Each Monday, I pick out North America’s celestial highlights for the week ahead (which also apply to mid-northern latitudes in the northern hemisphere).
The Night Sky This Week: April 22-28, 2024
This week, the solar system is the focus, with the rise of the full “Pink Moon” blotting out a meteor shower before an early morning conjunction of Mars and Neptune.
Here’s everything you need to know about stargazing and astronomy this week:Monday, April 22: Lyrid Meteor Shower, Moon And Spica
Look southeast during dusk, and you’ll see a 99%-lit moon shining brightly next to Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo.
Come midnight, it’s the peak of the Lyrids meteor shower, which produces about 20 “shooting stars” per hour. The radiant will be near the bright star Vega in the constellation of Lyra, which rises in the northeast after dark.
