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Written by: PRESTON DYCHES

Published: 06 April 2025

What’s up for April? Planets at dusk and dawn, April showers, and observing a distant city of stars.

First up, in the evening sky, we begin and end the month with Jupiter and the crescent Moon shining brightly together in the western sky as sunset fades.

On both April 1st and 30th, you can find the charming pair about half an hour after sunset, setting about three hours later.

Mars is high overhead in the south on April evenings. At the start of the month, it's directly in between bright stars Procyon and Pollux, but it moves noticeably during the month. You'll find the first-quarter moon right next to Mars on April 4 and 5.

Moving to the morning sky, Venus has now made the switch from an evening object to a morning one. You may start to notice it rising low in the east before dawn, looking a little higher each morning through the month.

Around April 24 and 25, you'll find Venus, Saturn, and the crescent moon gathered low in the east as dawn warms up the morning sky. Those with a clear view to the horizon might also pick out Mercury looking bright, but very low in the sky.

April brings shooting stars as Earth passes through one the streams of comet dust that create our annual meteor showers. The Lyrids are a modest meteor shower that peaks overnight on April 21 and into the morning of the 22nd. You can expect up to 15 meteors per hour near the peak under dark skies.

The Lyrids are best observed from the Northern Hemisphere, but can be seen from south of the equator as well. View them after about 10:30 p.m. local time until dawn, with the best viewing around 5 a.m.

The waning crescent moon will rise around 3:30 a.m., but at only 27% full, it shouldn't interfere too much with your meteor watching.

For the best experience, face roughly toward the east, lie down in a safe, dark place away from bright lights, and look straight overhead. Meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, and some Lyrids can leave bright trails that last for a few seconds after they've passed.

NASA studies meteors from the ground, in the air, and from orbit to forecast meteor activity and protect spacecraft, and to understand the composition of comets and asteroids throughout our solar system.

April offers a chance to observe a truly distant wonder – a globular cluster known as “M3.” It’s a vast collection of stars that lies 34,000 light-years from Earth in our galaxy's outer reaches. Astronomer Charles Messier discovered this object in 1764, while searching for new comets. Realizing it wasn’t one, he added it to his list of interesting objects that were not comets, which today we know as Messier’s catalog.

Through binoculars, Messier 3, or M3, appears as a small, fuzzy, star-like patch of light. With a small telescope, you'll see a more defined glow with a slightly grainy texture. And with telescopes 8 inches or larger, the cluster begins to resolve into hundreds of individual stars.

Now, globular clusters contain some of the oldest stars in the universe, often over 10 billion years old. Unlike open clusters like the Pleiades, which sit within the Milky Way's spiral arms, globular clusters are found in the galaxy's halo, orbiting far above and below the Milky Way's disk.

Our galaxy has around 150 confirmed globular clusters. M3 itself is probably 11 to 13 billion years old and contains around half a million stars. And it's relatively easy to spot in April under dark skies with binoculars or a small telescope.

Finding M3 starts with the Big Dipper. Facing east, use the Dipper’s handle to “arc to Arcturus,” the fourth-brightest star in the night sky. From there, look higher in the sky to find the star Cor Caroli located here to the west of the Dipper’s handle. It’s about as bright as this star in the Dipper’s cup. M3 is located roughly a third of the way from Arcturus to Cor Caroli. With binoculars or a finder scope, sweep within this area until you spot a faint, round glow.

M3 is an excellent target for beginners and seasoned observers alike. Whether using binoculars or a telescope, you'll be rewarded with a view of one of the oldest objects in our galaxy.

Preston Dyches works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.