The Lyrid meteor shower will reach its maximum rate of activity. Some meteors will be visible each night from 16 Apr to 25 Apr, but the best show will be on this evening. The maximum number of meteors expected to be visible from a dark location is around 10 per hour (ZHR). The 2nd quarter moon will wash out some meteors, but the brightest ones will shine through.
AKA “Ring of Fire” eclipse. Maximum eclipse at 6:04 am UTC. Decent visibility for Australians and GREAT visibility for Antarcticans. Er, south-polers? Penguins.
This shower is composed of dusty remnants of the famed Halley’s Comet. The long-running shower is visible from April 19th until May 28, but peaks overnight on May 5th with up to 60 sightings per hour. The first quarter moon should set right around midnight local time, which will really improve conditions for spotting meteors. Though the meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, it will appear that they are coming from the Aquarius constellation.
Saturn will make its closest approach of the year and will be reflecting plenty of the sun’s light, making this the best opportunity to spot it. A medium telescope (about 5-8 inches) is needed to see the rings and some of the largest moons which will also be lit up from the sun.
May’s Full Moon is the “Milk Moon”, “Flower Moon”, “Corn Planting Moon”, “Hare’s Moon”, or “Buddha Poornima”.
Before sunrise on the 24th, there could be a great number of meteors which are remnants of the comet P/209 LINEAR. The shower will be relatively short lived, but there is the potential for up to 100 sightings per hour.
see http://cantonbecker.com/retrograde for details…
June’s Full Moon is the “Flower Moon”, “Strawberry Moon”, “Honey Moon”, “Rose Moon”, “Hot Moon”, “Planting Moon”, or “Wat Poornima”.