Two things to Look for in April's sky

 The days are getting warmer and longer. The nights are still cold but there are quite a few treasures in the night skies of spring. This week we will talk about two of spring treats, one in the evening skies and the other in the first light of dawn.

 For the past several months we have been treated to a host of planets in the night sky. Saturn, Mars and Mercury are so close to the Sun that they are lost in the brightness of dusk, setting within an hour of the Sun. But there are still planets to be found: Jupiter and Venus have taken over the morning sky and put on a real show this month. And for those who can't drag themselves out of bed before dawn, there's a treat for you too. Spring is a great time to look for zodiacal light.

Zodiacal light is looks something like twilight but is caused by sunlight scattering back to Earth from microscopic space dust. These particles orbit in the plane of the Earth's orbit.  Once the dusky twilight disappears you can see the zodiacal light if you are in dark skies. The light appears as a large pale grayish cone shaped light. The base is on the horizon and it slants to a rounded peak about 30 degrees up.

 Many people have seen the zodiacal light and just thought it was twilight. But the zodiacal light appears roughly 2 hours after sunset, after twilight has faded. You will need dark skies though,  the zodiacal light is barely brighter than the Milky Way and it is easily obscured by street lights and city glow.  You can't see it every night, but spring is a good time to find it.

 The second event we want to talk about is for the early  risers, though even late sleepers will probably appreciate having gotten up earlier to see this. As we mentioned earlier, there are no bright planets gracing the evening sky, but Jupiter and Venus are putting on a morning pre-dawn show.

 When two celestial bodies come together in our line of sight, we call this a conjunction. Every few years there is a conjunction really worth seeing. Venus and Jupiter are both bright and are easily spotted.

 On the morning of April 23rd, Venus and Jupiter are less than ½ degree apart, less than half the diameter of the full moon. And on that same morning, the waning crescent moon is only a few degrees away to add to the picture.

 You'll want to get up and view this spectacle about 30 minutes before sunrise. You can actually see Venus and Jupiter getting closer from about the 18th on. The moon will not be in the picture as it is on the 23rd, but the planets are worth seeing.