A pink moon and a meteor shower: Four must-see celestial events in April

USA Today

01-04-2025

A pink moon and a meteor shower: Four must-see celestial events in April
Stargazers will have at least four interesting astronomical events in April – from a pink, full micromoon to a "celestial smiley face" alignment.
The biggest event will be the Lyrid meteor shower, one of the oldest known Metroid showers. The shower becomes visible in mid-April and peaks near the end of the month.
All the events will be visible in the evening sky, but where you'll need to look depends on where you are viewing them, and, of course, the weather conditions.
April 12: A pink full moon
Look up on Saturday, April 12, at 8:22 p.m. ET to catch a glimpse of the pink moon, which will also be a micromoon.
The full moon will look much smaller than average because it will be at its farthest point from Earth in its orbit, according to Timeanddate.com. The pink moon gets its name from moss pink, sometimes called wild ground phlox, one of the most prevalent blooms in the early spring.
April 21-22: Peak of Lyrid meteor shower
This year, the Lyrid meteor shower is expected to peak April 21-22. On those nights, the moon is expected to be 40% in brightness, which could interfere with viewing, according to the American Meteor Society. It may be best to view the meteor shower on the evening of April 21, just before the waning crescent moon rises.
In the best conditions, the Lyrids average about 10 to 15 meteors per hour, but it can bombard the sky with up to 100, according to NASA.
Parent comet of Lyrid meteor shower
Lyrids are pieces of debris from Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. In mid-April each year, the Earth runs into the stream of debris from the comet, which causes the meteor shower.
April 25: Moon aligns with Venus and Saturn to 'smile'
About 30 minutes before sunrise on April 25, a slender waning crescent moon will create a triangle with the bright planet Venus and the much fainter Saturn, according to EarthSky, an astronomy news website. As the moon approaches Venus and Saturn, a lopsided celestial smile will emerge across the eastern sky.
April 27: A new supermoon – an event you can't see
The closest new supermoon of the year arrives April 27. The moon will be 221,917 miles from Earth, nearly 17,000 miles closer than the moon's average distance of 238,900 miles, according to EarthSky.
New supermoons aren't quite as newsworthy because during this phase, it's essentially invisible to us – primarily why it gets a lot less attention compared with its full supermoon counterpart.
CONTRIBUTING Jenna Prestininizi and Brandon Girod/USA TODAY Network