Leo the Lion has Orion the Hunter on the run and possibly a bright morning comet
There’s absolutely no guarantee, but early April could open with quite a show put on by Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS). On April 4, it will pass within 100,000 miles of the sun in its orbit. If the comet manages to stay together and isn’t disintegrated by our home star, it could significantly brighten and briefly produce an impressive tail in the early morning sky. Stay tuned! Keep tabs on apps like Sky Guide App for the latest!
There’s a catch-22 for April stargazers in Butler. Evenings continue to warm up, but the sunsets get later and later, delaying the start of your celestial pursuits. Not only that, the winter constellations, the best and brightest in my opinion, are leaving us. As April progresses, it’s as if Leo the Lion and the rest of the less flashy spring constellations in the eastern sky are chasing Orion and the rest of the brighter winter constellations closer and closer to the western horizon. Orion the Hunter and the rest of his stellar gang of bright stars and constellations begin evenings lower and lower in the west each evening. Eventually, they'll disappear entirely from the evening skies until late next autumn. So enjoy the best array of constellations while you can!
In early April, all of Orion's gang are still prominently displayed in the western half of the sky. Orion the Hunter is one of the few constellations that actually resembles what it's supposed to be. It's pretty easy to envision the torso of a muscular man. The very bright star Rigel marks his left knee, and Betelgeuse, a bright and noticeably orange star, resides at the Hunter's right armpit. The three bright stars evenly lined up that form the celestial Hunter's belt really jump out at you.
Surrounding Orion are the constellations Taurus the Bull, resembling a small downward-pointing arrow; Auriga the Chariot driver turned goat farmer; Gemini the Twins; and Canis Major and Canis Minor, Orion's large and small hunting dogs, respectively. This year, the winter constellations have been joined by the very bright planet Jupiter, “renting” space in the constellation Gemini. Even though Earth and Jupiter are moving farther and farther away from each other in their respective orbits around the sun, Jupiter still outshines all the stars in Orion’s gang. Jupiter starts April 473 million miles away, but by the month’s end, it’s over 40 million miles further away.
Despite the increasing distance, with even a small telescope or binoculars, you’ll see some of Jupiter’s darker cloud bands and up to four of its largest moons dancing in orbit around Jupiter from night to night. They resemble tiny stars on either side of the big planet. Some nights you can't see all four of them because one or more may be behind Jupiter or camouflaged in front of it. It’s best to view Jupiter with a scope early in April because later in the month it’ll be much lower in the west as evening begins and sets shortly after.
Jupiter is no longer the brightest star-like object in the early evening because Venus has come out of hiding. In early April, Venus pops out of evening twilight in the low western sky, and as the month continues, it’ll start out higher and higher in the west. Venus is so bright because of its relative proximity to Earth and its very reflective, totally encompassing cloud cover that reflects a lot of secondhand sunlight our way. There really isn’t much to see on Venus with binoculars or a telescope because of all the clouds. What can be observed though, is that Venus goes through phases just like our moon, and this month it appears oval-ish like a gibbous moon.
As I mentioned before, the spring constellations aren’t nearly as flashy as the bright winter constellations, but they possess many celestial treasures. You just have to dig a little deeper for them. In the high southeastern sky, look for a backward question mark that outlines the head and chest of the constellation Leo the Lion. The moderately bright star Regulus marks the "period" of the question mark. To the lower left of Regulus is a small but distinct triangle that makes up the lion's rear and tail. Another one of my favorite spring constellations, Corvus the Crow, is much lower in the southeast sky. Look for a small lopsided diamond hovering just above the horizon. It looks nothing like a crow but really stands out.
There’s also a nice show in the northern sky. The Big Dipper is climbing higher and higher in the northeastern sky this month and is gradually turning upside down. The Big Dipper is not an official constellation but rather the rear end and tail of the larger official constellation, Ursa Major, the Big Bear. The Big Dipper is the brightest part of the beast. Use the two "pointer stars" that make up the side of the Big Dipper's pot, opposite the handle, to find Polaris, the North Star. Polaris is about three fist-widths at arm's length down and to the left from the pointer stars. Polaris holds court at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper, otherwise known as Ursa Minor, the Little Bear.
April stargazing is waiting for you and is well worth staying up a little later for as you watch the winter-to-spring constellation transition. Time marches on!
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is also the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at adventurepublications.net. Contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.
