April 2023 Sky Watch
April 2023 Sky Watch. Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune are too close to the Sun to be observable this month, but Mercury continues to climb into the evening twilight. Start searching low over the western horizon about 15 minutes after sunset; the planet will be highest at the greatest elongation on the 11th. Look for a new Moon below it on the 20th and then to its upper left the following night.
Mercury will then be lost in the twilight just a few days after. Venus is also visible in the west after sunset and passes the Pleiades on the 10th and 11th, when 2.6 degrees will separate the pair on both evenings.
A crescent Moon then joins Venus on the 22nd and 23rd. Mars spends April in Gemini and is joined by the nearly first quarter Moon on the 25th. Saturn is now visible in the predawn sky and can be seen low in the east-southeast shortly before sunrise.
A waning crescent Moon appears five degrees to the lower left of the planet on the 16th. The Moon turns full shortly after midnight, eastern time, on the 6th, with New Moon just after midnight, eastern time, on the 20th.
Messier 65 & 66
M65 & M66
April brings the start of spring – also known as “Galaxy Season” to astronomers everywhere – and there’s a fine pair to be found in the constellation of Leo, the Lion. The galaxies were discovered simultaneously by the French astronomer Charles Messier on March 1st, 1780, who noted that they both appeared within the same low-powered field of view.
Under Dark Skies
April 2023 sky watch if you live under dark skies, you may be able to spot the pair with binoculars, but otherwise, most scopes will do the job. Of the two, M66 is slightly larger and brighter, with small scopes showing a sizable halo with a bright, oval core. Larger scopes (250mm or more) will reveal some texture, with dark bands near the body and the possibility of seeing the spiral arms.
It’s a similar story with M65, with an extended halo toward the south. Lastly, look out for NGC 3628, a magnitude ten galaxy located toward the northeast.
Telescopically, all three should fit within a low-powered field of view, but once you’re at about 50x, you’re pushing your luck. M66 is the brightest and appears elongated, with a conspicuous halo. M65 appears slightly fainter, oval patch, while NGC 3628 is a light streak toward the northeast.
Lyrid Meteor Shower
The Lyrid Meteor Shower
The Lyrid meteor shower reaches its maximum at around 9 PM ET on the 22nd, with the crescent Moon setting early in the evening. These meteors are bright and can produce fireballs.
Melotte 111
Melotte 111 – The Coma Star Cluster
Visible from suburban locations, the Coma Star Cluster is roughly midway between Denebola in Leo and Cor Caroli in Canes Venatici. This Y-shaped cluster is large, relatively dense, and best observed with binoculars.
M97 – The Owl Nebula
M97 – The Owl Nebula
First observed by Charles Messier in March 1781, M97 lies just two degrees from Merak, one of the stars that form the Big Dipper. It’s visible in a small telescope at low power, but you’ll most likely need a high magnification to see the “eyes” that give the nebula its name.
Messier 106
M106
Discovered by Pierre Mechain in July 1781, M106 is located within the same binocular field of view as 3 CVn. Small scopes will show an elongated patch with a bright core, while larger scopes will reveal a mottled surface. Look out for hints of its spiral arms with averted vision.
Solar Eclipse
Solar Eclipse
This month’s April 20 solar eclipse is an unusual “hybrid” eclipse. The eclipse begins and ends as an annular eclipse, but for most of its path, it is total. This occurs because the curvature of Earth causes the Moon’s shadow to fall short of reaching the surface for the east and west extremities of the track, where our planet’s surface curves away.
But the eclipse is total along the central part of the track. Hybrid eclipses are rare, with just five to 24 per century. April’s solar eclipse begins as an annular eclipse at sunrise over the waters of the south Indian Ocean and makes landfall on a tiny promontory of the Cape Range National Park, located 800 miles north of Perth, Australia. Totality lasts some 62 seconds at this remote location.
The next solar eclipse is an annular eclipse on Oct. 14 across the western U.S. and northern South America. It will serve as a preview for the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse that will cross parts of Mexico, the U.S., and Canada.
