Particle.news
Download on the App Store
8 ARTICLES
·
last wk.

Six-Planet Parade Continues as Mercury Rises and Moon Approaches

Skywatchers can see Venus and Jupiter drift apart as Mercury nears greatest elongation, with a crescent Moon due later this week.

FILE - A girl looks through a telescope in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sunday, May 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
This parade of celestial objects will be observable roughly one hour before dawn. (PHoto: Stellarium)
Use Jupiter and Venus to point your way to dimmer Mercury near the eastern horizon this morning. Credit: Stellarium
Image

Overview

  • Six planets—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune—line up along the pre-dawn ecliptic, though the two outer giants require binoculars or a small telescope.
  • Venus and Jupiter reached their closest apparent separation on Aug. 11–12 and are now slowly pulling apart while remaining the sky’s brightest guides.
  • Mercury has climbed to about 3° above the eastern horizon before sunrise and will hit its greatest elongation around Aug. 19, making it easier to spot.
  • Saturn shines high in the southern pre-dawn sky, completing the naked-eye lineup of bright planets before the Moon’s arrival.
  • A thin crescent Moon will join the planetary display on Aug. 19–20, and no similar six-planet naked-eye parade will occur again until 2028.