Sun rises at 5:54am.
Sun sets at 6:29pm.
Moon phase: second quarter crescent, waxing to full.
Moon rises at 2:14pm.
Moon sets at 2:59am
Mini-moon?
Every year has a closest full moon, and a farthest full moon. The April 22 full moon is the smallest full moon of the year, call it themicro-moonormini-moon. The coming full moon is about 50 thousand kilometres (30 thousand miles) farther away from Earth than will the year’s closest full moon – or super moon which will occur on November 14. By the way, here’s an interesting note: the November 14 full moon will be closer to Earth than most super moons, in fact, the moon won’t come so close again until the full moon of November 25, 2034. So mark your calendars!
Lyra’s meteor shower
The peak of full moon’s brightness coincides with the peak of the annual Lyrid meteor shower – both occurring next Friday, April 22. In fact, if the full moon wasn’t washing out the show, you would be able to see as many as 15 meteors per hour, with rare outbursts with a rate of as many as 100 per hour! Imagine that.
It’s unfortunate that although the full moon may be mini-mized, it will still be big enough and bright enough to fade out many of the spectacular meteors; however, some will surely still be visible through the peak night and don’t forget you might be able catch some early or late shooting stars on nights when the moon isn’t quite so brilliant, because the Lyrids last for nine nights –April 16-25.
Take a look around
Looking west after sunset will offer a good view of the planet Mercury, it is setting by 7:50pm. After that, turn left 90 degrees to see the Southern Cross rising in the south and turn a bit more to see Mars rising in the Southeast about 9:30pm. Saturn rises about 30 minutes later, right behind Mars.
The bright star Antares in the constellation of Scorpio sits close to the two planets, so a tight triangle is easy to spot in the Southeast from 10:00pm and onward through the night.
About that same time, look farther left, to the northeast to notice the constellation of Lyra rising with its bright star Vega. Lyra is the place in the sky that the Lyrid meteors appear to be radiating out of – hence their name: Lyrids.
If you are out later on in the week, each star rises about four minutes earlier each day than written here, and the moon rises 50 minutes later.
Researched and compiled by Lisa Davis-Burnett
