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Skywatchers could receive a bit of cosmic positivity if they look up shortly before dawn on April 25. At around 5:30 AM EST, Venus, Saturn, and the moon will briefly align during a rare triple conjunction to resemble a smiley face when viewed from Earth. The trio will offer its grin for about an hour near the eastern horizon before the sun begins to rise.
“Anyone wanting to try for a glimpse of the conjunction should find a clear eastern horizon from which to observe,” NASA Solar System Ambassador Brenda Culbertson told local Kansas TV station KSNT.
According to Culbertson, Venus will be the higher of the two “eyes” while Saturn will be the lower, and the thin, crescent moon grin will appear slightly lower and farther north. The smile will be visible to the naked eye, although a backyard telescope or pair of binoculars should allow you to get a better look at the moon’s details.
Mercury may also appear below the triple conjunction depending on your location, although for many it will remain out of sight below the horizon. Unlike other regional sky events such as a total eclipse, the upcoming triple conjunction should also be visible to just about anyone in the world.
The smiling face is scheduled to appear only a few days after the peaks of the Lyrid meteor shower. Although ongoing, the shower will reach its peak between 10:30 PM and 5:00 AM local time from April 21-22. Night owl observers could see as many as 15 meteors per hour under sufficiently dark skies.
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