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But Mars — now with more rover traffic (nasa.gov) — gives the appearance of moving out of Taurus in the next several weeks toward the twins in the constellation Gemini.
Shed your winter blues and catch some red: Aldebaran — the red giant star in the Taurus bull’s eye, together with the red giant Betelgeuse at Orion’s shoulder — and the hard-to-see Mars form (in the evening’s western and southwestern sky) a red trio with differing triangles from about April 10 to April 24.
Meanwhile, the skinny crescent of a very young moon approaches Mars on April 15-16, then passes our neighboring planet by April 17.
Saturn — in the southeast before sunrise — loiters in the constellation Capricornus throughout April. The ringed planet, farther from the Earth than Jupiter, rises around 4:30 a.m. at the start of the month. Jupiter follows, rising about a half-hour later.
By month’s end, the ringed planet rises around 2:30 a.m. and leads Jupiter into the morning heavens by nearly 45 minutes later.
Much dimmer than Jupiter, the planet Saturn can be seen at zero magnitude, according to the observatory, while Jupiter starts April at a bright -2.1 magnitude, only to become slightly brighter at -2.2 magnitude at month’s end. Throughout April the gaseous giant Jupiter appears to scoot toward the constellation Aquarius.
As you walk your dog before sunrise, look southeast as the elderly last-quarter crescent moon passes under Saturn on April 6 and then passes under Jupiter on April 7, according to the observatory.
Venus and Mercury are too close to the sun now, but they will be seen in May.
Tonight’s full moon (March 28) formally occurs at 2:48 p.m., according to astronomer Geoff Chester at the U.S. Naval Observatory. For us, the full moon rises in the east at sunset — as always. Chester notes that this moon is popularly known as the Worm Moon, the Crow Moon or the Sap Moon — as “winter loses its grip on the Northern Hemisphere,” he said.
April’s full moon on the 26th at 11:32 p.m., according to the observatory, is a perigee (closest point to Earth) full moon, which means it will appear larger than normal. It is popularly known as a “supermoon.”
While April’s Lyrid meteors peak on the night of April 21-22, according to the American Meteor Society, a few of these streaking bits of comet dust could be washed away by the gibbous first-quarter moon high in the southern sky in the evening. The shower is predicted to peak at about 18 meteors per hour.
Down-to-earth events:
● March 30 — “Exoplanets and the Search for Habitable Worlds,” an online lecture by Sara Seager, professor of planetary science and physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Hosted by Carnegie Science. 5 p.m. For registration: carnegiescience.edu/events.
● April 10 — “IMAGINE’ing Galactic Magnetic Fields,” an online talk by researcher Tess Jaffe of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She will discuss the ubiquitous magnetic fields across the universe and how they play a key role in astrophysical processes. The event is hosted by the National Capital Astronomers. 7 p.m. For registration: capitalastronomers.org.
● April 27 — “Sampling an Asteroid to Understand the Birth of Our Planet,” an online lecture by geologist Tim McCoy of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Hear about how the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft reached asteroid Bennu in 2018 and how it will return asteroid samples to Earth in 2023. Hosted by the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. For registration: airandspace.si.edu, then go to “Visit” and “Events.”