Like any other month, there will be a lot of astronomical events expected this April. One of which is watching three worlds almost hugging each other as Venus, Mars, and Saturn are set to appear close to each other in the night sky from April 4 to 5. More so, a deep partial solar eclipse is expected this month.
NASA notes that the three planets have started to appear close to each other by the start of the month, but they will be even become closer by Monday.
This NASA sky map shows the location of Venus, Mars and Saturn in the night sky April 4, 2022.
How to See the Close Conjunction of Venus, Mars, and Saturn
According to Space.com, the cloudy Venus, red planet Mars, and ringed Saturn will reunite again this week after the planetary trio formed a celestial triangle last month.
In the past week, early risers have been seeing Venus shining brightly in the eastern sky before daybreak, while Mars and Saturn will become more visible on Monday and Tuesday.
"By the 4th, Saturn and Mars are separated by less than the width of the full moon. Saturn then moves on, increasing its separation from Mars each day," NASA said in a statement. If viewed from New York City, look at the sky 45 minutes before dawn at 5:50 a.m. EDT.
Some people may also use binoculars or telescopes to see the planets in the night sky and photograph the close conjunction of the three planets. They can be seen moving closer to each other from April 4 to 5, although it is only on Tuesday that Saturn and Mars will reach their closest approach with only half a degree apart.
According to NASA, Venus will be at the lower left of Saturn and Mars, and will rise last above the east-southeastern horizon. The hot planet will be about 10 degrees above the horizon as the morning twilight starts at 5:48 a.m.
On April 20, Jupiter will join Saturn, Mars and Venus to create a near-perfect pre-dawn line.
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Other Astronomical Events on April 2022
NASA has also identified other events in the cosmos this month, including the time when Jupiter will be high enough above the horizon to be easily observed. By mid-April, the biggest planet in the Solar System will start to rise in the pre-dawn hour to make for a quartet of planets.
Then by April 30, Venus and Jupiter will be in ultra-close conjunction, similar to the close conjunction of Mars and Saturn on Monday and Tuesday. Although they look close when viewed from Earth, they are actually far apart in space and only appear to move closer or farther apart in the sky.
Aside from the close conjunctions this month, a deep partial solar eclipse will also happen on April 30. EarthSky reported that it will be visible from the southeast Pacific and southern South America. It will be a very deep partial eclipse with an eclipse magnitude of 0.6396 and a Gamma value of -1.1901.
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