According to astronomical science experts, on the morning of April 18, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn in the solar system are almost equidistant, staging a rare "four-star continuous pearl", when as long as the weather is clear and the atmosphere transparency is good, the mainland public can witness this strange astronomical landscape with the naked eye.
This is Venus, Mars, Saturn and the Remnant Moon photographed in Beijing in the early morning of March 28, 2022 by Beijing astronomy enthusiast Wu Luping. (Courtesy of me)
In March this year, Venus, Mars and Saturn can be seen at dawn in the low eastern sky, and in mid-to-late April, Jupiter is gradually moving away from the sun, officially joining the "planet show" stage at dawn in the east.
Xiu Lipeng, director of the Tianjin Astronomical Society and an expert in astronomical science popularization, introduced that on the morning of April 18, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn were almost equidistant from left to right, from low to high, almost equidistant in a straight line, staging a "four-star continuous pearl". Take the same longitude area in Beijing as an example, where the public looks near the eastern horizon at around 4:30 a.m., and if there is no obstruction, the newly rising Jupiter (brightness -2.1 magnitude) can be seen with the naked eye, the unusually bright Venus (brightness -4.2 magnitude) in the upper right, the red Mars (brightness 1.0 magnitude) in the upper right, and Saturn (brightness magnitude 0.9) on the far right. Outside the Beijing jingdu area, you can also see this scene of "four stars and pearls", but there are some differences in time.
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The orbits of the eight planets of the solar system around the sun are basically in a plane, that is, the ecliptic plane. From Earth, the other seven planets and the Sun are moving near the same great circle that runs through the celestial sphere, the ecliptic, so it can be understood at any time that they are connected in a line, but in most cases, this "line" is too long to be ornamental.
"This time it's worth seeing because the four bright planets visible to the naked eye are connected in a very narrow line, and this happens about once every two years, which is relatively rare." Xiu Lipeng said.
This is a close-up of Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn taken by Beijing astronomy enthusiast Zong Haiyang (imposition). (Courtesy of me)
Interestingly, from April 24 to 28, the beautiful "Moon Girl" will "gently move the lotus step" to the eastern sky area at dawn, accompanied by these four planets in turn, and stage a romantic "Star moon fairy tale" series.
Xiu Lipeng said that from the earth, these four bright planets are indeed very close, but in fact they are very far away from each other. Although the "four stars and pearls" are relatively rare, they are also normal astronomical phenomena. In the face of this celestial phenomenon, the observation method is also relatively simple, without the help of any astronomical instruments, as long as the weather is good, choose an open southeast, open field of view, no light pollution place, through the naked eye can be seen.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Zhang Ying