As we enter April, Earth will witness a stunning scene in the sky, as 4 out of the 5 brightest planets in the solar system, namely Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn, align perfectly in the early morning sky.
On April 19, four “stars” Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn will appear in a straight line – (Image: STELLARIUM)
On April 5, the celestial dance begins with 3 “stars” gathering in the sky just before sunrise, including Venus, Saturn, and Mars, according to Space.com.
By the morning of April 19, all 4 planets will align in a diagonal line at a 30° angle. From the lower left to the upper right, the order of the “stars” will be: Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn.
To the naked eye, all the planets and the Moon will follow an imaginary line across the sky, known as the ecliptic.
The main event will occur in the last week of April, with Jupiter shining brighter than usual, at over 7 times its normal brightness. Meanwhile, the crescent Moon will appear, passing below the planets, in the following order: Saturn on April 25, Mars on April 26, and finally Jupiter and Venus on April 27.
On April 28 and 29, the three brightest objects in the night sky will be: the shining crescent Moon, Jupiter in the upper left, and Venus hovering just above the Moon.
On April 30, Venus and Jupiter will stand close together.
The Far East will see them closest as Venus moves north of Jupiter. This marks the closest conjunction of Venus and Jupiter since August 2016, when they were deeper within the bright light of the Sun. A similar impressive pairing of these two planets will occur in the evening sky on March 1, 2023.
On May 1, 2022, the two planets will still be impressively close and will continue to draw nearer each day, until May 8, 2022, when Jupiter will be positioned above and to the right of Venus.
In the coming months, these two brightest planets will follow very different paths. Venus will continue to embrace the dawn horizon in the low eastern sky until August, after which it will gradually set as the Sun rises. At that time, Jupiter will be on the opposite side of the sky, dominating the evening landscape.
