WEST MICHIGAN — (FOX 17) — Each month, I discuss some of the sights you can see in the nighttime sky. This information is provided by Indiana University.
PLANETS: Saturn is the highlight of April, shining bright and yellow for most of the night. It will rise in the eastern sky around sunset and be high in the southern sky around 3AM. Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, will be visible with a telescope. Meanwhile, Jupiter will be about halfway up the western sky after sunset early this month but will set by Midnight. Venus and Mars are not visible this month, but Venus will return in May and Mars in June.
METEOR SHOWER: The annual Lyrid meteor shower peaks on the night of April 21- 22, but since the moon is nearly full, there will be a lot of light pollution. The best time to view the meteor shower is in that small window between 4:00AM and sunrise. Astronomers estimate there could be 10 shooting stars per hour.
MOON PHASES: This month’s last quarter is on April 3, followed by the New Moon on the 10th. First quarter occurs on the 18th, and the April full moon is on the 25th.
To find out if skies will be clear or cloudy, join us on FOX 17 News, or visit the weather page at http://www.fox17online.com/weather
