A dazzling array of planets is on view during April evenings with Venus, Saturn, and Mars dominating
the sky. Add to this trio one of the year's regular meteor showers and a fine occultation of Aldebaran by
the moon and you've got an exciting spring for observers.

Start your evening with the ringed planet. Because Saturn is in conjunction with the sun on April 27, it
sets early and by mid-month is lost in the solar glare.

Venus remains the brightest planet in the sky. It stands high above Saturn early in the evening. These two
objects had a dramatic conjunction last month. On April 11, Venus meets another beautiful object as it
passes less than 3° south of the Pleiades (M45) star cluster in Taurus. This event provides a spectacular
opportunity for astro-imagers to fire off a roll of color film. For the best results, vary the exposures from
5 to 30 seconds.

On April 18 a slender crescent moon crosses the Hyades just south of Venus, creating another
wonderful photographic opportunity. The moon also occults Aldebaran shortly after 9 p.m. CST for
most observers in the northwestern and north-central regions of the United States.

During the month, Venus continues moving north of the Hyades and lies 7° north of Aldebaran on April
21. Through a telescope, Venus exhibits a shrinking phase -- changing from an illumination of 80 percent
to 69 percent over the course of the month. Its apparent diameter, although growing in size as Venus and
Earth move closer to one another, remains tiny and only reaches 16" by April 30.

Mars is at its best this month. The Red Planet rises in the east two hours after sunset and shines at a
brilliant magnitude -1.1 on April 1. On April 24, Mars reaches opposition (opposite the sun in our sky)
and will rise as the sun sets. By midnight the Red Planet is high in the southern sky and wandering
through the stars in the constellation Virgo the Maiden.

Mars shines at a bright -1.7 magnitude at opposition, brighter than the star Sirius. Its red color is
unmistakable in the evening sky. Watch Mars nightly as it wanders westward in its retrograde path
against the stars of Virgo.

At this opposition, Mars will be within 54 million miles of Earth. The closest Mars can approach is 35
million miles. The next time such a close opposition happens will be in 2003.

As Mars and Earth move closer to one another, the Red Planet's tiny disk grows in apparent size -- from
14" on April 1 to 16" at opposition on April 24 (similar in apparent size to Venus on that same date).
While this is large by martian standards, it represents a tiny disk through any telescope.

Patience is required when observing Mars. You must wait for those still atmospheric moments that allow
startling detail to be seen. Only at those times of perfect seeing do the real delights of observing Mars
pay off. Details such as Syrtis Major and the diminishing ice cap will be obvious to most observers.
Subtler features such as Sinus Sabaeus, Aurorae Planum, and Solis Lacus require a good map of Mars
to identify (see "Red Planet at Night, Observer's Delight," page 90).

While Venus and Mars dominate the evening sky of April, the stars
also carry a few seasonal gems that should not be missed. Observers
away from city lights will notice the Milky Way along the horizon.
The final view of the winter Milky Way is carried toward the western
horizon by the setting constellations Canis Minor, Gemini, Orion,
Taurus, and Auriga. These "wintertime" stars will return to our skies
during the early morning hours of autumn.

Because the plane of the Milky Way now rests along the horizon, it's easy to look directly out of the
galaxy into intergalactic space. Though a few stars from our own neighborhood are the most obvious
objects to see, the galaxies beyond those stars are there, too. A good star atlas shows how many
galaxies dot this region of the sky. Try looking in Ursa Major, Leo, Virgo, and Coma Berenices. Use a
good atlas and telescope for many hours of enjoyable galaxy hopping.

Virgo is a major galaxy hideout. Not only does it harbor Mars in late April, but here too are the elliptical
galaxies M59 and M60. Another galaxy on the must see list is the Black Eye Galaxy (M64), so called
due to a dark dust lane near the core. Look for M64 in Coma Berenices not far from the constellation's
brightest star, Alpha (a) Comae Berenices. In addition, the 4th-magnitude globular cluster M53 is also in
that region.

The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) is another fine object at which to point the telescope. This beautiful spiral
is just over 3° southwest of Benetnasch, the last star in the handle of the Dipper. The third Earl of Rosse,
who lived at Birr Castle in Ireland, gave the galaxy its name. He was using a 72-inch reflector, the largest
telescope of its time, to observe M51 when he saw its fine detail.

Four galaxy favorites can be found in pairs among the stars of Leo the Lion. First try M65 and M66.
This twosome is separated by a scant 0.5° and is located midway between Theta (q) and Iota (i) Leonis.
Try moving from Theta Leonis two thirds of the way toward Rho (r) Leonis. There you will find the other
fine pair galaxies, the spirals M95 and M96. Numerous other galaxies pepper this region. How many
can you spot?

If you need a break from the late nights of observing, try a daylight lunar occultation of Regulus. The
moon occults the 1.3-magnitude star in Leo on April 24 for regions east of Texas.

In Europe, the occultation takes place shortly after 9 p.m. GMT. In the United States, the occultation
occurs in daylight and somewhat earlier, approximately 2:30 p.m. EST (detailed time predictions should
be used for your particular location). The moon will be relatively easy to find during daylight hours, and
Regulus should also be relatively easy to see in most small telescopes.

Returning to the night sky, look for the constellation Cancer the Crab just ahead of the Lion's nose. The
minor planet Vesta can be found there, continuing its path among those relatively faint stars. The asteroid
begins the month just over 5° north of the Beehive Cluster (M44), and its brightness fades from
magnitude 7.2 to 7.6 as the month progresses. Even so, Vesta remains an easy object to spot in a pair of
binoculars.

The Lyrid meteor shower, one of the year's most reliable, occurs
between April 19 and April 25. Lyrid meteors typically produce
10 meteors per hour, although rates of nearly 100 per hour have
been recorded during the past 200 years, most recently in
1982.Lyrid meteors peak on April 22, though reasonable activity
can be expected for a day before and after the day of maximum.
With the first quarter moon setting by 2 a.m. local time,
conditions are good for early morning viewing of this annual shower.

Pluto is once again the farthest planet from the Sun. It regained its ninth planet status on February 11
when it crossed outside the orbit of Neptune. For the past 20 years, Neptune has been the most distant
planet from the Sun.

Pluto can be found in Ophiuchus 1° east-northeast of the bright star Zeta (z) Ophiuchi. It shines at
magnitude 13.7 and is technically visible in an 8-inch telescope under ideal conditions. Place the bright
star just outside your field of view to reduce its glare. Pluto reaches opposition at the end of May when it
will lie due north of 2.6-magnitude Zeta Ophiuchi.

Uranus and Neptune rise during the early morning hours and appear above the southeastern horizon well
before dawn late in the month. Neptune is first to rise and lies toward the western end of Capricornus
the Sea Goat. The 7.9-magnitude planet lurks about 1° east of magnitude 5.3 Sigma (s) Capricorni.
Uranus appears about 2° east of magnitude 4 Theta Capricorni. Uranus shines at magnitude 5.8, which
is detectable in binoculars.

Mercury reaches greatest elongation (28°) west of the sun on April 16, just three days after it passes
through its aphelion point (the farthest orbital point away from the sun). However, Mercury's southerly
declination means it's not well placed for Northern Hemisphere observers. On the other hand, Southern
Hemisphere observers will get a fine morning view before dawn.

Joining Mercury's game of hide and seek in the solar glare is Jupiter. It's in conjunction with the sun on
April 1, and begins to climb away from the sun into the morning sky. Next month the -2-magnitude
planet begins to reappear before dawn above the eastern horizon.