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StarDateYour guide to the universe Author: Billy Henry
StarDate, the longest-running national radio science feature in the U.S., tells listeners what to look for in the night sky. Language: en-us Genres: Astronomy, Education, Science Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Morning Meeting
Thursday, 16 April, 2026
There’s a frustrating meeting of planets in the early morning sky right now. It’s frustrating because the planets are quite low in the sky in the dawn twilight, so they’re hard to see. The participants in this meet-up are Mercury, Mars, and Saturn. Tomorrow, they’ll form a tight triangle. They’ll form a straight line on Monday before they begin to separate. Mercury is the brightest of the trio, followed by Saturn, then Mars. The planets aren’t actually anywhere close to each other – they just happen to line up in the same direction. Mercury is the closest, at a distance of a bit more than a hundred million miles. Mars is more than twice that far. And Saturn is farther still – almost a billion miles. Mercury is making a small loop across the dawn before dropping back into the solar glare. It’s the closest planet to the Sun, so it never moves far from the Sun in our sky. That means our chances to see it are limited. Mars and Saturn are farther from the Sun than Earth is, so they move all the way across the sky. Both are slowly working higher into the dawn. As the months pass, they’ll rise earlier and remain in view longer. For now, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn are quite low in the east as twilight paints the sky. They’re tough to see, especially from farther north. From the U.S., the best views are from places like Miami and Honolulu. The best place to watch the meet-up is the southern hemisphere. Script by Damond Benningfield
