What's Up: April 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA

Mercury shines at its brightest for the year, the Lyrid meteor shower peaks, and a bright new comet makes an appearance in April’s night sky. Catch Mercury low in the eastern sky before sunrise on April 3 at its greatest elongation. Then look up late April 21 into the 22nd for the Lyrids, with “shooting stars” radiating near the bright star Vega. Also this month, Comet C/2025 R3 (Pan-STARRS) may be visible with binoculars or a telescope, especially around April 17, before making its closest approach to Earth on April 27. Additional information about topics covered in this episode of What's Up, along with still images from the video, and the video transcript, are available at https://science.nasa.gov/skywatching/whats-up.