Night sky guide for April 2016

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April hosts two meteor showers, but only one major. The first - Virginid meteor shower - will reach its maximum rate of activity on April 12. The Moon will be 5 days old and will present minimal interference. The maximum rate of meteors expected to be visible from a dark location is 5 per hour.

The second meteor shower of the month - Lyrids - will reach the maximum rate of activity on April 23. However, the Moon will be 16 days old, and being so close to Full Moon, will severely limit the observations  The maximum rate of meteors expected to be visible from a dark location is around 10 per hour. 

The best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters is April 7.

The Moon will reach full phase on April 22.

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