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[Music]

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what's up for April Mercury Rising this

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month's moon and Planet pairings and the

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Lyrid meteor shower

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first up on April 11th the planet

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Mercury smallest and fastest moving of

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the planets in our solar system will

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reach its highest and most visible in

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the evening sky for the year

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Mercury is only visible in the sky for a

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few weeks every three to four months the

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rest of the time it's too close to the

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Sun in the sky and is lost in its bright

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glare and since the planet orbits so

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close to the sun it's always near the

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Sun in the sky appearing low near the

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Horizon for no more than an hour or two

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either following sunset or preceding

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sunrise

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some of Mercury's fleeting appearances

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known as apparitions are better for

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observing than others for a combination

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of reasons that have to do with how our

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view of the solar system changes with

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the seasons what hemisphere you're in

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and what phase the planet happens to be

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showing us at the time

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for this Apparition in the northern

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hemisphere the best viewing is April 3rd

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through the 11th as the planet appears

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higher in the sky each evening it

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quickly fades in brightness after that

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as the phase it shows us becomes an

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increasingly Slimmer Crescent also on

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April 11th you'll find the planet Venus

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right next to the Pleiades star cluster

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the two will be close enough to appear

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in the same field of view through

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binoculars

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this pairing makes for a fun reminder

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that the night sky is kind of like a

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time machine the farther out in space

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you look the farther back in time you're

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seeing

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left Venus about nine minutes earlier

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whereas the light of the Pleiades left

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the latter half of April includes some

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awesome close approaches of the Moon

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with three of the bright planets in the

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sky

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on April 15th and 16th you'll find the

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Crescent Moon Rising with Saturn find

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them low in the Southeastern sky in the

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couple of hours before sunrise

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then on the evening of the 23rd find the

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slim Crescent Moon hanging just five

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degrees above Venus in the West after

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sunset and on April 25th the moon Finds

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Its way over to Mars high up in the West

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after dark

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at this time around the 26th and 27th

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the moon will be at its first quarter

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phase meaning it appears as a half moon

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high in the sky after dark

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the first quarter moon is a great time

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to pull out your binoculars or telescope

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if you have them as it's an ideal time

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to observe the moon's craters and

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mountains along the Terminator the day

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night boundary with ease

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lots of astronomy clubs planned public

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observing nights around this time as

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well and you can look for events in your

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area with NASA's night sky Network

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April brings the annual Lyrid meteor

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shower it's a medium strength shower

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that can produce up to 20 meteors per

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hour at its peak under ideal conditions

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the Lyrids Peak this year in the

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pre-dawn hours of April 23rd though you

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should see a few shooting stars on the

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morning before and after the peak as

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well fortunately the peak Falls just a

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couple of days after the new moon that

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means the moon won't interfere with this

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year's lyrics overwhelming fainter

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meteors in the glow of moonlight

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the Lyrids are named for the

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constellation Lyra which is near the

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point in the sky where their meteors

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appear to come from called the radiant

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they're one of the oldest known meteor

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showers with the first recorded sighting

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in China some 2700 years ago they

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originate as dust particles from a comet

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during its 400 year orbit around the sun

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the lyrics tend to produce fast-moving

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meteors that lack persistent Trails but

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they can also produce the occasional

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bright meteor called a fireball

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to observe them find a comfortable spot

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away from Bright City Lights get

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horizontal and look straight up you'll

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see the most meteors by looking slightly

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away from the origin point which is near

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the bright star Vega so here's wishing

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you clear skies to catch a few Shooting

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Stars One April morning when the

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forecast calls for light showers of

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comet dust with a Chance of fireballs

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here are the phases of the moon for

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April

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stay up to date with all of NASA's

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missions to explore the solar system and

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Beyond at nasa.gov I'm Preston Dykes

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from NASA's jet propulsion laboratory