Look low in the sky, towards the east about one hour before
sunrise on Saturday morning April 30, 2022. If the sky is clear, you will see
the brightest two “stars” in the sky very, very close to each other. They are
Venus, the brightest, and Jupiter, second brightest. Astronomers say they are
in conjunction, which means they appear closer together on their respective
orbits than they will be at any other time this year. Much farther away towards
the west, about a hand’s width, you can see Mars and even farther west, Saturn.
They are also much fainter; both are slightly reddish.
You can see Jupiter ad Venus even a half an hour before
sunrise, but by that time the sky is too bright to see the redder planets. If
you get out too early, the sky will be darker, but they will still be below the
horizon. These are four of the commonly seen naked-eye planets. The only other
naked eye planet, Mercury, is on the opposite side of the sun, and if you are
lucky you can see it in the evening, about an hour after sunset in the west,
very low down in the sky.
In the next few mornings, you will see a similar sight as the two planets appear to separate. This is true even in the city lights, because J & V are
so bright. Happy viewing. It is worth getting up early to see it. Go out in your
night clothes, and then climb back in bed and catch another 40 winks.
The
heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament shows his handywork.
Day unto
day utters speech,
and night unto night shows knowledge.
There is
no speech nor language,
where their voice is not heard.
Their
line is gone out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them hath he
set a tabernacle for the sun,
Psalm 19
Happy sky watching!
