4 planets line up like ducks in a row in gorgeous night-sky image [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

By Stephanie Pappas published about 4 hours ago

Astrophysicist captures the planetary parade.

The moon is leading a parade of planets across the predawn sky this week. And Italian astrophysicist Gianluca Masi captured the celestial show in a gorgeous image shot from his balcony in Rome.

In advance of an unusual alignment of the five visible planets in the solar system, four planets are lining up behind the moon like ducks in a row. Since April 23, Saturn, Mars, Venus and Jupiter have all been visible above the horizon in the early morning hours in the Northern Hemisphere.

"This morning I could enjoy the planetary parade involving Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn, plus the moon. It was an amazing sight, all the four planets were very easy to see," Masi told Live Science in an email.

The night-sky photo is a precursor to a bigger planetary parade this summer, as Mercury will join the line-up in mid-June.

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