Northern Hemisphere
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Southern Hemisphere
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April Highlights:

April sees the arrival of both the Lyrid and the Virginid 'shooting star' showers. Neither shower is very active, but they show examples of shooting stars with different speeds. Compare the faster Lyrids with the slower Virginids.

Planets

Mercury
Mercury moves under the daytime Sun on the 16th, an event known as the superior conjunction. By the end of the month it has made its way out of the glare to become an evening object. Look low and to the northwest around 9pm from the 26th to catch this elusive world, it will be the 'star' sitting below the Pleiades or Seven Sisters group.

Venus
On the 11th, Venus will move from Pisces, the Fish, into the non-Zodiacal constellation of Cetus, the Whale, for three days before moving back into Pisces once again. However, Venus is unobservable this month as it closes in on the Sun.

Mars
Mars is currently riding high in the spring night sky. The planet will cross most of Gemini, the Twins, through the month, and will almost make it into Cancer, the Crab. With a magnitude of just 1.1, it is comparable to the leading stars in Gemini, Castor and Pollux.

During the last week of April the constellation will look like it has a trio of main stars, with Mars being the lowest of a fine-looking triangular grouping from the 21st to 24th. The waxing crescent Moon sits off to the right of the planet on the evening of the 11th.

Jupiter
Jupiter rises just after 3am during the middle of the month, but because of its location in the constellation of Sagittarius, the Archer, it won't be that high in the sky by dawn. However, it will be incredibly bright at the end of the month with a magnitude of 2.4. On the morning of the 27th you'll find the waning gibbous Moon sitting under Jupiter, and as long as your southern horizon is fairly good then the planet will be unmistakable.

Saturn
Saturn is visible all evening, from its starting place high up in the southwest sky at sunset. Currently, Saturn is in Leo, the Lion, where it will stay until September 2009. The real star to the right of the planet throughout the month is the slightly bluish Regulus, the leading star of the Lion. The waxing gibbous Moon sits below Saturn on the 15th.
 

Meteor Showers
The 'shooting star' displays include the April Lyrids from the constellation of Lyra, the Harp. The peak of this shower is on the 22nd when you could see a maximum of about 15 meteors an hour. However, the Moon is just past full which will cause substantial light pollution and wash out all but the brightest meteors.

The Virginids from Virgo, the Maiden, are active until the 18th, peaking on the 11th with 10 meteors per hour. The half Moon will cause some light pollution.

(Info with thanks from http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/myspace/)