Limerick Astronomy Club: April’s celestial wonders - what to see in the night sky

April brings spectacular astronomical events for skygazers in Limerick and beyond. Our northern skies will showcase two prominent meteor showers.
The April Lyrids begin their celestial dance on April 16, peaking on April 22-23. With the Moon below the horizon until 3:00 GMT during peak activity, conditions are ideal for witnessing these shooting stars against a dark sky. The Aquariids also make their appearance starting April 19, reaching their maximum on May 5 with an impressive hourly rate of up to 50 meteors.
Venus will steal the planetary spotlight this month, reaching its greatest brightness (magnitude -4.5) on April 24. Look for it shortly before sunrise, rising progressively earlier as April advances. Mars glows at magnitude 0.4 to 0.9 high in the sky before midnight, while Jupiter shines brilliantly in Taurus during early evening hours.
April also marks significant anniversaries in astronomical history. On April 10, 2019, scientists captured the first-ever image of a black hole using the Event Horizon Telescope – a network of eight radio observatories functioning as an Earth-sized telescope. The historic image revealed the supermassive black hole at the centre of galaxy M87, estimated to be about seven billion times the mass of our Sun.

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In the southern skies, the constellation Crux stands nearly upright close to the meridian, with neighbouring Rigil Kentaurus (Alpha Centauri) hosting the closest known star system to Earth at just 4.3 light-years away.
This system includes Proxima Centauri, which scientists discovered harbours the nearest known exoplanet to our solar system.
The Limerick Astronomy Club meets monthly on the first Thursday of every month, in Mary Immaculate College, Room 202 at 8pm. We'd love to welcome you and embark on this cosmic journey together. Reach out to us at limerickastronomy club@gmail.com for more info.