Look to the night skies this April!
Star gazers, take note of two celestial events in April.
Our astronomer friend Francis Parnell of Darlington has shared two upcoming events that readers may want to mark their calendars for:
Sunday, April 17th: The moon will be about 3-degrees below Jupiter as the sun sets. According to Francis, “This is lunar/planetary conjunctionalways a nice view.”
Monday April 18th: This is a rare chance to view Mercury. Francis shares: “The small, elusive planet Mercury reaches 20-degrees east of the sun. Mercury is never really in a dark sky; always in twilight. So about 40 minutes after sunset, face west-northwest, and if your horizon is clear, look for bright Mercury at 10-degrees above the horizon – its highest point above the horizon for the year. You can actually see the planet a few days before and a few days after the 18th. Being small, Mercury can be a challenge to locate. Look for a bright “star” that doesn’t twinkle as much as actual stars. Chances are you’ve found Mercury!”
