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Explaining why four planets will be visible this weekend
FOX 5's Matthew Cappucci tells when you can see Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn this weekend, and explains why it is happening.
Early risers should set their alarm clocks for an hour before sunrise Saturday and Sunday mornings. An assortment of four planets will be visible in the eastern skies.
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Venus and Jupiter will be making a close pass, or "conjunction." NASA writes that the two planets will appear to "nearly collide."
There's nothing that stipulates how close together the planets must appear to be a "conjunction," but the generally-accepted definition is within a couple of degrees.
Courtesy: NASA
Technically speaking, Venus and Jupiter will be more than 430,000,000 miles apart, but from our vantage point on Earth, one will be slipping nearly in front of the other — making them appear to virtually sideswipe one-another.
Venus will appear brighter and yellowish in nature thanks to its atmosphere of carbon dioxide and clouds of sulfuric acid. A visitor to Venus would be poisoned by the atmosphere, crunshed by its weight (90 times that of Earth's atmosphere) and scorched by its 900 degree temperatures all at once.
Jupiter, slightly fainter, is the first of the gas giants and outer planets, and in a telescope would appear red.
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You don't need a telescope to enjoy the conjunction though! Simply look east about an hour before sunrise. You may also catch Mars and Saturn in a line too.
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After Sunday, Jupiter will continue zipping up and right in the night sky, leaving Venus lollygagging behind near the eastern horizon.