April's Top Beginner Targets

For the naked eye in April we once again have the opportunity to view the Zodiacal Light in the West just after the end of evening twilight.

Also the Lyrid Meteor shower will be reaching it's peak at 12:00U.T. on April 22nd. For North American observers this means that the best time for viewing will be in the early morning hours of the 22nd.

Telescope Targets
Several winter targets are still available in April in the early evening. See February's and March's picks for these.
We'll start the month off in Cancer with M44 (The Beehive Cluster). To find M44, find Regulus (the bright star in the backwards question mark in Leo) and Pollux in Gemini (the star closer to Regulus in the twins). About halfway between these 2 is M44. M44 can be seen with the naked eye from a dark site. Use your lowest power eyepiece to try and get the entire cluster into view. M44 makes a nice binocular target. M44 is a loose open cluster containing about 400 stars and is located approximately 500 lightyears away.

Next we'll move on to another open cluster in Cancer, M67. To find M67, again we'll use Regulus, but this time Procryon will be the other star. About halfway between these 2 stars is M67. M67 is one of the older open clusters with age estimates from 5 - 10 billion years old. It contains about 500 stars and is located approximately 2500 lightyears from us.

Next, we'll move on to a galaxy. M51 (The Whirpool Galaxy) is one of the skies premier galaxies. Through scopes of 8" or larger, the spiral arms become evident and large scopes show the galaxy in all of it's spiral glory. To locate M51, find Alkaid (the star at the end of the Big Dipper's handle). Just below Alkaid is M51 (about 4º). Also visible with M51 is the companion galaxy NGC 5195. You'll need a very dark site to spot these, but it's well worth the trip. Distance estimates to these galaxies range from 15 million to 40 million lightyears away.

Moving back over toward Leo, find the triangle of stars to the left of the backwards question mark. The point of the triangle points at the magnificent Virgo Cluster. I could take pages trying to explain which galaxies are which here so I'll just say point your scope in that direction and scan the area. Even in small instruments several galaxies at a time will be visible in the same field of view.

Planets
Saturn, Jupiter and Mars are up low in the west in the beginning of the month presenting a wonderful grouping of planets for the naked eye.  Saturn and Jupiter will be lost to the Sun's glare by month end while Mars will hang on for a couple more months.

Well, that's about it for April, clear skies and happy hunting!