The starry sky in April 2024
Due to the later onset of twilight, the observatory opens on Friday evenings in April one hour later at 21:00, assuming a cloudless night sky.
Due to the irregular distribution of activity, this year's Maximum of the Lyrids on the morning of April 23 with a maximum of around 20 meteors per hour will be difficult to observe due to the almost full moon. According to Chinese records from 687 BC, "stars fell like rain" from the sky at that time. In 1982, up to 90 meteors per hour were recorded. The origin of the April Lyrids can be attributed to comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher), which was discovered on April 4, 1861 by the British amateur astronomer A. E. Thatcher. Its orbital period is 416 years.
SUN AND MOON
On the first of the month, the central star rises in Zweibrücken at 7:04 am and sets at 8:05 pm. The length of the day is 13 hours 1 minute and increases further to 14 hours 43 minutes at the end of the month. The full moon on 24.04. will affect the view of fainter objects and thus also the Lyrids (see above).
On April 10 at 21:00, there will be an interesting view of the sky when the still young crescent moon appears to pay a visit to the large gas planet Jupiter just above the western horizon. At the time indicated above, the moon is approx. 3.3 degrees northwest of the planet.
PLANETS
Almost all the convertible stars retire from the night sky during the course of the month. However, replacements are already near the starting holes.
Mercury has retreated to the daytime sky and can therefore no longer be observed.
The morning star that has been visible in recent months Venus has also retreated to the daytime sky. Our sister planet will not be visible in the evening sky again until August.
Mars will not appear in the morning sky again until the last third of May, as described in the overview for March.
Jupiter is still apparently approaching the sun. For telescope observers, it is no longer of great interest due to its apparently decreasing diameter and increasing distance from Earth. At the time of opposition in November 2023, its distance was 3.98 astronomical units (595 billion km) with a diameter of 49.5 arc seconds. On April 15, 2024, the distance is 5.90 AU (883 billion km) with a diameter of only 33.4 arc seconds. It will no longer be visible to the naked eye from the end of April.
Saturn can gradually assert itself against the sun towards the end of the month, late in the morning sky.
Uranus and Neptune move in the daytime sky and are therefore invisible to us.
STARRY SKY
The spring constellations are now high in the sky. Only in the west are the remains of the winter constellations still visible. Above us you can see the spring triangle, which consists of the bright stars Arcturus in Ursa Major, Spica in Virgo and Regulus in Leo.
Deep in the South are the inconspicuous constellations of the Cup and the Raven and, to the south and west, the constellation of the Water Snake. In Greek mythology, Apollo, son of Zeus, once sent a raven with a cup to fetch water from a spring for an offering to his father. On the way, the raven was distracted by a fig tree whose fruit was not yet ripe. The black bird waited until the fruit was edible, ate it and only then completed his task. As an excuse for his delay, the raven bird grabbed a water snake and claimed that it had denied him access to the spring. Apollo saw through the lie and sent the raven, the cup and the water snake to heaven as a warning.
In the East another Greek hero, the summer constellation of Hercules, is already making his presence felt. High on the northern night sky is still home to the striking constellation of the Great Bear.
The following sky view is valid for April 1 at midnight, April 15 at 11 p.m. and April 30 at 10 p.m.
