Every planet shines in April's night sky

April 1 to 16, Mercury will make its best appearance of the year. The best way to locate it is to find Venus, which is a little brighter and slightly above it. You need an evening with clear skies in the west. Watch the sunset and in the growing twilight find both planets following close behind the sun. Binoculars will help, revealing the disk of Venus, which is currently almost fully lit. In the coming months Venus will climb higher in the night sky, increasing in diameter and going through the same phases that we observe on the moon.

When it is dark, look almost directly overhead and you will see Mars shining with its warm red hue. Using Mars as a reference, look about two or three degrees to the south. Binoculars will reveal a tightly packed cluster of stars known as M44 or the Beehive cluster. This cluster of stars is about 600 million years old, young in stellar terms. In dark skies it is visible to the naked eye, and was known to ancient Chinese astronomers as a demon in a carriage.

As soon as it is completely dark you will be able to locate Saturn slightly above the eastern horizon. Your view of it will improve as it rises higher in the night sky. To make your planetary collection complete you will have to get up early and find Jupiter in the east, rising just before the sun.