This week, the sky will bring forth a smiley face in the rarest of celestial events.
According to NASA, Venus, Saturn, and a thin crescent Moon will unite on the 25th to provide a cosmic smiley face for star enthusiasts.
The special trinity appears in the east sky just a little before dawn: around 5:30 AM local time. Venus will blaze brightly from above, Saturn will sit downwards, and the crescent Moon will curve.
Provided the skies are clear, the trio will be visible to the naked eye across most of the Eastern hemisphere. Stargazers, however, better be quick, as the Sun is going to start washing it out within the hour.
Below it appears there might be Mercury pushing along into the picture, but given that it is constantly dimmer, it would be a hard one to get against the horizon.
A conjunction is when two or more planets or moons appear quite close together in the sky; triple conjunctions are especially rare and exciting!
“This is quite the jolly cosmic face,” notes Brenda Culbertson, NASA Solar System Ambassador, “with the crescent moon making up the smile and Venus and Saturn twinkling as eyes.”
Besides, it comes just after the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower (April 21-22), where viewers can take advantage of darker skies, as many as 15 meteors per hour, with the moon waning for ideal stargazing.
To give yourself a better shot in catching “smiley” alignment, you’ll want to find a good location that has flat and unobstructed views of the eastern horizon and set your alarm clock several hours earlier, because this cosmic treat won’t last for long!
