Astroblog: Don't Forget - Moon and Bright Planets line Up April 30 and May 1

Friday, April 29, 2011

Don't Forget - Moon and Bright Planets line Up April 30 and May 1

Morning sky looking east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am local time on Saturday April 30 showing the crescent Moon near Venus, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.

Hope you are having better luck with the planetary line-up than I am. After my first decent picture the morning clouds closed in, and now we have predictions of rain all weekend for here in South Australia.

Still with the Moon close to Venus on the 30th of April and 1st of May, it is well worth chancing the weather to go out around 6:00 am (maybe a little earlier, probably best between 5:45-6:15 am), to see if you can see this fantastic line-up. You will need a faily clear eastrn horizon to see Mars and jupiter at their best.

You can also use this as an opportunity to see Venus in the daylight.

Labels: Conjunction, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Moon, unaided eye observation, Venus