Rise early, look to the east, and the planets will align - with two getting particularly cosy

Wednesday, 27 April 2022

Wellington astrophotographer Mark Gee set up a time-lapse camera to capture Jupiter, Saturn and the moon from a vantage point behind Cape Palliser Lighthouse on December 18, 2020.

For the next few days Venus and Jupiter will appear close together in what’s called a conjunction, in the pre-dawn eastern sky.

And that’s not all. They will also be in a line-up that includes Saturn, Mars and the Moon.

Stardome astronomy expert Josh Aoraki said Venus and Jupiter would appear closest to each other from about 4am on Sunday.

Saturn, Mars, Venus and Jupiter in a straight line, seen from Richmond, near Nelson a few nights ago.

“They will be pretty bright and visible … You don’t need any equipment,” he said.

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Saturn, top, and Jupiter seen in the sky above Kansas on December 21, 2020. The two planets were in their closest observable alignment since 1226. Appearing a tenth of a degree apart, the alignment known as the 'great conjunction' has also been called the 'Christmas Star.'

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'If you do have a telescope or binoculars, then you could resolve them into two individual planets. To the naked eye, they might appear as a single bright star.”

While Jupiter and Venus would look nearest to each other on Sunday, they would also appear close together a few days either side of Sunday, around the same time each night, Aoraki said.

The nightly alignment of the four planets would continue for about another two months, with Mercury joining the party late in the piece – around mid-June.

The time to look for the line-up of planets would be about the same during the two months, while the positions of the planets would be roughly in the same area, although changing slightly each day.

On Thursday, Saturn would be rising about 1.30am, Mars about 2.30am, Venus about 3.30am and Jupiter about 4am.

The Moon would be rising about 3am on Thursday and would join the alignment just below the planets, Aoraki said.

“The Moon won’t be there for much longer. It will be moving on in a couple of days, but in about a month will be coming back around to that same area.”

The Moon would also be back again in June when Mercury joined the alignment, making it six celestial objects in a line.

On the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand website, Mt John Observatory retired superintendent Alan Gilmore wrote that about 4am at the beginning of May “bright Jupiter and brilliant Venus appear looking like a pair of unmatched headlights”.

“Venus is silver, Jupiter is golden. By that time Saturn, Mars and the Venus-Jupiter pair are equally spaced down the eastern sky.”