Sky calendar

What's in the Sky in April 2027: Moon, Planets, Meteors and What to Photograph

By Still DarkPublished Oct 29, 2026Updated Oct 29, 202613 min read

April 2027 is a month for evening planets and pre-dawn Milky Way. If you ask what's in the sky in April 2027, start with Jupiter and Mars. Both are high in the south at nightfall in Cancer and Leo, 4° to 8° apart. The Moon passes both on April 15–16 and occults Jupiter from the southern Indian Ocean. The Pink Moon is full on the 20th. The Lyrids peak on the night of April 22–23 under a 95% Moon, so expect only the brightest meteors. The Moon covers Antares for southern and central Africa on the night of the 23rd. New Moon on the 6th gives dark mornings from April 1 to about the 14th, which is the time for the Milky Way core before dawn.

What's in the sky in April 2027, night by night

Times are UTC, so convert to your local time. US Eastern is UTC−4 and Pacific is UTC−7 in April. Separations are geocentric, and the Moon's parallax changes them by up to a degree depending on where you stand.

The April 2027 full Moon and the dark window

New Moon on April 6 (23:51 UTC), first quarter on the 13th (22:56), full on the 20th (22:27), last quarter on the 28th (20:18). The full Moon is the Pink Moon. It rises around sunset on the 20th in Virgo with Spica nearby. Perigee on the 14th at 229,908 miles is a week before full, so this isn't a supermoon. Apogee is on the 27th at 251,140 miles.

The dark window. From 40° N, evenings are Moon-free from April 1 to about the 8th and again from about the 24th, when the Moon rises after midnight. Pre-dawn skies are dark from April 1 to about the 14th, and April 3–7 have no Moon at all during full darkness. For the Milky Way core, the useful mornings are April 1–14.

Planets visible in April 2027

Mercury is a morning object early in the month, coming off its March 17 elongation. It's 24° west of the Sun on April 1 at magnitude −0.1. From mid-northern latitudes it's only 2° up 30 minutes before sunrise and you won't find it. From the southern hemisphere it's about 17° up at the same point on April 1 and 8° by the 15th. Superior conjunction is on April 28.

Venus is in the morning sky at magnitude −3.9 all month, 34° from the Sun on April 1 and 28° on the 30th. The morning ecliptic lies at a shallow angle in northern spring, so from 40° N Venus is only 5–8° up in the east 30 minutes before sunrise. From the southern hemisphere it's 20–27° up and easy. A thin crescent Moon is 3.3° from it on April 4 at 06:49 UTC. On April 24 Venus passes 0.2° from Neptune, which is magnitude 7.8 and needs a telescope in a twilight sky. Venus meets Saturn on May 7.

Mars is in Leo all evening. It fades from magnitude −0.4 to +0.3 and the disc shrinks from 11.2″ to 8.8″, so telescope detail is nearly gone. It's stationary on April 1 and then moves east toward Regulus, from 9.7° away at the start of the month to 5.3° at the end. It passes 1.1° from Regulus on May 14. At 9:30 pm from 40° N it's more than 60° up in the south, and it sets between 3 and 5 am.

Jupiter is the brightest planet in the evening, magnitude −2.3 to −2.1, with a disc of 41″ falling to 37″. It's in Cancer near the Leo border, about 9° east of the Beehive cluster. It's stationary on April 13, ending the retrograde loop that began before its February opposition. Jupiter and Mars are 4.3° apart on April 1 and 7.9° apart on the 30th, so they fit one 135 mm frame all month. Jupiter sets around 4:40 am on April 1 and 2:45 am on the 30th. Any telescope shows the belts and the four large moons.

Saturn is at conjunction with the Sun on April 7 and not visible. It returns to the morning sky in May. Uranus (+5.8, Taurus) is low in the west after dusk and lost in twilight by the end of the month. Neptune is in the morning sky near Venus.

Meteor showers

The Lyrids peak around 01:40 UTC on April 23 (9:40 pm EDT and 6:40 pm PDT on April 22), with a zenithal hourly rate of about 18, according to the International Meteor Organization. The American Meteor Society gives 01:11 UTC. The shower is active from about April 14 to 30. The Moon is 95% lit at the peak and is up most of the night, so you'll see only the brighter meteors. The radiant, near Vega, is 40° up at 1 am and 75° by 4 am from 40° N. Watch after midnight on the mornings of April 22 and 23 and keep the Moon behind you. From the southern hemisphere the radiant stays low and rates are lower still.

The π-Puppids peak on April 24 for southern observers, in the evening, at rates that vary from year to year. The IMO also notes possible weak activity from comet 252P/LINEAR between March 31 and April 2, from a radiant near Rigel, low in the west after dusk. The η-Aquariids start on April 19 and peak on May 6 at a ZHR of about 50, the same day as new Moon, best from the southern hemisphere and the tropics. The meteor shower guide covers the routine.

Conjunctions and close approaches

• Apr 4, Moon–Venus, 3.3°, morning. An 8% crescent with earthshine next to Venus. From New York both are about 6° up in the east at 6 am, 4° apart. From Sydney they're about 27° up. The conjunction guide covers framing and exposure.
• Apr 9, Moon–Pleiades, evening. A 12% crescent low in the west after dusk, 1° from the cluster from Los Angeles and 2.6° from New York. From parts of western and central Canada the Moon passes in front of some of the stars. Use 200–300 mm.
• Apr 14, Moon–Beehive, evening. The 61% Moon is 1.5–2° from M44 at 9:30 pm in New York and London. Expose for the cluster and let the Moon overexpose, or bracket and blend.
• Apr 15, Moon–Jupiter–Mars, evening. At 9:30 pm in London the Moon sits between the two planets, about 4° from each. By 9:30 pm in New York it has moved on and is 4° from Mars and 7° from Jupiter. The Moon occults Jupiter earlier, around 13:00–15:45 UTC, from the far southern Indian Ocean in a dark sky and in daylight from southern Africa and Madagascar.
• Apr 23–24, Moon–Antares, night. The 90% Moon covers Antares from southern and central Africa, Madagascar and Mauritius. From Johannesburg it's 22:51–00:26 UTC, high in the sky. From the US the pair rises around 11 pm local time, 3–4° apart. From the UK they're 1° apart at 2 am, low in the south.
• All month, Mars and Jupiter. The two planets separate from 4.3° to 7.9°, high in the south at nightfall. The planets guide covers the view through a telescope.

Constellations, galaxies and the Milky Way

At 10 pm mid-month from 40° N, Leo is high in the south with Mars below the Sickle and Jupiter to its west in Cancer. Gemini is in the west, Ursa Major is overhead, Virgo with Spica is in the south-east and Boötes with Arcturus is in the east. Orion sets in the west soon after dark. This is galaxy season. The Leo Triplet, M81 and M82, M51, M101 and the Virgo cluster with Markarian's Chain are all well placed in the evening. They need the April 1–8 dark window and a telescope or a 300 mm lens on a star tracker. From the southern hemisphere, Crux, Carina and Centaurus are high in the evening, with Omega Centauri and the Eta Carinae Nebula.

The Milky Way. From 40° N the galactic centre rises around 2 am local time on April 1 and around 1 am by mid-month. At the start of morning astronomical twilight it stands about 20° up in the south-south-east to south, close to the highest it ever gets from that latitude. The band runs from the core low across the south-east to Cygnus in the east, which suits a panorama. The best mornings are April 1–14, and the Milky Way guide covers the plan. From the southern hemisphere the core rises in the mid-evening and is high overhead before dawn.

Zodiacal light. The evening season continues to early May in the north. On moonless evenings, April 1–8, look west about 90 minutes after sunset from a dark site for a faint cone of light leaning along the ecliptic. Southern observers see it before dawn in the east.

Sun and twilight in April 2027

The nights get shorter quickly. In New York the Sun sets at 19:21 EDT on April 1 and 19:51 EDT on April 30, and astronomical night shrinks from about 8 hours to about 6½. In London sunset moves from 19:33 to 20:22 BST, and full darkness shrinks from about 7 hours to just over 4. There are no clock changes in the US or Europe this month. Clocks go back on April 4 in south-east Australia and New Zealand. ISS passes come in evening or morning runs that depend on your latitude. Check Sky Events for the current run and the ISS guide for the method.

What to photograph in April 2027

1. Moon, Jupiter and Mars, evening of April 15. The 70% Moon and two bright planets within about 9°, high in the south after dark. Use 100–135 mm, expose for the planets and blend a short Moon frame.
2. The Milky Way core, any morning April 1–14. Shoot a panorama from the south to the east between about 3 am and the start of astronomical twilight. See the panorama guide and the NPF rule.
3. The crescent Moon and the Pleiades, evening of April 9. A 12% crescent with earthshine beside the cluster, low in the west in deep twilight. A low horizon helps, and the Moon-behind-a-landmark guide shows how to put a foreground under it.

FAQ

Sources and further reading

• Fred Espenak, Astropixels — Sky Event Almanac 2027 (GMT) (perigee and apogee, Moon–planet conjunction times and separations, Jupiter occultation flag, Saturn and Mercury conjunctions, Mars–Regulus and Venus–Saturn in May).
• US Naval Observatory — Phases of the Moon and Sun and Moon rise/set (phase times; New York and London sunsets).
• International Meteor Organization — 2027 Meteor Shower Calendar (Lyrid peak time and ZHR, π-Puppids, η-Aquariids, comet 252P/LINEAR).
• NASA JPL — DE440 planetary ephemeris, computed with Skyfield (planet magnitudes, disc sizes, elongations, stationary dates, star conjunction times, occultation regions, Moon illumination, Milky Way core altitude and twilight lengths).
• EarthSky — The Lyrid meteor shower in 2027 and Zodiacal light on spring evenings.
• The Old Farmer's Almanac — Full Moon in April: the Pink Moon.