Night Sky: Lyrid meteor shower and more highlights for April
This is M88, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices.
M88 has a visual magnitude of +9.4 and is 65 million light years away from us. It was discovered in 1781 by Charles Messier, using a four-inch reflector. Apparently, Messier was working from his apartment in Paris, (which says something about the lack of light pollution in 1781.) M88 is difficult to find and photograph with modern equipment. (I used an 8” telescope on a computerized mount for this shot. It took about two hours to set things up, including centering M88)
Here’s M94, another faint galaxy Messier discovered in 1781:
M94 is only 16 million light years away from us and has a visual magnitude of +7.88. Messier discovered this gem in 1781 using the same four-inch telescope he used for M88.
What you can look for in April’s Night Skies
If you get up early on April 1, you might be able to see Venus just above the Eastern Horizon. Mercury, Saturn, and Neptune are between Venus and the Sun, but they will probably be washed out by the rising Sun.
Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars are visible in the Western Sky once the sky gets dark at about 8:30 p.m. Jupiter will be about 45 degrees above the Western Horizon. Uranus is about 20 degrees closer to the horizon and will be difficult to find. Mars will start the night almost directly overhead.
Two very bright stars, Arcturus and Spica, will both be visible just above the Eastern Horizon. Arcturus is the bright red star just north of due east; Spica is the bright blue star just to the south of due east. Arcturus has a visual magnitude of +0.1 and is only about 37 light years from us. Spica has a visual magnitude of +1 and is 275 light years from us.
The Lyrid meteor shower peaks on April 22. You should be able to see some shooting star activity by looking to the northeast after 1 a.m. The Lyrids are not a huge shower, but you can probably expect to see 15 to 20 shooting stars per hour.
Moon Phases:
1st Quarter is April 4
Full Moon is April 12
Last Quarter is April 20
New Moon is April 27
