Planets: 

Mercury:  April heralds the return of Mercury to our evening sky.  Mercury appears during the second half of the month right after sunset for about an hour, extending to 1½ hours by month's end.  By the end of April, look for the spectacular lineup of Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn strung out along the ecliptic near the constellation of Taurus the Bull, with Jupiter in nearby Gemini to the east.

Venus:  The first object to come into view after sunset is this glorious planet, shining at almost a -4 magnitude.  Venus appears in the west in the constellation Aries, and then sets soon after dark at the first of the month.  As April goes on, however, Venus moves higher and higher in the sky towards the east.  Venus is definitely the brightest of the five planets lining up in our view at the end of April.

Mars:  Of the five planets visible this month, Mars is the least bright.  Look for it in the west after sunset, between Venus and Saturn.  Near the end of April, Mars is visually close to Saturn.

Jupiter:  The "king" of planets is the second brightest of the five visible planets after Venus.  Jupiter remains in Gemini the Twins, slightly northeast of Orion.  Enjoy this bright planet for the next two months.

Saturn:  Saturn remains in the constellation of Taurus.  Look for the V-shaped face of the bull with the bright star Aldebaran at the top of one side of the V.  Saturn is slightly to the north and west of Aldebaran.  If you have a telescope, be sure to take advantage of the wondrous view we currently have of this ringed planet.

It's Comet Ikeya-Zhang!
Discovered on February 1 by Kaoru Ikeya and Daqing Zhang, this comet may have a fairly bright future at the end of April when it makes its closest approach to Earth.  Skywatchers will get their best view in late April, when the comet makes a slow trek past Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus and into Draco.  Although it can be seen without help, binoculars show a much better view.  For a chart of its path, check out http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/images/02C1

Constellations:  Antlia, Chamaeleon, Crater, Hydra, Leo, Leo Minor, Sextans, Ursa Major

Looking for a Little More?  If this Skyline whets your appetite, try this website:  skymaps.com/downloads.html.  It offers a two page pdf brochure that you can print out for free.  It has a basic skymap and short lists of visual, binocular, and small telescope objects.  It is really good--check it out!