A celestial spectacle awaits the early riser who wishes to gaze out at the pre-dawn skies. It is the apparent alignment of four of the brightest planets — Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter — in a line. This year, the planets will appear close in the months of April and May. As they move along in their orbits, Saturn will get further away from the others, while Jupiter and Venus will appear really close on May 1, and Jupiter and Mars will look closer on May 29.
The four planets can be seen in the eastern sky before sunrise, from close to 4 a.m. to before sunrise. They are bright so can also be seen in early twilight. “At this time, the planets in order of position from east to west, that is, from the horizon upwards, are Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn,” explains Niruj Mohan Ramanujam, the head of the Science Communication, Public Outreach and Education (SCOPE) section of Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru.
