April is the best single month to see the constella- tions from Hawaii. Nearly all the famous ones are visible, from Orion to the Dippers to the Southern Cross and the Scorpion.

Over in the west, we have a final chance to see the great constellations of win- ter before they vanish into the sun. The most distinctive constellation here is Orion the Hunter, hugging the horizon. Follow the belt of Orion to the left and you’ll find Sirius, the Dog Star, in the constellation Canis Major (Big Dog). Sirius shines at minus 1.47, much brighter than any other star.

Above Orion and Taurus are the Gemini Twins. The Gemini has twin bright stars, Castor and Pollux, named for the heroic twins of Greek mythology. Next to Gemini is Auriga, with its bright star Capella. Also in this spring western sky you’ll find Procyon, the bright star in Canis Minor (Little Dog).

In the northern sky, the famous Big Dipper is high overhead. The pointer stars of the Big Dipper — the two stars in the cup that don’t have the handle attached — point to the North Star.

Arcturus is partway up in the eastern sky on this map. You may know it better by its Hawaiian name, Hokule‘a (“star of gladness”); the famous voyaging canoe is named for the star.

Just rising is the constellation Hercules. It has an hour-glass shape, like Orion, but Hercules is a much fainter constellation; while Orion pops out at you, it usually takes a little work to find the six main stars of Hercules.

Hercules shares the April sky with three of his 12 labors. High overhead is Leo the Lion; fighting the lion was the first of Hercules’ labors. Mars is in Leo this April. Killing the Hydra was Hercules’ second labor; that long, snaky constellation is below Leo. In the north, the constellation of Draco winds its way between the Big and Little Dippers. Collecting golden apples was Hercules’ 11th labor; Draco was the dragon that guarded the apples.

The southern sky contains some of the most inter- esting stars here in April.

April and May are a prime time to catch the Southern Cross in the Hawaiian night sky. The Southern Cross is officially known as “Crux” (Latin for “cross”), and that’s how it’s labeled on the star map. Make sure you have a clear, flat horizon in the south if you want to have a chance of finding this small constellation.

PLANETS IN APRIL

You probably noticed Venus together with Jupiter in the western evening sky for much of March, with Venus the brighter of the two. In April, Jupiter dives toward the horizon, leaving Venus alone as a blazing torch in the western evening sky. Throughout April, Venus appears about one-third of the way up in the west at dusk (7:20 p.m. or so), and sets around 10 p.m.

Venus crosses in front of the Pleiades star cluster from April 1 to 4. Venus is about 100 times brighter than the entire cluster and in a pair of binoculars, the sight should be beautiful. On April 23, look for the young crescent moon between Venus and the Pleiades. That moon will be next to Venus on April 24, and just above Venus on April 25.

In early April, look for Jupiter at dusk in the west around 7:45 p.m., well below Venus. Jupiter is about 15 degrees above the horizon, the width of your fist at arm’s length. The planet is very bright, at minus 2.1 magnitude, so it should pop out. In early April, Jupiter sets around 9 p.m. By the middle of the month Jupiter is only 5 degrees above the horizon at 7:45 p.m. and is gone by 8:30 p.m. By the end of the month Jupiter will be lost in the twilight.

As Venus blazes in the west at dusk, Mars shines high in the east. While Mars is fading somewhat from its peak early March brightness, it still shines much brighter than neighboring Regulus. The red planet is about two-thirds of the way up in the east at dusk in early April, high overhead just before 11 p.m. (as shown on our April map) and sets in the west at 5 a.m. By the end of April, Mars is high in the east at dusk, high overhead just before 9 p.m. (as shown on the map) and sets at 2:45 a.m.

Look for Saturn rising in the east at dusk at the start of the month, close to the bright-blue star Spica. In early April, Saturn is high overhead at 1:30 a.m. and will be about one-fourth of the way up in the west at daybreak. On April 15, Sat- urn appears low in the east at dusk, is overhead at mid- night and vanishes in the east at daybreak. By the end of April, Saturn is halfway up in the sky at dusk, overhead at 11:30 p.m. and sets at 5:15 a.m. On the night of April 6-7, the just-past-full moon will be close to Saturn and Spica.

Mercury puts in a fleeting predawn appearance from April 15 to the end of the month. Look for it above the eastern horizon at 5:20 a.m.

METEOR SHOWER

The peak night for the Lyrid meteor shower is April 21-22. That is, stay up late on April 21 and then look for meteors after midnight, early on April 22. The shower is active from April 16-25, but with an intense peak on that particular night. While not one of the strongest showers, the Lyrids can produce up to 20 meteors an hour. There will be no interference from the moon this year. The meteors seem to come from the constellation of Lyra the Harp, which is low in the northeast at midnight and high overhead by dawn.

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Mike Shanahan is director of Education, Exhibits and Planetarium. For more information, go to www.bishopmuseum.org/planetarium/planetarium.html.