Night Sky Highlights for April-June 2022
Solar System
Lyrid Meteor Shower
Peaking on the night of April 22-23
The first meteor shower of the warm months is not a very strong one, but with patience a few meteors can be seen, and some of them may be fireballs. On the peak night of April 22-23, the last quarter Moon will be rising around 2:30 am, so the best observing will probably be before then.
Total Lunar Eclipse
Night of May 15-16
If the weather is clear, this should be an excellent eclipse for us in the northeastern US. As shown below, totality begins at 11:30 pm and last for almost an hour and a half. This is because the Moon will pass deep into the Earth’s shadow. The color of the Moon and how dark it appears varies substantially from one eclipse to another, and it will be interesting to see how it appears this time.
Penumbral eclipse begins 9:32 pm
Partial eclipse begins 10:28 pm
Total eclipse begins 11:29 pm
Maximum eclipse 12:11 am
Total eclipse ends 12:54 am
Partial eclipse ends 1:55 am
Penumbral eclipse ends 2:51 am
Mercury
Mercury makes a good appearance above the western horizon after sunset in late April. It is farthest from the Sun, and therefore easier to see, on April 28. For several days before and after this date, it should not be hard to spot in the twilight sky as long as you have a good view of the western horizon.
Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn
You won’t see any of these planets this spring unless you look to the east in the early morning hours. During April, the four planets can be seen in a row in the eastern sky before morning twilight. From left to right, there will be Jupiter (lowest in the sky), followed by brilliant Venus, then Mars and Saturn. As April progresses, Jupiter will get higher and closer to Venus until is passes by Venus during the nights of April 30 and May 1. Then, throughout May, Jupiter and Mars get closer and closer together until they pass each other on May 29. These four planets can still be seen before dawn in June, but by then they will be more spread out. Saturn will be rising around midnight by the end of June.
Uranus and Neptune
Although you will need a telescope or at least binoculars to see them, Uranus and Neptune will join the parade of planets in the morning sky in May and June. To find them, you will need a go-to scope or a finder chart such as the one in this article from the Sky & Telescope website:
www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/planets/ice-giants-neptune-and-uranus/
Deep Sky Objects
For deep-sky observers, spring is the time to hunt for galaxies. The expansive Coma-Virgo galaxy cluster passes through the southern skies during the evening hours. Messier’s catalog includes 11 targets in Virgo, all of them galaxies, and all of them visible in a small telescope. The links to the star-hop charts can help you to locate them. Galaxies that are close together are listed together below, and a single chart can be used to find them. If you know where to look for these objects, it is not difficult to view all of them on one clear evening.
Messier 49
This is a large and bright elliptical galaxy (magnitude 8.4) about 54 million light years away. It is slightly oblong and has a bright core. Star-hop chart
Messier 58, 59, and 60
These three galaxies are magnitudes 9.8, 9.8, and 8.8, respectively. Messier 58 is a nice barred spiral galaxy, and Messier 59 and 60 are ellipticals. Very close to M60 is another galaxy, the spiral galaxy NGC 4647. These galaxies are roughly 55 to 60 million light years away. Star-hop chart
Messier 61 (Oriani’s Galaxy)
We see this barred spiral galaxy face-on. Through a small scope it appears as a circular glow with a much brighter center. With larger scopes, some detail in its spiral arms can be seen. Star-hop chart
Messier 84, 86 and 87
All three of these are elliptical galaxies of about magnitude 9. The largest of the three is M87, an enormous galaxy containing over one trillion stars. M84 and M86 are separated by just about 1/4 degree, so they can be seen together through eyepieces of low or medium power. M87 is about 1 degree to the southeast. Star-hop chart
Messier 89 and 90
M89 is a small but bright elliptical galaxy and appears roughly circular. M90 is a large spiral that we see at a diagonal angle, so it appears quite elongated. The two galaxies are about 2/3 degree apart, so they can be seen together in the same low-power eyepiece. Star-hop chart
Messier 104 (Sombrero Galaxy)
Almost everyone has seen a photo of the Sombrero Galaxy with its broad dust lane and pointy arms. At magnitude 8.3, its oblong shape can be seen in just about any telescope, and with larger scopes the dust lane becomes more obvious. At a distance of a mere 29 million light years, M104 is closer than the galaxies of the Coma-Virgo cluster. Star-hop chart