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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between April 1 and April 30, 2022. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California.

Mercury is close to the sun on the 1^st and can’t be seen. The planet moves into the evening sky, and on the 30^th, the sun sets at 7:37 p.m., PDT, and Mercury sets at 9:19 p.m., PDT, one hour and 42 minutes later. Do not observe any planet when it appears close to the sun, for the danger to the eyes is great.

Venus rises at 4:32 a.m., PDT, and the sun rises at 6:40 a.m., PDT, on the 1^st. The planet is at a half-phase, 56-percent illuminated and 22 arcseconds in width. On the 30^th, Venus rises at 4:14 a.m., PDT, and the sun rises at 6:05 a.m., PDT. The planet is then 68-percent illuminated and 17 arcseconds in width.  The disk of Venus slowly reduces in size and becomes more fully illuminated as it moves to the far side of its orbit.

Mars rises at 4:25 a.m., PDT, on the 1^st, and on the 30^th, it rises at 3:33 a.m., PDT. The disk of Mars is only 5.7 arcseconds wide and will not show any surface features through a telescope.

Jupiter rises at 5:51 a.m., PDT, on the 1^st, and rises at 4:14 a.m., PDT, on the 30^th. On the 12^th, Neptune is six arcminutes south of Jupiter as both rise at 5:15 a.m., PDT. Because the sun rises at 6:26 a.m., PDT, this will be a tough event to see. A telescope capable of magnification 50x will show the Red Spot, and the four bright Galilean moons may be seen moving back and forth, roughly in a line centered on Jupiter.

Saturn rises at 4:31 a.m., PDT, on the 1^st and at 2:43 a.m., PDT, on the 30^th. The rings and Saturn’s largest moon Titan may be seen with a telescope capable of magnification 50x.

Uranus sets at 9:38 p.m., PDT, on the 1^st, and the sun sets at 7:14 p.m., PDT. On the 30^th, the sun sets at 7:37 p.m., PDT, and Uranus sets at 7:52 p.m., PDT. The planet is then unobservable. On the 15^th, Uranus is at Right Ascension 2^h 44^m 11^s with a Declination of +15° 30ʹ 28ʺ. Uranus is only 3.4 arcseconds wide, and so a telescope with a magnification of 150x is needed to show its diminutive disk.

Neptune rises at 5:57 a.m., PDT, on the 1^st and at 4:06 a.m., PDT, on the 30^th. On the 15^th, Neptune is at Right Ascension 23^h 38^m 58^s with a Declination of -3° 30ʹ 15ʺ.

First quarter occurs on the 8^th, full moon on the 16^th, last quarter on the 23^rd, and new moon on the 30^th.

SPECIAL EVENTS

The Lyrid meteor shower peaks from the evening of April 21 to the morning of April 22. The parent body is the comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher). The Lyrids are named after the constellation of Lyra the Harp, from which they appear to originate. The Lyrids are a medium-strength shower, with perhaps 18 meteors per hour at the peak, with occasional fireballs. The 61-percent waning gibbous Moon will interfere with observations.

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