A rare alignment of planets and our moon will produce a celestial old-school emoticon in the pre-dawn eastern sky on April 25 that should be visible most places where weather cooperates.
In astronomical terms it’s called a triple conjunction, which is when three objects appear close to each other in the night sky. In this case it’s Venus, Saturn and the crescent moon involved in the display.
As you might have figured out already, the trio will be arranged in a sort of triangle in which the two planets appear as “eyes” above the Cheshire grin of the mostly obscured moon.
Where and When to Look
To spot this rare phenomenon, look towards the eastern sky in the pre-dawn hours. As close to 5:30 am as possible is probably the best time to catch the sight, unless you’re already starting to get too much twilight brightness from that sun just over the horizon. You might need to get up even earlier if you’re at a latitude with an early sunrise right now.
Locate the crescent moon in the east and them simply look for the brightest lights above it that aren’t twinkling — this is how you know they’re planets and not stars. Venus is going to appear especially bright compared to the dimmer, more distant Saturn. This, coupled with the fact that the ringed planet will appear actually just a bit below Venus, may give the whole scene the feel more of a winking emoji, which is my personal favorite. 😉
This is also one of those especially fun celestial events that can be seen practically everywhere.
For an extra skywatching challenge, see if you can find Mercury nonchalantly just hanging out below the moon. This small world is always harder to spot thanks to its size and proximity to the sun, but if you have excellent clear sky conditions you may be able to make it out as a faint light between the crescent moon and the horizon.
Pro Tip: Grab some binoculars to make sure you get a good view, especially of Saturn and Mercury.
If you miss it, don’t worry: this happy conjunction is sure to be all over social media by brunch on Friday.