Astronomical phenomena April 2014

Opportunities for observation in April 2014:
  On April 8, 2014, at the next opposition, Mars will be 92.39 million. km. from Earth compared to March 3, 2012, previous opposition, when the distance between the two planets was 100,780,000 km.
This month will be two eclipses: a Sun and a Moon one (a Moon eclipse on April 15, and a Sun eclipse on April 29). Unfortunately for the people of Romania, can not be seen any of them.

08 april 2014 -  Mars in opposition. Mars will be closest to Earth (92.390.000. km from Earth) and it’s surface will be fully illuminated by the Sun. This is the best time to view and photograph Mars.

15 april 2014- Total lunar eclipse at 9:47 GMT +2. Earth is between the Moon and the Sun and the Earth’s shadow will cover the whole disk of the Moon. The eclipse will be visible in most of North America, South America and Australia, but not in Romania.

22-23 april 2014 - Lyrid meteor shower. Lyrids are meteor showers with medium intensity, usually producing about 20 meteors per hour. These meteors can produce bright dust tail that takes a few seconds. Some meteors may be visible between April 16 to 25. The Moon will be a problem this year, blocking less bright meteors. These meteors radiate from the constellation Lyra, and their source Comet Thatcher 18611.

29 april 2014 - New Moon. Moon will be directly between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This phase occurs at 08:14 GMT +2.

29 april 2014 – Annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is too far from Earth to completely cover the Sun. This results in a ring of light around the dark Moon. Sun’s corona is not visible during an annular solar eclipse. The eclipse will begin on the South African coast and moves over Antarctica and the east coast of Australia.