Stargazing 2024: Solar eclipse, supermoons and meteor showers

2024's most spectacular celestial events, like eclipses and meteor showers, will be visible to the naked eye if you know when and where to spot them.

If you enjoy looking up at the sky and observing the stars and planets, you'll want to be up early on the morning of April 20, providing there are clear skies.

An astronomical event is happening that will be sure to impress all the stargazers out there in Massachusetts and Rhode Island: a planetary alignment of five planets.

So grab your binoculars and telescopes and head out to check out some of the galaxy's magic.

A planetary alignment will occur that very early that morning just before sunrise, according to Star Walk. This particular planetary alignment will feature five planets, Saturn, Mars, Neptune, Mercury and Venus.

Planetary alignment is an astronomical term for when several planets gather closely on one side of the sun. The planets will form a line, but it is almost never a straight line as the orbits are not the same, according to The Commercial Appeal.

Most of the planets will be visible to the naked eye, making this an easy event to see. The timing of just about an hour before sunrise makes it a particularly easy one to make a plan to see, especially if you're a morning person.

Yellow-tinted Saturn will be the first planet to appear about an hour before the local sunrise, according to Star Walk and you'll be able to see it without equipment.

Mars will rise next. The planet has a reddish tint. Like Saturn, it should be visible to the naked eye.

Neptune will rise a short time later but Star Walk said people will need binoculars to see this planet. It will be in the constellation Pisces.

At dawn, Mercury and Venus will appear on the eastern horizon. Venus will be visible with the naked eye but Mercury will be hard to see without binoculars or a telescope.

In a past interview with Wicked Local, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Technical Instructor and Observatory Manager Tim Brothers said that sky watching was becoming increasingly popular since the start of the pandemic four years ago.

"Our observatory tours have been selling out," Brothers said at the time. "A lot of neat things are happening." He added that MIT had been working to "triple the size" of its current observatory.

Brothers stressed at the time that to get the best viewing experience when stargazing, "it is always better to use a good telescope or binoculars."

If you're hoping for a better view, consider these tips/

• A telescope helps: NASA states, "Telescopes come in a huge variety of sizes and configurations – from fully automated, desktop-sized, point and click models you control with an app, to large, open-frame scopes you can build yourself. They can be fully manual in operation – where you point them where you like using your hands – or driven by motorized mounts with computerized tracking systems...as you might imagine, telescopes are available at a wide range of prices. But note that you don't have to spend large sums of money to access one.
• Find dark skies: Brothers said that when watching the sky in the evening, or early-morning hours, it's better to get away from the city, so lights don't get in the way of viewing.
• Try Binoculars: Binoculars can work, but are not as effective as a good telescope, Brothers said in a past interview with Wicked Local.

• Loines Observatory in Nantucket, MA
• Boston University Observatory in Boston, MA
• High Rock Park, Tower and Observatory in Lynn, MA
• Werner Schmidt Observatory on Cape Cod, MA
• Frosty Drew Observatory & Sky Theater in Charlestown, RI
• Margaret M. Jacoby Observatory in Warwick, RI
• Fox Point Observatory in Providence, RI
• Seagrave Memorial Observatory, North Scituate, RI

News Source : https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/news/regional/2024/04/19/stargazing-planet-alignment-saturn-mars-neptune-mercury-venus-april/73368174007/