and high up in the sky before dawn for your best chance to see a shooting star.Â
