Tonight, Vietnamese people, look up to the sky to see Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn... 'parading'

Venus is at its farthest from the sun in the sky tonight, January 10. Mars, meanwhile, won't be as bright in the January sky until February 2027.

The January sky will bring a rare and splendid sight with the convergence of 4 planets: Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn. Right now, astronomy lovers can look up to admire this amazing presence.

Venus reaches maximum eastern elongation

According to Timeanddate.com , Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars will align in a dazzling display in the night sky, a dream come true for astronomy enthusiasts and skywatchers in general.

Look up at the January night sky and see the magic

PHOTO: CAO AN BIEN

For most of January, as darkness falls, these four planets will be clearly visible in the sky. When you look to the southwest, you will see Venus and Saturn shining near the horizon. Above these two stars is a bright Jupiter and a sparkling Mars in the east. This convergence is on the plane showing the orbits of the planets around the sun. The Hanoi Astronomical Association said that tonight, January 10, Venus will be at its farthest position from the sun when observed from Earth. This planet will shine with an apparent brightness of -4.4 in the region of the constellation Aquarius. Venus appears about 44° high in the southwest just after sunset and sets after 9pm, meaning you will have about 3 hours to observe it. Venus is an inner planet compared to Earth, meaning it always appears close to the sun and is overshadowed by the star's bright light for most of the time.

The meeting of the four planets Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn in the night sky

You can only find it for a few months around the time of its greatest elongation. These appearances occur about every 1.6 years, alternating in the morning and evening sky depending on whether Venus is east or west of the sun. When it is in the east, it rises and sets a short time after the sun, meaning it can be seen in the evening sky after sunset as the Evening Star. Conversely, when it is in the west, it rises before the sun and shines brightly in the morning sky. At this time, it is called the Morning Star.

Mars and Venus are closest to Earth

Unlike Venus, Mars orbits the sun less closely than Earth, experts say. The best time to see Mars is when it is directly opposite the sun in the sky - what astronomers call its "opposition." Mars will reach this position on January 16. Mars will rise at sunset, reach its highest point in the sky around midnight, and set at sunrise. In the weeks surrounding opposition, Mars is brightest, and its reddish hue is especially noticeable to the naked eye. Mars will reach its next opposition on February 19, 2027. One of the reasons Venus and Mars can shine so brightly in our sky is because their orbits around the sun are relatively close to Earth's. Their actual distances from Earth change constantly as each planet moves in its orbit at different speeds.

This event is not just a spectacular sight to the naked eye. If you have a telescope, you can see both Uranus and Neptune.

In early January 2025, Mars will be the closest planet to Earth. On January 15, Venus will become Earth's closest neighbor. However, even at opposition in 2025, Mars will still be overshadowed by another planet - Jupiter. This is because Jupiter is so large. Jupiter's actual diameter is about 21 times larger than Mars'. Even when viewed from Earth, Jupiter's apparent size in the sky will be three times larger than Mars' on January 16. And what about Saturn? Its actual diameter is only slightly smaller than Jupiter's. However, Saturn is about twice as far from Earth as Jupiter and therefore appears less bright. One of the remarkable things about Saturn this January is that it is closer to Venus in the sky. In short, January 2025 is a great month to get out, look at the night sky and enjoy the wonders of our solar system. Watch from tonight.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/toi-nay-nguoi-viet-hay-nhin-len-troi-ngam-sao-kim-moc-hoa-tho-dieu-hanh-185250109203706689.htm