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18 | THE COLONY NEWS | APRIL 2022 | COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD By Mike Vergara, (951) 461-2889 Is it really April already? The evenings start later now, thanks to daylight saving time, so spring is definitely here! And just in time, too. April heralds the first meteor shower of the year, the Lyrids, overnight on Friday and Saturday, April 22 and 23. Meteor showers are named for the constellation they appear to be falling from. In this case that is Lyra, the Lyre (an ancient musical instrument akin to the harp). The Lyrids usually produce about 20 meteors per hour at its peak. The meteors are generated by dust and rock particles left behind by a comet. Sometimes, Lyrids produce bright dust trails that last for several seconds. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. April's full moon is also very "springy." Appearing on Saturday, April 16, it was known to many Native Americans as the "Pink Moon" and marked the appearance of a flower known as the moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the first spring flowers of the Great Plains. It's also known as the "Sprouting Grass Moon," the "Growing Moon," and the "Fish Moon." Interestingly, April has two new moons, on the 1st and the 30th. Last month I said we would not be seeing any planets until summer. That was not exactly correct. If you're up for a challenge, Mercury will be at its highest point in the evening sky and visible after sunset on Tuesday, April 26. It's always a challenge to find Mercury, since it's tiny and always in the glare of the rising or setting sun, but this will be your best chance for a while. Mercury's orbit is only 88 days long, so there will be another opportunity to spot this planet in late August. The International Space Station (ISS) will have some visible passes later in the evenings in April. The ISS's passes will start anywhere from 7:45pm to 9:20pm early in the month. It will shift to the early mornings around Thursday, April 21. Visit http://skymaps.com/index.html to print your own map of the sky for the month. For information about satellites, go to https://heavens-above.com. Clear skies! april Sky april Sky Don Johnson Neal Hertzman In Memoriam