After the meeting between Venus and Pleiades, now it’s up to the other planets to show off

April 2020 is the month of planetary conjunctions: after the show of Venus few days ago, now it's up to others. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are dominating the sunrise during these days, but this is just a preview: in the next few days, after Easter Day, Moon is getting closer and closer to them, to show an amazing triple conjunction. Set up the timer, the show will be on air at the sunrise!

The Mars dancing, next to Saturn and Jupiter

Jupiter and Saturn are visible by weeks at the sunrise, cause of "their slow motion" in the sky due to their revolution period around the Sun: 12 years for Jupiter, almost 30 for Saturn. So, they "move" in visible sky with a slow motion, so they apparently look close by some weeks. On the contrary, Mars is definitely much closer to Earth than its "fellow travellers" and, obviously, its apparent motion in the sky is definitely faster! You should never forget Kepler's 2nd law, which i usually resume as

closer your distance to the sun, faster your revolution.... and even farther you are, slower you are

Remembered this, let's see what will happen next week between 12th and 16th of April. On 12th of April, we already have the triple planetary alignment, but the Moon (in waning phase) is still far from them

It's sufficient waiting only 3 days, while the Moon continues its motion to East, getting closer and closer. On 15th of April (and also on 16th) the show is amazing

Even in this case, I suggest to you small focal lenght lenses, for example 20-100 mm, but not much greater. A good time to observe and shot, will be around 5:20-5:40 am

Good luck!

See you next time