Starwatch: social distancing means nothing to heavenly bodies

Starwatch chart 13 April 2020 Moon Mars, Saturn, Jupiter

The moon meets three planets just before dawn this week. Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are still close to each other in the morning sky, drawing a line from Capricornus, the goat, into Sagittarius, the archer. From London, the trio of planets rises in the early hours of the morning, just over an hour before the sun. This means that they do not reach high into the sky before daylight removes them from view, and so an unobstructed south-eastern horizon is needed to see them. This week, the planets are joined by the waning moon. On 14 April, the moon will be approaching Jupiter. A day later it will be heading past Saturn, and then Mars on 16 April. The chart shows the view looking south-east from London on 15 April at 05:00 BST, when the moon will be in its last quarter phase. From Sydney, Australia, the grouping is much easier to see. It will be high in the eastern sky, with the planets forming a line that points down to the horizon.