Greetings fellow stargazers!
This morning, April 16th, I had to wake up early to snap these two photos of our moon -- which is currently just past its Last Quarter (or Third Quarter Moon) phase -- in a line of the "superior planets" in the southeastern sky just over the tree tops about an hour, or so, before sunrise.
A superior planet is a planet that orbits the sun outside Earth’s orbit. The three visible "wandering stars" (planets we can see with the naked eye from Earth) are Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter respectively. Using Luna as a starting point, you can spot the small Red Planet Mars glowing like a red ember just above the moon's glow. You can easily spot the large bright white Jupiter at the end of the line with fainter Saturn in the middle closer to it's nearest planetary neighbor. The line of these three planets follows the ecliptic path of the sun and moon during daytime hours.
As viewed by my close-up shot, Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, is easily the most brilliant of the trio of planets, beaming some 14 times brighter than either Saturn or Mars. Even so, Mars and Saturn are respectably bright appearing to be 1st-magnitude star in brilliance. These worlds shine by reflecting the light of the yet to be risen sun. At present, both Mars and Saturn are shown to be about equally bright. Mars glowers red while Saturn exhibits a golden hue.
This line of planets will stay in the northeastern sky in the early morning hours for about the rest of the month and will be a good point to see the upcoming Lyrid Meteor Shower beginning late at night around Sunday, April 19th and probably peaking in the predawn hours on Wednesday, April 22nd.
Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed my photos. As always let me know what y'all think in the comments below and as always be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all!
This morning, April 16th, I had to wake up early to snap these two photos of our moon -- which is currently just past its Last Quarter (or Third Quarter Moon) phase -- in a line of the "superior planets" in the southeastern sky just over the tree tops about an hour, or so, before sunrise.
A superior planet is a planet that orbits the sun outside Earth’s orbit. The three visible "wandering stars" (planets we can see with the naked eye from Earth) are Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter respectively. Using Luna as a starting point, you can spot the small Red Planet Mars glowing like a red ember just above the moon's glow. You can easily spot the large bright white Jupiter at the end of the line with fainter Saturn in the middle closer to it's nearest planetary neighbor. The line of these three planets follows the ecliptic path of the sun and moon during daytime hours.
As viewed by my close-up shot, Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, is easily the most brilliant of the trio of planets, beaming some 14 times brighter than either Saturn or Mars. Even so, Mars and Saturn are respectably bright appearing to be 1st-magnitude star in brilliance. These worlds shine by reflecting the light of the yet to be risen sun. At present, both Mars and Saturn are shown to be about equally bright. Mars glowers red while Saturn exhibits a golden hue.
This line of planets will stay in the northeastern sky in the early morning hours for about the rest of the month and will be a good point to see the upcoming Lyrid Meteor Shower beginning late at night around Sunday, April 19th and probably peaking in the predawn hours on Wednesday, April 22nd.
Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed my photos. As always let me know what y'all think in the comments below and as always be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all!
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