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The Night Sky this April! 1 Apr 2024 What to look out for in the night sky from Eynsham.

This is not intended to be comprehensive - it is a quick guide to help you find a few things in the night sky without any equipment - just your eyes.

All of these are very bright and easy to find when walking around the village.

Look out for the constellation Leo in the south.

The planets

Venus, Mercury, Mars and Saturn are too close to the Sun. .
Jupiter is visible at sunset in the west and sets in the west.

The Moon is full on the 24th rising about 9:30pm in the SE.

There is only one bright International Space Station pass on the 4:05am -  which is too early for most. Let me know if you would like a chart for this.

You may hear some media hype about the solar eclipse on the 8th - it is not visible from our location.

Something that may get interesting is comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. This returns every 71 years - at present it now naked eye - so if your eysight is very good then you can make out the glow of its nucleus. Binoculars will help. Astronomers are expecting an ourbust and this could get very bright quickly - it did last time.

Look out for the Lyrids meteor shower on the 22nd / 23rd - The full Moon will not help - so we will only see the bright ones. Here is a video and information on how to see them. https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/meteor-showers-how-observe-record-shooting-stars

I have made or found the following charts to help you find: -

  • 1st - 30th - Comet - 12P/Pons-Brooks
  • 1st - Jupiter
  • 18th - Leo and the Moon 
  • 22nd and 23rd - Lyrids meteor shower
  • Moon Phases
  • Moon features

Gallery

Click to enlarge