                        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 April 20

                      Planet Line over New York Bridge
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Stan Honda

   Explanation: There's an interesting sky to see if you wake up before
   the Sun. Lined up on toward the eastern horizon are four planets in a
   row. The planets are so bright they can even be seen from the bright
   sky inside a city. In fact, the featured image was taken from New York
   City, USA, with the foreground highlighted by the RFK (Triborough)
   Bridge. Pictured, the planets are, left to right, Jupiter, Venus, Mars,
   and Saturn. The planets all appear in a row because they all orbit the
   Sun in the same plane. This plane, called the ecliptic plane, was
   created in the early days of our Solar System and includes all planets,
   including Earth. The morning planet parade will continue throughout
   April and May, and will even be joined by Mercury in June.

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                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

