Skywatch: What’s happening in the heavens in April

While keeping social distance, give yourself a break from binge-watching television or glaring at a smartphone screen. Step outside, breathe and enjoy a dose of natural reality: Look to the heavens.

For April, the ultrabright planet Venus dazzles you in the western heavens after dusk, while the merry trio of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars plays in the south before sunrise. A few shooting stars will zip by us in late in mid-April, and we can hope that a new comet brightens our late spring heavens.