What’s Up in the Night Sky – April 2011

Fred Barrett | Mar 31, 2011

By Fred Barrett

I’ve been giving you a good dose of hard science lately. I thought that maybe I should give that a rest for a while and change direction by offering up a few tips and techniques on basic observing. Some of you have written or talked to me about what a huge challenge it is staring up at all the stars crowding a beautiful clear night sky and trying to make any sense or order out of that vast cloud of stars. Even the Big Dipper can get lost and be difficult to find! What to do? The solution will require modest effort.

The most important first step is to get a star chart of the whole night sky. It’s hard to learn how to read the night sky without a “road” map! Star charts can be found in the science section at libraries, centre sections of astronomy magazines and can be printed out from many astronomy websites on the internet. Once you have that chart, you can choose an area of the night sky to investigate and learn. Areas are divided into sections that contain constellations. With a star chart of a section of the sky containing a constellation, go outside and orient the chart to the sky. You will need a light to read the chart but white light ruins night vision. Luckily red light has the least effect on night vision and will let us see the chart. You can tape a piece of red cellophane over a flashlight or pick up a red light from a local hardware store. Now comes the challenging part! Pick a star in the constellation on your sectional chart and find it in the sky. Go star by star until you can comfortably recognize the constellation. It gets easier quite quickly and the thrill of discovery can’t be beat! Doing it with family members or friends adds an extra level of fun. I will normally be pointing out interesting objects in constellations in the south each month so pick chart sections that will coincide with this monthly column. Combine learning the sky with searching for those objects. Good things take time and this hobby will continue to provide personal satisfaction night after night. Here’s what’s up in the sky this month!

Spring has sprung and days are getting longer. Sunrise arrives at roughly 6:40 on April 1 and changes to 5:50 by month’s end. Sunset moves from 19:30 to 20:08 by April 30. All times are in daylight savings time (that is EDT - Eastern Daylight Time).

This month I want to highlight the constellation Cancer. It has the shape of a propeller and sits between Leo and Gemini. To find it, face south about 9PM and look up about 60 degrees. Ten degrees is roughly the width of your fist. So count up six fists! There you will see Leo the Lion (you can review the constellation Leo by checking last year’s April column in the archives at the Frontenac News website). Ten degrees directly to the right is Cancer and 10 degrees to the right of Cancer, is Gemini. The stars in Cancer are dim so it is important to find Leo and Gemini in order to find those stars. I hope you obtained a chart for Cancer to help you. There is one with this column. An absolutely beautiful and bright open cluster, Messier 44, is easily seen slightly up and to the right of the hub of the propeller shape. It is almost naked eye. Another open cluster, Messier 67, can be found to the right of the tip of the left propeller blade. Binoculars will bring out these clusters quite nicely. This is a perfect opportunity to learn the star patterns around Cancer, Leo and Gemini.

There is a minor meteor shower originating in the constellation Lyra on the night of the 22nd – 23rd. It will be observable over the entire night sky. I’ve noticed a lot of sporadic meteors (random with no particular origin) these last few weeks. It may be worth it to go out on any clear night these coming weeks to watch for meteors flashing across the night sky.

On the night of the 3rd- 4th, Saturn reaches opposition. The Earth will lie between it and the sun and it will be at its highest in the south around midnight. It will be at its brightest thanks in part to the light reflected from its tilted rings.

As I mentioned last month, it can be found about 10 degrees above the star Spica. Spica is in the constellation Virgo. Saturn will rise above the eastern horizon just after sunset. To find Spica follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle along a 20 degree curve to the bright star Arcturus in Bootes. Continue on for another 20 degrees and you will find bright Spica and Saturn above it. A modest telescope will give you a view well worth the effort.

The full Moon is on the 17th at 10:44PM and is known as the Pink Moon. Its name comes from wild ground phlox which is one of the earliest flowers of spring. The moon is always a wonderful object to observe whether it’s with binoculars, a telescope or just naked eye.

Here is a challenge! At the end of the month between April 29 and May 1 and looking east just a half hour before sunrise, you will be able to see four planets below a crescent moon. You will need binoculars to help you find them all. Mars will be slightly above Jupiter with Mercury to their right. Venus will be above them all but below the crescent moon. 

If you have questions or suggestions, Fred Barrett may be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Beginner’s Observer’s Guide by Leo Enright is available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy or by contacting the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada www.rasc.ca/publications, subscriptions for our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine, Sky News, are also available from RASC..