SkyCaramba

Venus is an evening object again, and Mercury will join it. But both are horizon huggers. Mars is easier to see as it moves from Taurus to the feet of Gemini. Saturn and Jupiter are getting easier to see in the morning. If you're in the right place on April 2nd, you can see Jupiter pass right in front of a star. The April Lyrids meteor shower peaks this month. There's a so-called supermoon. And Uranus goes into conjunction with the sun. Also, a little extra information about the word asteroid. Maybe we should say planetoid.

If someone mentions the planet Vulcan now, you probably think of the fictional world that's home to Mr. Spock on Star Trek. But there was a time when some astronomers believed there was a real planet they called Vulcan orbiting our sun.

You never hear much about the constellation Leo Minor. 

A legend claims you can balance an egg on its end only on the equinox.

And have you noticed there are no green stars?

Every once in a while, you hear about something from space that might crash into the earth. It happens just often enough to make some of us worry about it.

This month, a cluster of planets rises shortly before the sun, the southern hemisphere gets a good view of Mercury, Mars passes by the Pleiades, Venus is atypically invisible, the asteroid Vesta is at opposition, and Earth goes through an equinox.

At the end of February 1959, the U.S. government told the world it had launched a satellite that made some measurements, transmitted some measurement data, and then shut down as planned. Documents declassified in 1995 reveal the satellite malfunctioned shortly after launch and apparently crashed. Other formerly secret materials, including a CIA film, reveal that the engineers stayed busy solving problem after problem just learning how to get a satellite up and then use it to replace spy planes.

One of the accidental discoveries that spawned the field of radio astronomy stayed secret for a few years. There was a war going on. And the enemy could have used the newfound astronomical knowledge for a military advantage.

It seems unlikely that a farm boy who can't afford his own telescope, let alone a college education, could go to work for an astronomical observatory and make one of the most famous discoveries. But that's what Clyde Tombaugh did. Learn about the man who discovered Pluto.

Mercury starts the month as an evening object, but you'll find it in the morning near Jupiter and Saturn by the end of the month. Venus stays low close to the horizon before sunrise. Meanwhile, Mars continues a trek toward the Pleiades. Expect news about a couple space probes arriving at the red planet this month. And on another subject, why do you suppose some ancient writers described Sirius as a red star when it's bluish-white?

Mercury never rests. The planet has been thought of as quick and sneaky like a thief or fast and dutiful like a messenger. Learn a little about it. And then hear about Sirius. The brightest star in our night sky has a dim companion. Astronomers knew about it for 18 years before they had big enough telescopes to see it. Then, some people claimed to have known about the companion for even longer.