Here’s a brief look at what’s going on in the Mile High City this week.

All Week:

• International Dark Sky Week
• Texas Star Party

April 21:

• The April Lyrid Meteor Shower peaks late tonight into the early morning of the 22nd. Check out our article on why the Lyrids happen and when and where to watch!
• Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation.

April 22:

• Astronomical Observing 101 Class: 7:00 PM at the Chamberlain Observatory weather permitting (Registration Required).
• Astrophotography Special Interest Group (ASIG) – General Meeting for DAS Members: 7:00 PM (more info).

April 23:

• As Venus has moved from waning through the February evening skies to waxing through the April morning skies (37.5° from Sun), our closest neighbor is again at its brightest (Magnitude −4.54) around midnight.

April 24:

• Moon at Ascending Node at 10:23 PM.
• Standlely Lake Stargazing Virtual Program (Virtual Lecture) – 6PM (Zoom link).

April 25:

• Catch the Waning Crescent Moon near the morning planet parade of Venus, Saturn and Mercury in the east just before dawn. The planets, especially Mercury will be difficult to see, since the twilight of the sunrise will be illuminating the sky and the planets are very close to the horizon.
• Dark sky weekend at the Kline-Dodge Dark Sky Site in Dear Trail.

April 26:

• Standely Lake Stargazing Star Party at the Majestic View Nature Center – 6PM (Registration required).
• Dark sky weekend at the Kline-Dodge Dark Sky Site in Dear Trail.

April 27:

• Dark sky weekend at the Kline-Dodge Dark Sky Site in Dear Trail.
• The Moon reaches perigee as it becomes a New Flower Moon at 1:31 PM. If the moon were visible, it would appear slightly larger in the sky due to its proximity to earth. Since it’s not visible, it’s a perfect time to stargaze!
• Venus shows greatest illuminated extent (309 square arc- seconds) at 10:00 AM. Mag. −4.5.

Sky Map

• The pdf map of the April night sky from SkyMaps.com can be found at https://www.skymaps.com/skymaps/tesmn2504.pdf.

This Week’s Meteoric Activity:

You can keep track of the activity of meteor showers as well as those beyond the limits of visual observing by visiting the NASA Meteor Shower Portal.

• Anthelion (ANT): 1:00 AM local time in southeastern Virgo: 2 per hour.
• nu Cygnids (NCY): 1 hour before dawn in western Cygnus: less than 1 per hour.
• alpha Virginids (AVB) 1:00 AM local time in central Virgo: less than 1 per hour.
• zeta Cygnids (ZCY) 1 hour before dawn in western Cygnus: less than 1 per hour.
• April epsilon Delphinids (AED) 1 hour before dawn in eastern Delphinus: less than 1 per hour.

Clear skies and happy stargazing!