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TAM: Planetary Alignment Spectacle Just Around the Corner

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Post date:2022-04-18

Updates:2022-04-18

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The Taipei Astronomical Museum (TAM) reminds stargazers that their chance to witness an extravagant planetary alignment in the night sky is about to take place!
TAM: Planetary Alignment Spectacle Just Around the Corner 
Between April 17 and 19, the planets Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter will line up in a nearly perfect queue before dawn, with the distance between the planets measuring approximately 10 degrees of sky. This is a rare opportunity, and possibly the most beautiful sight related with planetary occurrences this year.
 
As most of the planet in the solar system has orbits along the ecliptic plane, planetary alignment is actually quite commonplace. In fact, a number of such events have already taken place since April. However, due to the differences in speed and orbits of individual planets, it is a quite rare to see multiple planets line up within close distance from one another while remaining quite visible to observers.
 
The queue comprising the four planets is brightest during the time before dawn under the eastern sky. Due to their brightness, they are quite easy to observe. From the upper right to the bottom left, the planets are in the following order: Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter (closest to the horizon). Among these celestial bodies, Venus will be the brightest, followed by Saturn.
 
As an added bonus, the international space station will “enter” the alignment for a brief period roughly between 4:47 AM and 4:48 AM on April 19. It will cut through the queue from south to east, with its closest distance to Venus being less than 10 arcminutes during the encounter (roughly one-third the diameter of the full moon).
 
For more information, please visit the Chinese website of TAM (Link).

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