“April highlights include a major solar eclipse; a comet visible through binoculars; beautiful gatherings of the moon, planets and stars; two close planet pairs; and the annual large gathering of bright stars in the western sky at dusk.
On the first days of April, as darkness falls, note bright Jupiter in west, and the second-magnitude star Hamal, brightest star of Aries, within 14° to the planet’s lower right. Using binoculars, look for a fuzzy spot, perhaps of fifth magnitude, in the same field as Hamal. It’s comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, in its return to the inner solar system after nearly 71 years. Comet P-B is shifting position by 1.2° each day in relation to the starry background. Look to the star’s upper left, in the same binocular field, April 1-3…”
