Incredible photo captures the moment the planets Mars, Saturn and Jupiter align above a waning Pink Moon just before dawn
- The celestial lineup was captured above the village of Cobham, England
- This is the closest that the three planets will seem from the Earth until 2022
- ‘Near’ to Jupiter and Saturn today, the Moon will ‘approach’ Mars overnight
- Stargazers can catch tomorrow’s show over the eastern horizon before sunrise
An incredible photograph has captured the moment the planets Mars, Saturn and Jupiter aligned above a waning Pink Moon just before dawn this morning.
The juxtaposition — the closest the three planets will appear to be until 2022 — was captured over the village of Cobham, in the borough of Gravesham, Kent, England.
While really millions of miles apart, from our perspective here on Earth the planets will remain ‘lined up’ until Tuesday as the Moon appears to pass them by.
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An incredible photograph, above, has captured the moment the planets Mars, Saturn and Jupiter aligned above a waning Pink Moon just before dawn this morning
Joining the lined-up planets, the Moon appeared today to pass within 2° of both Saturn and Jupiter — and tomorrow will see it pass within 2° of Mars in turn.
Today’s arrangement follows on from a line-up of the four bodies together on Tuesday morning, in front of the stellar constellations of Capricorn and Sagittarius.
With the full moon having been last week, the satellite has been rising later each day — meaning that it is also late to set and visible over the eastern horizon before dawn.
This week the moon will be around 243,000 miles (390,000 km) away from the Earth, while Mars lies 125 million miles (200 million km) out, Jupiter at 473 million miles (761 million km) away, and Saturn 936 million miles (1.51 billion km) distant.
For those hoping to spot the final line-up of the three planets in the early hours of tomorrow morning, one is advised to look for the lights that — unlike stars — do not appear to ‘twinkle’ in the night sky.
This effect is caused by the interference of the light from the stars from the Earth atmosphere — an impact which is less pronounced on the brighter and closer planets that make up our solar system.
The juxtaposition — the closest the three planets will appear to be until 2022 — was captured over the village of Cobham, in the borough of Gravesham, Kent, England
While really millions of miles apart, from our perspective here on Earth the planets will remain ‘lined up’ until Tuesday as the Moon appears to pass them by
The alignment of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn was not the only event to grace the heavens today.
At 2:02 AM, the recently-discovered asteroid #2020GH flew close by Earth, passing within around 212,360 miles (341,760 kilometres) of the planet.
However, at only 82 feet (25 metres) in diameter, this visitor to our neighbourhood would not have been visible in the night sky to the naked eye.
WHAT IS A FULL PINK MOON AND WHERE DOES IT GET ITS NAME?
The phenomenon, known as the ‘Pink Moon’, earns its name from the flowering of the brightly-coloured herb ‘moss pink,’ which typically coincides with its arrival.
It’s also known as the Egg Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Growing Moon or Full Fish Moon.
The name comes from the Herb moss pink phlox, or ‘wild ground’ phlox, which blooms in early spring in the US and Canada.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the April full moon lines up with the blooming of one of spring’s earliest-flowering plants – wild ground phlox, or ‘moss pink’.
The phenomenon, known as the ‘Pink Moon’, earns its name from the flowering of the brightly-coloured herb ‘moss pink’
The pink moon, which is also known as the grass moon and the egg moon, was given its moniker by Native Americans, who provided a name for each full moon to help them keep track of time.
Native Americans have a name for the full moon of every month in the calendar, including Wolf Moon for January, Snow Moon for February and Worm Moon for March – then Flower Moon in May. Strawberry Moon is for June, Buck Moon is for July and Sturgeon Moon is for August.
In September, there is a Harvest Moon, Hunter’s Moon is in October, Beaver Moon is in November and Cold Moon is in December.