25 March 2025
By Deane Morrison
In April the iconic stars of Orion and other famous winter constellations drop westward as they begin their annual exit from the evening sky.
In the early part of the month, look to the west at nightfall for the constellation that topped the wintry array of bright stars. This is Auriga, the charioteer, a polygon of stars set off by brilliant Capella. Capella now shines above Jupiter, the brightest object in the evening sky after the moon.
Capella consists of four stars, but only two are big and bright. They orbit each other at a distance of just 67 million miles—nearly the same as Venus’s distance from the sun. Capella is known for exhibiting different colors and rapid twinkling when it’s near the horizon, a phenomenon caused by light from a bright object passing through Earth’s atmosphere.
Graphic provided
In the east and south, the spring stars are now moving into prominence. Foremost among them is Leo, the lion. Look high in the south at nightfall for a backward question mark of stars called the Sickle; these stars outline the lion’s head and neck. The point in the question mark is Regulus, Leo’s brightest star. East of the Sickle, a triangle of stars mark the lion’s hindquarters and tail.
April’s full moon arrives at 7:22 p.m. Saturday, the 12th. It rises a little later, close below Spica, the only bright star in the constellation Virgo, the maiden. This is the year’s most distant full moon, so if you’re a habitual full moon watcher, you’ll likely notice that it looks slightly smaller than usual.
The evening of Wednesday, the 30th, April closes with a young moon hanging above Jupiter. This moon will be just three days past perigee, its closest approach to Earth in a cycle, so the crescent will be on the large side.
The University of Minnesota offers public viewings of the night sky at its Duluth and Twin Cities campuses. For more information, see:
• Duluth, Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium: www.d.umn.edu/planet
• Twin Cities, Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics: www.astro.umn.edu/outreach/pubnight
• Check out astronomy programs, free telescope events, and planetarium shows at the
• University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum: www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/astronomy
Find U of M astronomers and links to the world of astronomy at: http://www.astro.umn.edu.
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