April 2022: a quartet of planets in the morning sky

Today’s Video of the Day from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory describes all of the exciting things that can be seen across the night sky throughout the month of April 2022, including a hidden surprise in Jupiter. 

“At the beginning of April, Venus, Mars, and Saturn form a trio in the southeast before sunrise, with Saturn appearing to move steadily toward Mars each day. On April 1st, they’re a couple of finger widths apart. And 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, as a new addition to the morning sky makes its debut,” reports NASA.

“By mid-month, Jupiter is starting to rise in the pre-dawn hour, making for a quartet of planets, strung out in a line across the morning sky. Heading into the last week of April, Jupiter will be high enough above the horizon in the hour before sunrise to make it more easily observed.”

On April 30, Venus and Jupiter will have their own ultra-close conjunction in which they will appear to approach each other at about the same distance as the Mars and Saturn meetup earlier in the month. According to NASA, these conjunctions are not quite as close as the grand conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn at the end of 2020, but will still be really impressive to see in the morning sky. 

Video Credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Dunford

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer