Astronomical events in April are among the most interesting because they contain a beautiful meteor shower (Lyrids), immediately followed by another, much less known – Pipids. And also this year, in some places of the world, you can see a hybrid solar eclipse. To all the above, beautiful conjunctions of planets will be added.
Let’s start with the full moon
We will see it shortly after the start of the month, on April 6th. April’s Full Moon or “Pink Moon” is a magical sight in the night sky that you can’t miss. At this time, the surface of Earth’s natural satellite is completely illuminated by the Sun, and it feels much larger than usual.
hybrid solar eclipse
This year, the astronomical events of April are also accompanied by a hybrid solar eclipse. That is, an eclipse in which the Moon is too close to Earth to completely block the Sun.For this reason, in some parts of the world it looks like a total eclipse, and in others it looks like an eclipse. Also, in some places it will not be visible. This time the southern part of the Indian Ocean will be a good place, from where it will move towards western Australia and southern Indonesia. A partial eclipse, according to a NASA map, can be seen almost anywhere in Indonesia and Australia.
Two showers of stars, main characters of the astronomical events of April
The kings of April astronomical events are the lyrids. This meteor shower, from the debris of comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, is visible between April 16 and 25. However, its peak falls on the night of April 22-23.This is a medium rain, at the peak of which about 20 meteors fall per hour. Also, this year it takes place a few days after the new moon, so the dark skies will be much more conducive to the show.On the other hand, much less known is the Pi-pupida rain. In your case, it originates from the remnants of Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup and is expected to peak on April 24. However, it should be noted that this meteor shower cannot be seen every year. The last years it could be detected were 2018 and 2019. There are no forecasts for this year, but it is worth looking at the sky. Eventually, there will still be lyrids in the firmament.
lunar satellites in the sky
As usual in astronomical events, on certain days the Moon will appear in conjunction with certain planets. Some of the most interesting dates include April 16, 21, 23, and 26, when we’ll see her with Saturn, Mercury, Venus, and Mars, respectively.
