Amateur Astronomers Pinpoint Planetary Alignments from New Mexico to Bochum

Four planets in the evening sky as seen from the mountains of southern New Mexico on 26 February. The first photo only shows three planets because twilight is still bright: Venus is low and centered...in a small clear band of sky that has scattered cirrus. Mercury is above and right of Venus where the sky is a dark shade of robin's egg blue. Saturn is near the top of the frame and left of center. Saturn appears bright because it sits in a dark blue sky. Second image is a finder chart from planetarium sky simulation software. 3rd image captures four planets. This portrait orientation image is a slightly closer look at this part of the sky, and ten minutes later than the first photo. Venus and Mercury are both close to thicker bands of cirrus clouds. Saturn is high up and easiest to see. A bit right of Saturn is a faint star. That faint star is actually Neptune. The 4th graphic is a finder chart for the 3rd image. #Astronomy #Venus #Mercury #Saturn #Neptune #NewMexico #Photography #Astrophotography #Evening #Twilight

Venus and the one-day old crescent moon in the evening sky, as seen from the mountains of southern New Mexico. Nowruz starts tomorrow! Happy New Year! #Venus #Moon #Crescent #NewMexico #Photography #Astrophotography #Nowruz #NewYear #Islam #Calendar #LunarMonth #Pisces #LunarCalendar

The planets #Venus and #Saturn in #conjunction 1/2 hour ago over Bochum, Germany - easily caught with a hand-held bridge camera at 1/4 and 1/3.2 second, f/2.8 and ISO 800 but marginal even in 11x70 binoculars: bad sky transparency, caused mostly by Sahara dust AFAIK took its toll. At these images with the best *photographic* contrast the Sun was 8 1/2° below the horizon while Saturn and Venus were 3 1/4° and 3 3/4° high, with the latter 83 times brighter.

Yay, in spite of #Mercury having dropped to +1.25 mag. and more clouds than yesterday here it is again, together with low #Venus, 1/2 hour ago this evening from #Bochum, Germany: two images 3 minutes apart, with solar depressions of 8°40' and 9°10', resp., Mercury at 5.3 and 4.8 and Venus at 1.3 and 0.9 degrees elevation, both 1/4 second at f/2.8 and ISO 800. Saturn was also detected again, much higher and way out of the frame.

No, there is no magnificent 'planetary parade' in the evening right now as the internet shouts from everywhere but on the other hand there is also more to see than just Jupiter high in the sky - as I could confirm Wednesday from Bochum, Germany, at 51.5°N, #Venus is already a bright if rather low evening star while #Saturn and #Mercury could still be spotted above her: see https://www.facebook.com/dan.fischer.393/posts/pfbid027a6qUBbjXPf96BtzV89HNTcEA8Z2y9gorSCns8sTzS3nTFUpngTXwagopfUAw6Ngl for more pictures and hard numbers!

APOD from 2026-02-24 #Planet Parade over Sydney Opera House This week, just after sunset, #Mercury, #Venus, #Saturn, and #Jupiter are visible to the naked eye in a line from the horizon. #Uranus and #Neptune can be seen with a #telescope. Best viewed this weekend globally along the ecliptic plane. HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260224.html#space #astronomy #planets #earth

Three planets in the evening sky, as seen from the mountains of southern New Mexico. (Evening of 21 February.) See the 2nd graphic for a finder chart from planetarium sky simulation software. These three planets are very different in brightness, but the differences in sky background surrounding each planet ends up making them all appear roughly the same brightness in the photo. Venus is brightest, followed by Mercury, with Saturn the faintest of the three. #Astronomy #Planets #Saturn #Venus #Mercury #Photography #Astrophotography #Evening #Twilight #Pisces #Cetus

APOD from 2026-02-21 Twilight with #Moon and #Planets Two days post-annular #eclipse, a crescent Moon with earthshine joins #Venus, #Mercury, and #Saturn in the twilight above Kirazli, Turkiye. Venus glows near the horizon, Mercury stands high above it, and Saturn is left of the Moon's crescent. HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260221.html#space #astronomy #lunar #planet #earth

#Zodiacal #Light is a faint, triangular white glow visible in the night sky, caused by sunlight scattering off a vast cloud of interplanetary dust orbiting the Sun. Often called "false dawn" (before sunrise) or "false dusk" (after sunset), it appears along the ecliptic plane, strongest in late winter/early spring evenings or autumn mornings. https://knowledgezone.co.in/kbits/69e1fc7c724c8ebf3af88ec2

APOD from 2007-04-14 #Venus by the Lake Venus shines as the evening star, visible near the Pleiades cluster. This tranquil scene from Bolu, Turkey, captures Venus's reflection in a lake, with Aldebaran and Hyades to the left, Orion's stars further left, and Sirius on the far left—contrasted by a lakeside light. HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070414.html

Brilliant Venus and subdued Saturn in the evening sky - as seen from the mountains of southern New Mexico on 8 March. #NewMexico #Venus #Saturn #Evening #Twilight #Photography #Astrophotography