                        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.

                              2026 February 24
   The featured image shows four planets lined up behind the Sydney Opera
   House in Australia. The image was taken one morning in April 2022, just
        before sunrise. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                    Planet Parade over Sydney Opera House
                  Image Credit & Copyright: Prasun Agrawal

   Explanation: Look up this week and see a whole bunch of planets. Just
   after sunset, looking west (mostly), planets Mercury, Venus, Saturn,
   and Jupiter will all be visible to the unaided eye simultaneously. If
   you have a telescope, planets Uranus and Neptune can also be seen. In
   order up from the horizon, the lineup this week will be Venus (the
   brightest), Mercury, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Jupiter (second
   brightest). It doesn't matter where on Earth you live because this
   early evening planet parade will be visible through clear skies all
   around the globe. The planets will appear to be nearly in a line
   because they all orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane: the ecliptic.
   The featured image shows a similar planet parade that occurred in 2022,
   captured over the Sydney Opera House in southern Australia. Although
   visible all week, the planets will be most easily seen together this
   weekend.

                        Tomorrow's picture: space egg
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

