Best Smart Air Purifiers in 2022
Predawn risers will see a slew of worlds and a bright star in the early morning hours of Wednesday.
Ringed Saturn, bright Mars, and clouded Venus, as well as the moon and the bright star Antares, will all be visible in the sky at the same time.
Let’s start with Antares and the moon. The quarter moon will shine brightly above the red star known as the “rival of Mars” because of its resemblance to the Red Planet. Antares is the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius (the Scorpion), and it’s notable to astronomers since it’s a red giant at the end of its life.
In the southeast before sunrise, you can also go planet-hunting as three bright worlds show up. All three are visible to the naked eye, but if you have binoculars or a telescope, you will see them a bit more clearly.
Venus is easy to catch in the southeast before sunrise, as it glows brightly in white at -4.7 magnitude. Just below it will be Mars, the Red Planet, getting closer to magnitude 1 as the month wears on. (For comparison, most people with normal vision can see stars as dim as magnitude 6 in a dark sky.)
If you’re looking for binoculars or a telescope to see planets in the night sky, check our our guide for the best binoculars deals and the best telescope deals now. If you need photography equipment, consider our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography to prepare for the next planet sight.
Mars and Venus won’t show much more detail in binoculars or a telescope, but you may get lucky with Saturn and see its rings. Saturn will be somewhat dim at 0.7 magnitude or so, but it should be bright enough to spot with the naked eye if you know where to look in the east-southeast portion of the sky.
Planetary alignments like this are happily common because the moon, Earth and planets all orbit along the same plane in our solar system, known as the ecliptic. So even if you are clouded out for this opportunity, you’ll still have a chance to see Venus, Mars and Saturn in a celestial triangle before dawn on Sunday and Monday (March 27 and 28.)