Saturn, Venus, Neptune to align in planetary triangle tomorrow
What's the story
Tomorrow, the pre-dawn sky will be graced by a celestial event. Three planets, Saturn, Venus, and Neptune, will align in a triangular formation.
The arrangement will be visible here subject to certain conditions.
This is because the Neptune's visibility is a a bit tricky since it is faint compared to other celestial bodies.
How to watch
Challenging to observe from New Delhi
From New Delhi, Saturn and Venus will be challenging to observe, appearing no higher than 15 degree above the horizon, according to stargazing website in-the-sky.org.
Visible in the dawn sky, they will rise at 03:48am (IST), one hour and 51 minutes before the Sun, reaching a height of 15 degree above the eastern horizon before fading as dawn breaks around 5:05am.
Visibility
Viewing conditions for the planetary triangle
The ideal time to catch this celestial treat is the hour before sunrise on April 28.
Observers will need an unobstructed view of the eastern horizon.
Venus, the morning star, will be seen near the horizon with a brightness magnitude of -4.42.
Saturn will be seen a few degrees away from Venus (at a magnitude of 1.0) in the bottom left position, but will be much dimmer than its companion planet.
Identification
Neptune's visibility and how to spot it
Unlike Venus and Saturn, Neptune won't be visible to the naked eye. However, it can be spotted with a good pair of binoculars or a telescope.
It will appear as a small bluish-green dot below and slightly left of Venus in the sky.
To safely observe these celestial bodies, viewers are advised against pointing binoculars/telescopes directly at the Sun or looking at it with the naked eye.
Information
Mercury's presence during the event
Along with Saturn, Venus, and Neptune, Mercury will also be visible in the pre-dawn sky. It will appear near the eastern horizon at this time. However, its visibility will be short-lived as it will soon be obscured by light from our rising Sun.