LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Welcome to Lake County Skies, a monthly column that highlights what’s visible in the night skies of Lake County.

With some of the country’s darkest, clearest skies, Lake County is ideal for star gazing.

A chart of the April night skies is displayed above. On the chart, the constellations are shown along with their names. Bright stars are shown with blue lettering, and the visible planets and the moon are shown in yellow.

In April, the bright stars of winter give way to the more sedate stars of spring.

Look to the west after sunset and you will see what remains of winter: Orion the Hunter with his hunting dogs Canis Major and Canis Minor. The brightest star in the sky, Sirius, can still be seen.

Jupiter, the king of the planets, is also visible in the west. It shines even brighter than Sirius.

One way to tell if a bright object in the night sky is a planet is to see if it twinkles. A star will twinkle, whereas a planet won’t. Look at Jupiter and Sirius and see which one does not twinkle.

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, sporting 66 moons and counting! It has an atmosphere made up of hydrogen and helium, and has no solid land mass as we have on Earth.

Through a telescope Jupiter is a fascinating object, displaying its four brightest moons and cloud belts in its upper atmosphere. The following image is typical of how Jupiter looks through a small telescope.

Referring to our star chart, look overhead and find the constellation Leo the Lion. Leo dominates the spring skies, and is easily identified by “The Sickle,” which represents the head and front of the lion. Regulus, the 21st brightest star in the sky, is at the base of the Sickle.

In Greek mythology Leo the Lion was the Nemean Lion that had a voracious appetite for the residents of Nemea. Only the strongman Hercules could stop the lion, and that will be a tale to be shared in a future column.

For more information about astronomy and local astronomy-related events, visit the Taylor Observatory Web site at www.taylorobservatory.org .

John Zimmerman is a resident of Lake County has been an amateur astronomer for over 50 years. He may be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .