In early April, Venus, Mars, and Saturn form a three-legged triumvirate in the southeastern direction before sunrise, and Saturn moves steadily toward Mars every day. On April 1, they were a few fingers wide apart. By April 4, saturn and Mars were less than the width of the full moon. Subsequently, as new members of the morning sky appear, Saturn continues to move forward, and the distance to Mars increases every day. At 6:05 a.m. on April 5, Mars "merged" with Saturn, with Saturn on top and Mars on the bottom. The distance between the two is extremely close, and the nearest angle distance is only 20 arc minutes, which is equivalent to two-thirds of the diameter of the full moon's apparent diameter, which can be called "intimate". As long as the weather is clear and the atmosphere is transparent, in a place with a wide field of view, choose the "date of convergence" and the two days before and after, about an hour before sunrise, with the naked eye or with the help of a telescope can be observed.
Shows a map of the sky of Mars and Saturn close together before sunrise on April 4
It is understood that planetary "conjunction" is not as common as the moon and planet "conjunction". Whenever the planets are close to each other, it means that there is an opportunity to see two or more planets "in the same frame" appear in the sky at the same time with the naked eye or telescope. By the middle of the month, Jupiter begins to rise before dawn, forming a planetary quartet, lined up in the morning light. Entering the final week of April, Jupiter will rise above the horizon within an hour before sunrise, making it easier to observe.
Shows a close-knit sky map of Venus and Jupiter before sunrise on April 30
The two brightest planets in the sky, Venus and Jupiter, will welcome their ultra-close close encounters on April 30, similar to the close conjunctions of Mars and Saturn earlier this month. In fact, they are about the same distance. Of course, these planets are actually far apart in space, it's just that as our perspective in the solar system changes month by month, they will look closer or farther in the sky. It is understood that the next Time Mars "merges" with Saturn will occur on April 11, 2024.
The Big Dipper is a constellation of stars in the constellation Ursa Major – a famous stellar motif
Whether called the Big Dipper, Ursa Major or the Plow Constellation, it is probably the most familiar pattern of bright stars in the northern sky. The Big Dipper is a very useful reference for finding direction in the sky, but it also contains a hidden surprise: one of the stars is actually two. In the middle of the Big Dipper' stalk, at first glance it looks like a bright star, and on closer inspection, it is a binary star: Mizar and companion star Alcor. The two star systems are about a light-year apart, 80 to 90 light-years from our solar system, and it takes about 1 million years for companion stars to orbit the sun. Now, many stars are combined in small groups under the influence of gravity, especially pairs, or binary stars, around each other. But telescopes are usually needed to treat them as independent stars. Kaiyang stars and companion stars are a rare example of binary stars that you can see without the help of a telescope.
In this view, the Kaiyang Star and the Companion Star can be seen in the curved part of the handle of the Big Dipper, including ursa Minor, which itself is part of the constellation Ursa Minor. A "W" shaped Cassiopeia is visible on the left.
Although they look like a pair of close binary stars, they are actually six stars. The companion is a pair of binary stars, while the Kaiyang star is actually four stars — two pairs of binary stars. Thus, unusual "double stars" kaiyang and companion stars were found in the Big Dipper in April, which initially looked like a star but were actually a six-star system.
In April, the planets will be close together and the Big Dipper will become a special scene in space. If you look up at the stars, don't miss it.
Source: Xinhua News Agency, NASA