April 2022 Observing With Webb

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         Quite the exciting month for planets…if you like getting up early.  4 of the 5 visible planets are hanging out together in the mornings, with Mercury having its best apparition for the year in the evenings, along with two conjunctions of morning planets and some possible meteors.
         Welcome to Observing With Webb, where a high school astronomy teacher tells you what you’re looking at, why it’s so cool, and what you should check out later this month…at night. 
 
Naked-eye PLANETS
Sunset – Mercury (last week or two of April)
Mercury (WNW) – It sounds like this apparition of Mercury will be the best one of the year. The last two weeks of April it SHOULD be visible, but the 30th will be the best day, given Mercury will be higher in the sky than ever, and doesn’t set until 9:45pm.  Just get out after sunset, look WNW, and the first point of light you’ll see is Mercury.  BONUS: On the 30th, Mercury will be right next to the Pleiades.  Get out some binoculars or a low-power scope to see both of them in the same view.
Throughout the night – None
Morning – Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn (SE)
Let’s use Venus as our guidepost for the month, as it is the most visible object in the morning sky.
Venus (SE) – Keep an eye out after 5am, looking SE, for the highlight of the spring and summer mornings this year, Venus. About 20˚ above the horizon and almost impossible to miss, the brightest object in the morning sky will blaze as a “morning star”.
Mars (SE) – Mars starts February about 5˚ to the right of Venus, with Saturn nearby as well. Mars is considerably dimmer than Venus, so you’ll have to get out there before dawn starts, when it’s still dark, and look right around Venus for it.  Throughout April, Venus moves away from Mars to be about 15˚ to the right by the 30th.
Saturn (SE) – Saturn begins the month in between Mars and Venus, but a little lower. By the 5th, Saturn passes Mars in its rightward march away from the cluster of planets, and is less than one degree away from Mars. Onward through the month, Saturn continues to move rightward, ending April about 17˚ degrees to the right of Mars.
Jupiter (SE) ­– Jupiter is coming into its own as a morning planet this month. On April 1st, it rises after 6am, so it will be low and hard to see in twilight, and far away (25˚ to the left) from the cluster of Venus, Saturn, and Mars.  Each day from there though, it rises earlier and is higher, pretty easily visible by mid-month, when Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn are lined up and about equally spaced. Venus then closes in on Jupiter, and on April 30th, the pair are less than 1˚ apart, rise around 5am, and are easily visible.
 
EVENTS
New Moon – 1st (darkest skies)
Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)
First Quarter Moon – 9th (Visible until midnight)
Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)
Full Moon – 16th (Visible all night)
Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)
Last Quarter Moon – 23rd (Visible from midnight into the morning)
Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)
 
5th – CONJUNCTION – MARS, SATURN – The first of a couple conjunctions this month, go out early in the morning after about 5am and find Venus (the brightest one). About 7˚ to the right of Venus will be both Mars and Saturn less than half a degree apart.  Them being so close should allow some good telescope opportunities, astrophotos, and a chance to see how differently colored they are, Mars being red, Saturn typically described as light caramel.
22nd – LYRID METEOR SHOWER – At only 10-20 meteors per hour, it is a minor shower, and we have a Moon washing out the fainter ones starting at 2:30am.  You’ll still be able to see SOME meteors at night, but don’t get too excited.  The showe