The full moon of April appears Friday on the eastern horizon right after sunset. It may not look so yellow, but give it some time. The full moon is in the zodiacal constellation Virgo, not far from the constellation Libra.

For all its positive attributes, this brilliant moon is a spoiler. Thursday night is the night of the Lyrid meteor shower, one of the annual meteor showers that usually has a following. But the moon is too bright to see any of those faint shooting stars. Only the rare brightest of meteors speeding across the sky are visible.

The moon regains its favoritism this weekend, when it appears next to the brilliant red planet Mars, now in the zodiacal constellation Scorpius. There is no mistaking this planet now in our southern sky. In another month, Mars will be closest to the Earth.

The moon and Mars will appear as a fairly close pair on Monday night.

Saturn is east of both the moon and Mars. The three celestial objects form an impressive triangle. While you are looking, look under Mars for another bright red celestial object, the bright star Antares.