{"id":795600,"date":"2025-04-24T10:41:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T15:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=795600"},"modified":"2025-04-24T10:41:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T15:41:14","slug":"catch-a-rare-lunar-planetary-grouping-friday-morning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=795600","title":{"rendered":"Catch a Rare Lunar-Planetary Grouping Friday Morning"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Early risers on April 25th<\/sup> might see a rare quadruple bunching of the Moon and planets at dawn.<\/em><\/p>\n

Occasionally, the Universe seems to literally smile upon us. If skies are clear Friday morning on April 25th<\/sup>, early rising sky watchers may witness a rare scene, as brilliant Venus and fainter Saturn form the \u2018eyes\u2019 and a thin crescent Moon nearby completes the \u2018grin\u2019 low to the east at dawn.<\/p>\n

The planetary trio involved in Friday\u2019s complex celestial tango includes (from brightest to faintest) -4.8 magnitude Venus, +0.3 magnitude Mercury, and +1.2 Saturn.<\/p>\n

Venus just passed four degrees from Saturn this week on April 24th<\/sup>. Venus itself had a memorable conjunction with the Sun on March 23rd<\/sup> and is now racing towards greatest elongation just over 46 degrees west of the Sun on June 1st<\/sup>. Venus also reached greatest brilliancy for this apparition this week on April 24th<\/sup>. You can actually see Venus in the daytime\u2026 if you know exactly<\/em> where to look for it. Make sure the Sun is safely blocked from view, and the nearby crescent Moon on the 25th<\/sup> will help guide you on your quest. Can you follow the pair up into the daytime sky, post-sunrise?<\/p>\n

The Moon smiles with Venus and Mars in February 2015. Credit: David Blanchflower.<\/p>\n

The fainter \u2018eye\u2019 in the smiling face is the planet Saturn. Saturn\u2019s ring\u2019s just passed edge-on for 2025 in March. In the telescope, Saturn just presents the merest thread of its rings this weekend. Saturn is a relatively tough one to spot with the naked eye this week, as it\u2019s currently five full magnitudes or a hundred times fainter than Venus.<\/p>\n

Next, don\u2019t forget Mercury, the lowest of the three. Mercury just passed greatest elongation 27 degrees west of the Sun on April 21st<\/sup>, and is now taking the plunge past the Sun towards the evening sky.<\/p>\n

Even +7.8th<\/sup> magnitude Neptune gets involved…although you\u2019ll need binoculars or a telescope to pick off the faint and distant ice giant low in the dawn murk.<\/p>\n

The Moon photo-bombs the scene starting on the morning of the 25th<\/sup> as it slides between Saturn and Venus, just missing the pair. The thin old waning Moon completes the wide-eyed \u2018smile,\u2019 for viewers across Europe and North America.<\/p>\n

Follow that Moon as it passes Mercury and gets ever lower to the horizon on the morning of the 26th<\/sup>, en route to New on the 27th<\/sup>. The hunt is then on to recover the slim waxing crescent Moon on the evening of Sunday, April 27th <\/sup>into Monday the 28th. First sightings favor central Asia into Europe. <\/p>\n

A slender Moon from October 2018, less than 22 hours past New. Credit: Robert Sparks.<\/p>\n

\u2018Smiling Conjunctions\u2019: Past, Present…and Future<\/h2>\n

True double occultations involving the crescent Moon and a naked eye planet pair, or a planet and a bright +1st<\/sup> magnitude star are truly rare affairs. There are only four bright stars to choose from along the Moon\u2019s path: Aldebaran, Regulus, Spica and Antares. The Moon itself is only half and angular degree wide, and it covers the span of its own diameter once per hour.<\/p>\n

The Moon meets Venus and Mars in February 2015, as seen from Denmark, Maine. Credit: Dave Dickinson. <\/p>\n

These means that such \u2018smiling emoticon triple conjunctions\u2019 often happen over remote locales, or occur in the daytime sky or near the Sun. Looking out over the coming millennium, I see 104 potential events, roughly one per decade.<\/p>\n

One of the best in recent memory involved the crescent Moon, Venus and Jupiter 27 years ago this week on the morning of April 23rd<\/sup>, 1998, although you would have had to have been standing on Ascension Island in the Atlantic to see it. Olivier Staiger documented this once-in-a-lifetime view:<\/p>\n

Two views of the rare 1998 double occultation event, captured by Olivier Staiger. (@OlivierStaiger on Instagram). Used with permission.<\/p>\n

The good news is, we do have another bizarre grouping coming right up this year on September 19th<\/sup> involving the crescent Moon, Venus and Regulus\u2026 though you\u2019ll have to journey to remote Arctic Russia to see it.<\/p>\n

The September 19th event. Credit: Stellarium\/Dave Dickinson<\/p>\n

To be sure, these sorts of bizarre celestial scenes are of limited scientific value\u2026 but they\u2019re beautiful and unique to see, proof that if you watch the sky long enough, you might just see something fantastic and strange. At very least, its worth setting your alarm for this Friday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n