Poster’s Note: The text for this month’s installment from Dee Sharples, “The Sky In April 2025,” is provided below. Those wishing to listen to the article can click on the audio link below.
The Eta Aquariid meteor shower is active from mid-April until the end of May, but it peaks on the evening of Monday, May 5th and into the early morning hours of Tuesday, the 6th. The meteors originate from the dust particles left behind by Halley’s Comet on its many trips around the Sun. In October, another meteor shower created by the dust and debris from this same comet spawns the Orionid meteor shower.
The radiant of the meteors is near the star Zeta Aquarii, which will rise in the east around 2:30 A.M. It only reaches an altitude of 20° before twilight begins to brighten the sky. Because it’s so low near the horizon, observers will be able to spot only about 10 meteors per hour. The meteors will be fast, traveling about 40 miles per second, some leaving long trails of light behind them.
One of the last opportunities to spot the planet Jupiter in the evening sky is this month before it drops down below the western horizon. It shines brightly at magnitude -2.0, setting at 11:00 PM at the beginning of the month and much earlier by the 31st.
At the beginning of May, Mars lies close to M44, the Beehive cluster in the western sky after sunset. On the 3rd, Mars looking like an orangish star, a slim crescent moon and the Beehive cluster gather together for a pretty sight through binoculars.
The planets Venus and Saturn appear in the east in the early morning sky. On the 1st, Saturn looking like a star at magnitude +1.1 can be found 4° south of magnificent Venus which shines brilliantly at magnitude -4.7. On the 23rd, one hour before sunrise, a waning moon is positioned between bright Venus and a much dimmer Saturn.
NASA launched the Lucy spacecraft in 2021 to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids – space rocks which are remnants from the formation of our solar system. On the way to its destination, the spacecraft passed a peanut-shaped asteroid named “Donaldjohanson” and took intriguing pictures.
