Let’s watch the sky together at night. This “star map” is so beautiful!

(This article is reproduced from Xinhuanet)

Xinhua News Agency, Nanjing, April 18 (Pang Xueting) "Four planets in a row", "two stars accompanying the moon", Mercury's greatest eastern elongation... Starting from mid-to-late April this year, a "star map" with planets as the "protagonists" will appear in the night sky. Wang Kechao, the science director of the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that this "planet show" starting from April 18 is very worth watching. Among them, the "four planets in a row" of Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn is a wonderful astronomical phenomenon that can only be seen once every few years.

Wang Kechao introduced that in the early morning of April 18, 19 and 20, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn will be arranged in a straight line from low to high, almost equidistantly, presenting a rare "four-star conjunction". The planets involved in this "four-star conjunction" are all bright stars. Among them, the brightness of Venus, the brightest planet in the sky, reaches -4.2, and the brightness of Jupiter, the second brightest, reaches -2.1. Mars and Saturn are also very bright. At that time, the sky will be full of stars, which is very "pleasing to the eyes". If the weather is fine, the public can choose an open venue with a wide field of vision in the southeast to enjoy this magical scene.

After April 24, the moon gradually approaches the "four-star conjunction" and forms a "double-star-moon" landscape with Jupiter and Venus from April 27 to 28. At that time, the moon will be in the shape of a crescent, accompanied by two bright stars, like a romantic "star-moon picture".

Mercury's greatest eastern distance on April 29 will bring the April "planet show" to a perfect end. Wang Kechao said that as the planet closest to the sun, Mercury always "lingers" around the sun, so it is difficult for people to see it at ordinary times. Generally, it can only be found with the help of equipment in the twilight and dawn. The greatest eastern distance on the 29th provides a good opportunity for the public to directly see Mercury.

"During Mercury's greatest eastern elongation at the end of the month, Mercury will appear as an evening star in the low western sky after sunset. Interested members of the public can observe it directly with the naked eye," said Wang Kechao.