Each month on this page, the Big Sky Astronomy club hosts a video, produce by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) featuring the planets, deep sky objects and one or more of the constellations that are visible in our night sky at this particular time of year.
Featured during the month of April, 2013 are:
The evening planets Jupiter (in the west) and Saturn (in the east);
The constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear) including its famous asterism - the Big Dibber;
Its two, well known stars that make up the front side of the cup - the Pointer Stars - that point to the North Star, Polaris;
Mizar and Alcor - a double star system that is visible to the naked eye;
Also located in Ursa Major are two magnificent galaxies, M81 and M82;
In the southern sky lies Leo (the Lion) from Greek Mythology;
Two bright stars are notable in Leo - Denebola, which in Arabic means tail and Regulus, which represents the great beast's heart;
Leo is home to a large number of galazies - notable among them are M65, M66 and NGC 3628, which, collectively, are known as the "Leo Triplet;
Nearby is another nice pair of galaxies - M95 and M96;
Situated between "The Great Bear" and "The Lion" are three pairs of bright stars that where known as "The Three Leaps of the Gazelle" to ancient Arabic astronomers;
Two events occur in April - the Lyrid Meteor Shower peaks in the morning hours of April 22 and, three days later on the 25th, a partial lunar eclips will be visible across Africa, Europe, Asia and Austrailia.
