April Sky: Morning Planets Fall in Line!

March 28, 2022

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By: Brad Nuest

 

The best sky viewing this month belongs to early risers with morning planets delivering a breathtaking display! The month ends with a tight conjunction of the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter - the night sky’s best planetary pairing. 

At April’s onset before sunrise you’ll find Venus, Mars and Saturn all gracing the eastern sky low above the horizon. First locate radiant Venus, which you might first mistake for an airplane or a UFO!  No, that is our closest planetary neighbor showing off its radiance. Slew to the right a little for much dimmer Saturn and then Mars. It’s easy to tell them apart because Mars is distinctly rust-colored. The two planets are gradually separating from a tight conjunction at last month’s end. With each passing morning, more distance separates these two. 

Remember that it’s this motion over time against the background stars that led ancient cultures to assign divinity to the planets. By keeping careful track of their movements, they believed they could make predictions about earthly events.

If this wasn’t enough planetary spectacle, by mid-month Jupiter joins the mix, having recently left the evening sky. On the morning of April 15, the four planets line up diagonally, with Jupiter lowest toward the horizon, and Saturn at the top.

Watch each morning as the gap closes between Jupiter and Venus. Then just like March, April ends with another planetary conjunction, this time between Jupiter and Venus. The two brightest planets will appear so close together that they can be viewed simultaneously in binoculars or a telescope at low power.  Happy skygazing!

Looking east April 2 before sunrise

Looking east before sunrise on April 15

Looking east before sunrise on April 30. Jupiter and Saturn are so close together that their labels merge and they look like one planet!