The month of April starts with the beauty of some comets visible in the Southern Hemisphere — as long as the sky is dark and clear enough for observations, of course. In addition to comets, there will be a rare solar eclipse that, unfortunately, will not be visible from Brazil, in addition to a meteor shower.
Check below for more information on what, when and how to see this month’s night sky!
Astronomical events in April 2023
Visible comets (07/04)
On April 7, comet 364P/PANSTARRS arrives at the point of closest proximity to Earth along its orbit around the Sun. On this day, it is 0.12 astronomical units from our planet (recalling that each AU is equivalent to the average distance between Earth and our star). It is visible from the southern hemisphere and, to find it, look for it in the northeast direction, in the constellation of the Fox, from 1:19 am.
Comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS) is still visible in our sky, although it has lost a lot of brightness. Even so, it can still be observed from 1 am, also in the northeast direction, throughout the month.
Hybrid solar eclipse (04/20)
The month draws to a close with a rare solar eclipse. The phenomenon will be of the hybrid type and will occur at 22:36 in Brasilia time – therefore, as it will be at night here, it will not be possible to see it in Brazil.
A hybrid solar eclipse is a combination of partial, annular and total eclipses. During the phenomenon, the Moon passes in front of the Sun forming an annular eclipse that later becomes total. At the end of the show, the eclipse becomes annular again, ending afterwards.
Peak of the Lyrid meteor shower (04/23)
The debris left by Comet Thatcher as it travels through its space orbit causes a beautiful meteor shower between the 16th and 25th of April. The peak of this rain is predicted for the night of the 22nd, going into the early hours of the 23rd. The “shooting star hunters” can start looking upwards from midnight onwards.
To see the meteors, keep in mind that the radiant (name given to the direction from which the meteors appear to emerge) of this shower is in the direction of the constellation of Hercules. They seem to come from there, but they disperse everywhere – so the chance of seeing some light trail crossing the sky is good.
Moon Phases in April 2023
Check the lunar calendar for April and the beginning of the main phases of the Moon:
- April 6, at 01:34: Full moon
- April 13th at 6:11 am: waning quarter
- April 20th at 1:12 am: New Moon
- April 28th at 6:19 pm: growing quarter
