April begins, the month in which it will be possible to appreciate the old and now unofficial, constellation of the ship Argo which corresponds to the famous boat from Greek mythology that Jason used to embark on a great adventure.
This “lost constellation” was divided into three by the astronomer St. Lacaille; which were called the Keel, Stern and Sail. To observe it, we look for the southern zone of the sky in the region located between the star Sirius and the South Cross.
It is important to mention that throughout the month will be present Venusat dusk, after sunset, in a northwesterly direction, presenting its unmistakable appearance of a “white star” with strong brightness.
In the same way, on April 5 we will have one of the favorite astronomical events for lovers of astronomy, the full Moon, where we can see the entire lunar disk illuminated. Our natural satellite rises close to the east and will be visible throughout the night.
On April 11, we will have the maximum eastern elongation of Mercury, which will have the greatest angular distance between this star and the Sun possible for these dates.
This is why it will be the best time to observe it, in the direction of the western zone, close to the horizon, after the Astro Rey has hidden. This event can be observed after the sun goes down until shortly before 7:00 p.m.
Lyrid meteor shower
This astronomical phenomenon will present its maximum of luminous traces in our firmament on the night of April 22 to 23.
But they will be active from the 15th to the 29th. For this event, about 18 meteors per hour are estimated, which will be visible at most in an ideal case, but since the radiant will not be very high for our country, the number of observed meteors will be minor.
This event occurs because the comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher) left small particles in orbit around the Astro Rey, which caused them to enter our atmosphere, disintegrating, generating the traces of light that we know as “meteor shower”.
Likewise, on April 25 we will have the approximation between the Moon and Mars, where both stars will be visible almost together, located in the same region of the sky. This event can be observed from dusk until approximately 10:30 p.m.
