Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn to align in straight line after 1,000 years- Where and How to watch celestial event?

Rare Planet Parade: In a rare and unique astronomical event, four planets- Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn will align in a straight line after 1,000 years during the last week of April 2022. Subhendu Patnaik, the Deputy Director of Pathani Samanta Planetarium in Bhubaneshwar said that the four planets will align in the eastern sky for around one hour before sunrise.

The rare and unique planet alignment will occur which is also popularly known as the ‘Planet Parade’ in which Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter will be lined up in a straight line. Even though there is no scientific definition of ‘Planet Parade’, the term is widely used in the field of astronomy to refer to an event that takes place when the planets of the solar system line up in a row in the same area of the sky.

When to watch Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn align in straight line?

One hour before sunrise on April 26 and April 27, the moon along with the 4 planets will be visible. On April 30, the brightest planets- Jupiter and Venus- will be seen very close together. Venus will be 0.2 degrees south of Jupiter.

In early April, Venus, Mars, and Saturn form a trio in the sky. Not to be left out, catch Jupiter similarly close to Venus on April 30.

More of "what's up" this month: https://t.co/TSK1zbIbrc pic.twitter.com/UJHKpGmNro

— NASA (@NASA) March 31, 2022

Where the four planets will be visible in a straight line?

The four planets- Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn will be aligned in the Northern hemisphere for about an hour before sunrise. The planets will be visible during the same time in the Southern Hemisphere.

Reportedly, the moon will move along with the four planets until April 29, and the others will remain in the cosmic line till early July 2022.

How to watch Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn align in straight line?

If the conditions are right and there are no clouds, the stargazers will be able to see the alignment of four planets with a naked eye and without the need for binoculars and telescopes.

Planet Parade: Which are the three most common types of Planet Parade?

1. When planets are lined up on one side of the Sun as seen up above the plane of our Solar System is termed the first kind of the Planet Parade. The alignment of the 3 planets on one side of the sun is very common. It can be seen on many days in a year.

2. The second one is when some planets appear in a small sector of the sky at the same time regardless of their visibility conditions. This type of planet parade happened on April 18, 2002, and July 2020.

3. The third planet parade happens on rare occasions where there are favourable conditions for observation of all or some of the planets. The alignment of Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars in a straight line in April 2022 will be an example of this particular planet parade.