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April is a great for month star gazers, and the perfect time to celebrate astronomy. Saturday, April 25, is designated International Astronomy Day; astronomy clubs, observatories and planetariums all over the world will dedicate themselves to bringing astronomy to the public. Locally, the Huachuca Astronomy Club will celebrate the day at the Sierra Vista Library. The fun starts about 10 a.m. when HAC members will set up telescopes to safely observe the sun. Weather permitting, youll view the sun through specially designed telescopes that will reveal not only sun spots but spectacular prominences, filaments, and flares. There will be handouts, stickers and tattoos for kids provided by the NASA Space Place and maybe a few surprises. Before the scopes are packed up at 2 p.m., there will be a chance to view the moon and catch a daytime glimpseofVenus.

Earlier that same week is Earth Day and local astronomers plan two events for Thursday April 23rd. The first will coincide with the Farmers Market at Veterans Memorial Park. Telescopes will be aimed sunward from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the park so that shoppers can stop by and take a look. Later that night, the Patterson Observatory will open for its monthly public night. The moon, Venus and Jupiter will make fine targets in twilight and I suspect there will be telescopes set up before the official start at 7:30 p.m. Once its dark, guests will be able to view through the giant 20-inch telescope. The Patterson Observatory is located on the University of Arizona, Sierra Vista Campus and is owned by the University South Foundation, Inc. It is supported entirely by your contributions; there is a donation box near the front door if you would liketohelp.

Celebrating astronomy need not be limited to these special days though; the April sky is full of grand vistas worth celebrating. Venus steals the show in the hours after sunset each night. It is the brightest object in the night sky after the moon this month. It makes a really lovely sight as it passes through Taurus, flanked by that constellations two brightest naked eye clusters, the Hyades and the Pleiades. From April 19 through 21, a crescent moon adds to the artistry of the scene. On April 10, Venus passes just 3-degrees south ofthePleaides.

Jupiter is high in the south at sunset and dominates the western sky after Venus sets. While fainter than Venus, it still outshines even the brightest stars and its cloud tops make a colorful, ever-changing display. Jupiters four large moons are favorably aligned this month for easy detection in binoculars and telescope users will see frequent eclipses, occultations and transits of the moons. During an eclipse, one moon is dimmed by the shadow of another. An occultation occurs when one moon passes in front of another so that the two objects merge. And a transit occurs when a moon crosses in front ofJupiteritself.

Saturn rises about 10:30 p.m. on April 1st and rises earlier each night. By months end, it rises at 8:30 p.m. and throughout the month it gets brighter and appears larger in the telescope. Saturns magnificent rings, now tilted more than 24-degrees from edge on, make the planet a spectacular sight in a telescope. That large tilt makes Saturn appear unusually bright this year and by May 22, when it lies directly opposite the sun, Saturn will dominate thenightsky.

The Lyrid meteor shower, so called because the meteors appear to emanate from the direction of the constellation Lyra, just barely makes it into the major meteor shower category. Actually, they are typically rather feeble. But this year they are predicted to be a bit stronger than usual and they enjoy the added benefit of peaking in a moonless sky. They will peak overnight on April 22-23 and are worth a look. The moon sets about 11:30 p.m. that night. If you dedicate an hour to meteor watching sometime between 11 p.m. on April 22, and dawn on the April 23, you are liable to see as many as 15 or even20meteors.

TED FORTEis a member of the Huachuca Astronomy Club and a contributing editor for Sky & Telescope magazine. He can be reachedattedforte511@gmail.com.

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