Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 May 4
The featured image shows a series of four planets
lining up in the morning over the ancient Egyptian 
pyramid known as Djoser. The image was taken is late
April.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Planets Over Egyptian Pyramid
Image Credit & Copyright: Osama Fatehi

Explanation: The early morning planet parade continues. Visible the world over, the planets Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn have been lining up in the pre-dawn sky since mid-April. In the featured image taken last month, these planets were captured over the Step Pyramid of Djoser, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located in the Saqqara necropolis of Egypt, the pyramid was constructed in the 27th century BC and is one of the oldest pyramids known. The two-image composite includes a foreground image taken during evening blue hour, and a background image captured from the same location the following morning. The morning planet line-up is slowly changing. At the end of last month, planets Jupiter and Venus switched places, while at the end of this month, Jupiter and Mars will switch after passing within one-degree of each other. Of course, this picturesque planetary angular alignment is a coincidence, as all of these worlds continue to orbit the Sun as they have for billions of years, well before even the ancient Pyramid of Djoser was built.

Notable Submissions to APOD: Morning Planet Parade 2022
Tomorrow's picture: far far away


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