Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2022 April 20
Planet Line over New York Bridge
Image Credit & Copyright: Stan Honda
Explanation: There’s an interesting sky to see if you wake up before the Sun. Lined up on toward the eastern horizon are four planets in a row. The planets are so bright they can even be seen from the bright sky inside a city. In fact, the featured image was taken from New York City, USA, with the foreground highlighted by the RFK (Triborough) Bridge. Pictured, the planets are, left to right, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn. The planets all appear in a row because they all orbit the Sun in the same plane. This plane, called the ecliptic plane, was created in the early days of our Solar System and includes all planets, including Earth. The morning planet parade will continue throughout April and May, and will even be joined by Mercury in June.
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Witches Of The Craft® 
This is incredible! I spent many summers in New York growing up. I didn’t look to the sky too often, I didn’t think there was too much to see given all the smog. The pace of life there has you scurrying from location to location. I often wished I could slow down and look around, I find myself wishing the same even now. This is a great reminder that nothing’s stopping me from pausing to enjoy the beauty of the Earth every now and again – and that you can find it in unexpected places if you care to look. To be able to see the planets lined up over the lit-up bridge like that is truly amazing. Thanks for posting this!
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