Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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. 2021 December 19 [2]The featured image shows a a sunset with the planets Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, the Moon, and Uranus all in a row. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Planetary Alignment over Italy Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Antonio Finazzi Explanation: It is not a coincidence that planets line up. That's because all of the [4]planets orbit the [5]Sun in (nearly) a single sheet called the plane of the [6]ecliptic. When viewed from inside that plane -- as [7]Earth dwellers are likely to do -- the planets all appear confined to a [8]single band. It is a coincidence, though, when [9]three of the brightest planets all appear in nearly the same direction. Such a coincidence was captured earlier this month. [10]Featured above (right to left), [11]Venus, [12]Saturn, and [13]Jupiter were all [14]imaged together in a line just after sunset, from the [15]San Fermo Hills, [16]Bergamo, [17]Italy. Joining the alignment are [18]Earth's Moon, and the position of the more distant [19]Uranus. Bands of clouds streak across the sky toward the [20]setting Sun. As [21]Comet Leonard fades, this planetary alignment -- absent the Moon -- should persist for the rest of the month. Discovery + Outreach: [22]Graduate student research position open for APOD Tomorrow's picture: comet fireball __________________________________________________________________ [23]< | [24]Archive | [25]Submissions | [26]Index | [27]Search | [28]Calendar | [29]RSS | [30]Education | [31]About APOD | [32]Discuss | [33]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [34]Robert Nemiroff ([35]MTU) & [36]Jerry Bonnell ([37]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [38]Specific rights apply. [39]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [40]ASD at [41]NASA / [42]GSFC & [43]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2112/PlanetsAligned_Finazzi_3757.jpg 3. https://www.facebook.com/antonio.finazzi.5 4. https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/ask-ethan-82-why-are-the-planets-all-in-the-same-plane-4470245c8743 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160731.html 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic#/media/File:Ecliptic_plane_side_view.gif 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170326.html 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic 9. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury/ 10. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=2347172088751018 11. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/venus/in-depth/ 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210919.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180226.html 14. https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/5a1854f1c22e9-png__700.jpg 15. https://www.google.com.sg/travel/entity/key/ChcIn8yn1OqAsptHGgsvZy8xMjJydnZoeRAE/overview 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Bergamo 17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy 18. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/earths-moon/overview/ 19. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/uranus/in-depth/ 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150512.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211212.html 22. https://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=41989 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211218.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 32. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=211219 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211220.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 36. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 37. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 39. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 40. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 43. http://www.mtu.edu/