Each Monday I pick out the northern hemisphere’s celestial highlights (mid-northern latitudes) for the week ahead, but be sure to check my main feed for more in-depth articles on stargazing, astronomy, eclipses and more.
The Night Sky This Week: April 3-9, 2023
This week’s sky highlight has to be the rise of one of the most famous full Moons of the year—the “Pink Moon.”
Here’s what you need to know about making sure you see that iconic monthly sight, plus everything else about stargazing and the night sky this week:
Monday and Tuesday, April 3 and 4: the afternoon Moon
You don’t always have to wait until it gets dark to go moon-gazing. As the Moon approaches its full phase each month it’s visible in the southeastern and eastern sky some hours before sunset. So it’s a great idea to point a small telescope or a pair of binoculars at our natural satellite. The closer it is to sunset, the brighter the Moon will appear.
Thursday, April 6: full ‘Pink Moon’ rises
Today our natural orbiting satellite in space reaches its full phase. The first full Moon of spring in the northern hemisphere, it will be best viewed at moonrise where you are tonight when it will appear on the eastern horizon.
Use binoculars to pick-out its major craters and ancient seas of lava while it’s appears a muted orange color close to the horizon. Once it’s risen higher into the sky it will become too bright to look at closely.
Friday, April 7: Moon and Spica
Tonight is a good night to look for Spica using the now 92%-lit waning gibbous Moon, 3° away, as your guide. Look southeast about an hour after sunset, though it’s a rising sight so visible for the rest of the night.
Constellation of the week: Virgo
Visible in the east after dark from late November to early May, the constellation of Virgo is most easily found in a really dark moonless night sky. However, even in light-polluted night skies you’ll easily find its rough location just by finding its brightest star Spica.
You can do that easily by tracing the line of the Big Dipper’s handle in a semi-circle to to go “arc to Arcturus, spike to Spica.”
Spica is one of the 20 brightest stars in the night sky and about 250 light-years distant.
Object of the week: Virgo Cluster
Are you ready to have your sense of scale blown apart? Our Milky Way is part of the Local Group, a cluster of small galaxies of which ours is the largest. However, our galaxy is also part of a group of over 1,500 galaxies—seen about 50 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Virgo—called the Virgo Cluster. The Virgo Cluster, in turn, is part of a concentration of galaxy groups called the Virgo Supercluster.
This month is perfect for pointing a telescope in the direction of these galaxies, which are found just beneath the constellation Leo.
Times and dates given apply to mid-northern latitudes. For the most accurate location-specific information consult online planetariums like Stellarium and The Sky Live. Check planet-rise/planet-set, sunrise/sunset and moonrise/moonset times for where you are.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.