There are a lot of things in Earth’s night sky, and every now and again, they line up in such a way to give us all a little bit of a giggle.
On the nights of Thursday 24 and Friday 25 April, just such an alignment is going to take place, just before dawn.
The current waning crescent Moon will be joined in the sky by the planets Venus and Saturn in a close configuration that, depending on your geographical location, could resemble a smiley face – if that face is extremely elongated, pouting rather than smiling, and tilted.
OK, so the resemblance to a smiley face is passing, at best. But it’s a good opportunity to nip outside to look at the sky to see a configuration known as a conjunction – when two or more celestial objects appear close together.
In the case of the “smiley face” configuration, the Moon itself will be a mere sliver in the sky. The next new Moon is due to take place on 27 April, so only the barest crescent will be lit by sunshine. However, if you’re in an area with dark enough skies, you will see the eerie outline of the full disk of the Moon lit by earthshine – that’s light reflecting off Earth to dimly illuminate the Moon’s night side.
Venus and Saturn are both visible to the naked eye, and should be easy to spot. Venus will be very bright – it’s the brightest thing we can see in the night sky after the Moon – and Saturn less so, but still pretty bright.
You can enhance the viewing experience with a pair of binoculars or a backyard telescope. Pointing a telescope at Saturn and seeing its magnificent rings in real-time is a great experience everyone should try to have.
Mercury will also appear in the sky, closer to the horizon. It is also visible to the naked eye, but can be a bit harder to see due to its proximity to the Sun.
And, if you want to make an occasion of it, you can catch Mars and Jupiter earlier in the night, following the path of the Sun across the sky.
Venus will be at its brightest on the night of April 27; it won’t be as bright again in the sky until November 2026. Get out there, and give it a squiz.
Visit TimeandDate or Stellarium to figure out what’s going to be in the sky in your part of the world, and when.
