In this guide we'll reveal what you can see in the night sky tonight, and throughout the month.
Those of us who enjoy stargazing and observing the night sky can't always plan when and where we're going to get the chance to gaze upwards.
Busy schedules, light pollution, the weather: sometimes finding even just 30 minutes to stand and stare up at a clear, dark night sky and take in the planets, stars and constellations can be a feat in itself.
So when you do find the time, you'll need to know what's visible in the night sky tonight, and the best things to look out for when stargazing.
Complete newcomer? Read our guides to the best telescopes for beginners and astronomy for beginners.
Here's our stargazing guide to what you can see in the night sky tonight.
Our guide is centred around what's visible from the UK, but all northern hemisphere observers should be able to use it, with the odd adjustment to stated times.
In our guide, we use Universal Time (UT) and British Summer Time (BST). UT is the standard time used by astronomers around the world. BST is one hour ahead of UT
We also use RA (Right ascension)and dec. (declination).
These coordinates are the night sky’s equivalent of longitude and latitude, describing where an object is on the celestial ‘globe’.
For help with these, read our guide to celestial coordinates.
For more advice, read our guide on how to stargaze or sign up to receive the BBC Sky at Night Magazine e-newsletter for weekly tips delivered directly to your email inbox.
If you're south of the equator, find out what you can see in the Southern Hemisphere night sky tonight.
What's in the night sky tonight?
April astronomy highlights
- 1 April: The Moon occults the Pleiades open cluster (evening)
- 8 April: Jewelled Handle clair-obscur effect visible on the Moon (early morning)
- 16 April: Callisto appears to almost touch Jupiter’s southern pole (22:40 BST (21:40 UT))
- 22 April: Lyrid meteor shower peak
- 25 April: Venus near the Moon (dawn)
Moon meets the planets
There’s a chance to take in the beauty of the Moon close to the planets this month.
The Moon can be seen near bright Jupiter on 2 April and then near Mars on 5 April.
An early morning viewing session on 25 April will show the Moon near bright Venus in the dawn twilight, with a tricky encounter between a very thin lunar crescent and Mercury on the morning of 26 April, again in the dawn twilight.
Then, at the end of the month, having moved completely around the sky, the Moon and Jupiter can be seen together once again as darkness falls early evening.
Constellations
The period of night shrinks rapidly with the spring sky dominating the evening view, Leo, the Lion nicely displayed.
The main characteristic of Leo is an asterism rising north from Regulus (Alpha (α) Leonis).
Called the Sickle, it represents the lion’s head and looks like a large backward-facing question mark.
The body extends to the east, roughly rectangular in shape with two pairs of legs dangling south.
Further east still, the lion’s tail is marked by second magnitude Denebola (Beta (β) Leonis).
Follow the direction the tail is pointing to a region of sky known as the Realm of Galaxies.
Sitting just to the north of another large asterism, known as the Bowl of Virgo, the realm is full of faint fuzzy galaxies from the Virgo Galaxy Cluster and Coma Galaxy Cluster.
Virgo is a large, sprawling constellation; the second largest by area in the night sky.
The principal star is Spica (Alpha (α) Virginis). To locate Spica, first find the Plough or Saucepan asterism, which is part of Ursa Major, the Great Bear.
At this time of year, the pattern sits overhead.
Extend the arc of the Saucepan's curving handle away from the pan to eventually arrive at bright orange Arcturus (Alpha (α) Boötis), which sits at the bottom pointed-end of a large kite-shaped asterism in Boötes.
The Kite is as high as the Saucepan is long. Keep the Saucepan handle arc going through Arcturus and eventually you’ll arrive at bright white Spica.
One way to visualise Spica and the Bowl of Virgo is to think of Spica as the base of the stem of a giant letter ‘y’, the Bowl can then be visualised forming the upper half of the character.
Heading north from Porrima (Gamma (γ) Virginis) at the base of the Bowl – where the three ‘arms’ of the ‘y’ join, you’ll be passing directly up through the Realm of Galaxies.
One striking region within the realm is known as Markarian’s Chain, a curving chain of galaxies of various sizes and shapes.
Keep heading north out of the Realm of Galaxies and you’ll pass up through the triangular open cluster known as Mellote 111, part of Coma Berenices, Queen Berenice’s Hair.
The cluster represents the queen’s flowing hair.
Keep heading north and you’ll pass up through the unassuming pair of stars which form Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs.
They don’t look too much like dogs, but the constellation along with Coma Berenices to the south also contains a number of impressive galaxies.
The most famous example has to be Whirlpool Galaxy M51, which is located 3.6° southwest of Alkaid (Eta (η) Ursae Majoris).
Moon
The early phases of the Moon are well placed in the evening sky at this time of year.
The popular clair-obscur (trick of the light) effect, known as the Jewelled Handle is visible in the early hours of 8 April.
Formed when the lunar dawn light catches the peaks of the curved Jura Mountain range that borders Sinus Iridum, it’s one of the easier clair-obscur effects to see.
Night sky in April 2025, night-by-night
Tuesday 1 April
This evening, the 16%-lit waxing Moon passes in front of the Pleiades open cluster, offering numerous opportunities to see lunar occultations of its member stars.
Wednesday 2 April
Around midnight, the 26%-lit waxing crescent Moon sits slightly under 5° north of mag. –2.0 Jupiter. Closest approach is around 00:30 BST on 3 April (23:30 UT on 2 April).
Saturday 5 April
Mag. +0.5 Mars lies 1.6° south of 58%-lit waxing Moon this evening.
Clair-obscur events visible: Lunar X and V 13:00 BST (12:00 UT), Nessie (Ptolemaeus crater) 22:40 BST (21:40 UT), Face in Albategnius 20:55 BST (19:55 UT).
Tuesday 8 April
The superb Jewelled Handle clair-obscur effect is visible on this morning’s 79%-lit waxing gibbous Moon. View around 04:00 BST (03:00 UT), when the Moon can be seen low above the western horizon.
Wednesday 9 April
Minor planet 8 Flora begins to cross the side-on spiral galaxy NGC 3628, the Hamburger Galaxy, one of the Leo Triplet.
Thursday 10 April
Mag. +0.7 Saturn, +1.2 Mercury, –4.3 Venus and +7.9 Neptune are in a 9° morning twilight circle.
The Star-Tip Mountain (Mons Herodotus) clair-obscur event is visible at 01:00 BST (00:00 UT).
Sunday 13 April
The bright mag. +1.0 star Spica (Alpha (α) Virginis) sits 1.1° north of the full Moon’s centre at 02:36 BST (01:36 UT).
Wednesday 16 April
Callisto almost appears to clip Jupiter’s southern pole at 22:40 BST (21:40 UT).
Thursday 17 April
An early taste of summer as the bright red supergiant Antares (Alpha (α) Scorpius) can be seen 1.8° northwest of the rising 85%-lit waning gibbous Moon around 01:40 BST (00:40 UT).
Monday 21 April
Shining at mag. +0.5 in the dawn twilight, Mercury reaches greatest western elongation today, separated from the Sun by 27.4°.
Tuesday 22 April
Today sees the annual Lyrid meteor shower reach its peak at around 14:00 BST (13:00 UT), meaning that the best observing times are this morning and from darkness this evening through to dawn on 23 April.
Friday 25 April
Brilliant mag. –4.4 planet Venus sits 3.1° northwest of the 10%-lit waning crescent Moon this morning, both visible around 05:00 BST (04:00 UT) shortly after rising. Mag. +0.8 Saturn sits 1.7° south of the Moon’s centre at this time.
Saturday 26 April
Low in the east at around 05:30 BST (04:30 UT) is a tricky pairing of the 3%-lit crescent Moon and mag. +3.3 Mercury 5.1° to its southwest. Take care if using binoculars, as sunrise occurs around 05:50 BST (04:50 UT).
Sunday 27 April
A view of Jupiter just before it sets this morning shows two stars close to its western limb: mag. +8.9 TYC 1846-184-1 and +9.9 TYC 1846-184-2. The stars are occulted around 00:05 BST (23:05 UT on 26 April).
Monday 28 April
Mag. –4.4 Venus sits 3.7° north of mag. +0.8 Saturn this morning, best seen around 05:15 BST (04:15 UT) in the brightening dawn twilight.
Tuesday 29 April
There’s an extremely tricky and unusual Titan shadow transit from 11:22 BST (10:22 UT) until Saturn sets at around 16:20 BST (15:20 UT) today. The shadow crosses Saturn’s disc immediately south of where the rings appear to cross the planet.
Wednesday 30 April
As darkness falls, the 13%-lit waxing crescent Moon sits 5° north of mag. –1.8 Jupiter, both objects clearly visible to the naked eye above the west-northwest horizon.
Share your observations and images with us, or send us your astronomy questions to contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
