April will be a great month for star-gazing and finding planets in the night sky! Early in the month, around April 6, look toward the moon in the night sky. If you look above the moon and to the left, you should see Saturn! And keep looking left to see Jupiter, the brightest planet in the night sky. You should be able to see both planets with your eyes, but binoculars can help if you're having trouble.
Less than two weeks later Mars will be the planet hanging around the moon. Keep in mind these planets aren't actually near the moon, that's just how it will appear from our perspective here on Earth. April 16th and 17th will be the best times to locate the Red Planet near the moon in the night sky. Toward the end of the month, Venus will start to become visible near the horizon (around April 20). Then just a few days later, Mercury will also become visible near the horizon. These two will be a little harder to see since they will be so near the horizon.
The Lyrid meteor shower is expected to peak on April 22. The Lyrids are expected to be active from April 16 to April 30. The best chance to look for these meteors will be in the hours before dawn, and you may even catch some fireballs! At their peak we may see as many as 10-15 meteors per hour, but you will need to get far away from any light sources to have a chance to see that many.
Then the night between April 26 and 27 will be the April full moon which is also a supermoon! For all the full moons of 2021, this one in April will be the second closest to the Earth. May will be even closer to us! If you're interested in particularly bright stars and constellations, you can check out what else NASA says will appear in the night sky this month.
