Jupiter, Saturn and Mars Queuing at April’s Sky

The brightest planets in April’s night sky were initially close together, but as nights go by, they drift apart but our local satellite will join their alignment beginning April 15.

Moon and Jupiter

Two hours after midnight, an observer looking towards the Southeastern part of the sky will be seeing the last quarter moon. Around 3.83 degrees on its left is the very bright Jupiter with a -2.23 magnitude. Taking a landscape photograph will also capture the dazzling Milky Way as the edge of our galaxy is now visible even in the Metro because of the reduced light pollution amid Enhance Community Quarantine. Unfortunately, we have partly cloudy to cloudy skies over Metro Manila but some managed to take some photos of the said alignment.

Picture taken by : Marvic Jon Alcantara

Moon and Mars

On Thursday past midnight, our Moon will be a few degrees to the red planet’s upper right forming a curve line together with Saturn and Jupiter. Just look at the southeastern horizon after 2 am and one would observe Saturn, Moon and Mars with other stars of Capricorn. While Jupiter is among the bright patterns of Sagittarius.

Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction on December 21

Later this year, Jupiter and Saturn will be 0.1 degrees apart from each other. Visible just after the sun sets, photographers and amateur astronomers must capture this tight conjunction which were last seen this close on 1623. Peeking through a telescope with high-powered eyepiece, the two gas giants will be visible in one field of view.

References:

Rao, J. (2020, April) You can see the moon shine with Jupiter, Saturn and Mars before dawn this weeek. Here’s how. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/34EoBBBC

Rao, J. (2019, December) The 10 Must-See Skywatching Events to Look for in 2020. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2XlWuPU