Chennai: A celestial treat awaits the city’s skywatchers this weekend, with four planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter — appearing together in the eastern sky before sunrise on Nov 14. Mars and Jupiter will also appear particularly close to each other on Nov 15-16. S Soundararajaperumal, former executive director of the Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre, said Venus would be the brightest and easiest to spot, while Mercury could be difficult to see as it would be low on the horizon. Mars and Jupiter would appear close together. “The best time to look for them is 45 to 60 minutes before sunrise. On Nov 30, the Moon will also appear right next to Mars and Jupiter,” he said. Jupiter and Mars will rise around midnight, followed by Venus at 4am and Mercury at 5am. With sunrise around 6am, twilight and atmospheric pollution could make Mercury difficult to spot, Perumal said.
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Skywatchers should choose a location with a clear eastern horizon, away from tall buildings. Binoculars may help locate Mercury, while astrophotographers can use a tripod and wide-angle lens to capture the planetary grouping. Experts said the parade is a fairly common visual event and will remain visible on successive mornings until Dec 2, with Mercury becoming easier to spot around Nov 20-22. Mars and Jupiter will be about 1.1 degrees apart at their closest, though they will remain roughly 550.6 million km apart in space.
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