What To Watch For In The Night Sky This Week
This week brings a great opportunity to see some of the most well-known constellations and get a peak and Mars, Jupiter and the moon.
Here's our guide to the night sky as we head into the first week in April, according to NASA and earthsky.org.
Monday: Any clear night this month is a perfect time to look for the Big Dipper. Fun fact: It's not really a constellation, but it is part of one. This type of familiar collection of stars is called an asterism. The Big Dipper makes up part of the familiar bear-shaped constellation called Ursa Major.
Tuesday: Jupiter hangs next to the moon in the western sky.
Wednesday and Thursday: The bright star Betelgeuse joins the Jupiter party.
Friday: Jupiter moves out and Mars moves in. To see the moon and Mars look to the southwest.
Saturday: The Mars and the moon pairing continues, along with the stars Pollux and Castor, part of the constellation Gemini.
Next week: Watch for the full pink moon.
From weather.com senior meteorologist Chris Dolce:
April will be living up to its reputation for storminess this week, and that means clouds will be fairly widespread across the country on any given day. Of course, there will be breaks between systems that offer views of the sky, so check your forecast on weather.com to make your plans for what day is best in your area.
For example, the Northeast ought to have decently clear views on Tuesday night. The Florida Peninsula ought to be okay for viewing as well, given the storm track stays north of there.
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Weather.com senior writer Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.
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