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Yes, a 'Parade of Planets' Will Be Visible in the Summer Sky

Early morning sky watchers should be able to see Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus line up with the crescent moon this week.

Published June 23, 2022

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 19:  A man with a telescope watches the night sky as Comet NEOWISE appears over the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument on July 19, 2020 northwest of Los Angeles, California. Also known as C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), the three-mile-wide comet will come closest to Earth on  on July 22 before receding into space, to return 6,800 years from now.  (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
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Several planets and the moon will create a celestial show in the early days of summer 2022.

Sky watchers will get the rare view of Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury, along with the crescent moon, spaced out in a line in the morning sky. According to NASA, Venus and Saturn will be out of the picture as of September 2022:

The gathering of four naked-eye planets we've been enjoying in the morning sky for the past few months – including several close conjunctions, is beginning to break up. Over the next few months, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus will appear increasingly spread out across the morning sky – so much so that Venus and Saturn will make their exits as morning objects for most observers by September.

According to Space.com the "parade of planets" will only be visible in the early morning hours, in the southern and eastern skies. But the moon will only be part of the line-up until June 25, 2022.

The last time this configuration was present in the sky was March 5, 1864, Space reports, so look up while you can.

Sources

Joe Rao. “Rare 5-Planet Alignment Comes into Better View This Week. Here’s What to Expect.” Space.Com, 16 June 2022, https://www.space.com/five-planets-align-rare-skywatching-june-2022.

“What’s Up: Skywatching Tips from NASA.” NASA Solar System Exploration, https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatching/whats-up?utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=NASA&utm_campaign=NASASocial&linkId=170503680. Accessed 23 June 2022.

Bethania Palma is a journalist from the Los Angeles area who started her career as a daily newspaper reporter and has covered everything from crime to government to national politics. She has written for ... read more