Following the news of three meteor showers gracing our April skies, the planets are also joining the epic sky show!
Also read: 3 Meteor showers are on the way in April! Here’s when to watch the epic sky show
Four planets (Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) have already aligned. Dr Daniel Cunnama from the South African Astronomical Observatory expresses that they “are looking beautiful at the moment” and are fairly easy to see in the morning sky before dawn where they are seen in a perfect line in the East.
Events such as these are known as conjunctions.
According to NASA, a conjunction or a planetary ‘meet up’ is “a celestial event in which two planets, a planet and the Moon, or a planet and a star” appear close to one another from our Earth gaze.
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Here’s when to catch the sky shows:
On April 25, Saturn (located near the stars of the constellation Capricornus) will be near the moon.
27 April is set to see both Venus and Jupiter join the moon in what will appear to be close proximity.
April 30 will see Jupiter and Venus meet up, looking almost as if they’re colliding in a fantastic glow.
Earth, Venus and Jupiter’s alignment will see a reverse positioning on 1 May.
24 June is set to be the real performance with 5 planets expected to be visible to the naked eye as Dr Cunnama explains. Neptune and Uranus will also be aligned, however, unless you have a telescopic, they will not be visible.
Also read:
Public talk at the Iziko Planetarium about everything universe and more
Picture: Twitter/@martiandiaries