A planetary alignment will appear in the early morning sky just before the start of Memorial Day weekend with the crescent moon serving as the centerpiece.
The planet alignment will be visible in the hour (about 30 to 40 minutes, according to EarthSky) before sunrise on May 23. Looking east, the thin Crescent moon will glow between Venus and Saturn in the eastern sky as the three bodies rise above the horizon. The Moon and Venus are the brightest objects in the night sky – Venus will shine the brightest, and Saturn will be fainter. Luckily, all three planets will be bright enough to see without a telescope.
As Time and Date reports, if the skies aren’t too cloudy where you are, and you have a clear view in the eastern direction, stargazers can look upon three very different worlds.
The Moon is our closest cosmic neighbor. It’s an airless, rocky body, and its surface is covered with asteroid impact craters and dark “seas” that are actually large and ancient plains of lava.
Venus is often called our twin planet because its size and structure is similar to Earth’s. But Venus is shrouded in thick clouds of sulphuric acid—which is why it shines so brightly.
Saturn is famous for being the ringed planet, although its rings were not discovered until the invention of the telescope in the 17th century. It is the second biggest planet in the solar system after Jupiter; like Jupiter, it’s a gas giant made mostly of hydrogen and helium.
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