Missing northern lights? Watch this light show instead

If you don’t believe in miracles, how would you explain 2020’s best night sky falling at a time when the biggest culprits of stargazing, haze and pollution, are almost non-existent due to the COVID lockdown?

By the way, ever stargazed?

Stargazing makes you feel detached and connected, trivial and significant, meaningless and worthwhile, all at the same time. If you’re into this, you shouldn’t miss this weekend’s night sky for the world. The brightest planet Venus crosses the beautiful Seven Sisters on Friday and luckily we, the quarantined, need not do much other than getting up and going to the terrace; as if it is written in the stars.

NASA says,

“From April 1-5, watch each night as Venus climbs higher in the sky each evening, crossing through the Pleiades star cluster. The real highlight is on April 3rd, when Venus will appear inside the Pleiades cluster — meaning it’ll be in the same field of view through binoculars or a telescope with a wide field of view.”

Venus and the Pleiades star cluster, also known as Seven Sisters, cross paths only once in 8 years, making this Friday the best stargazing night in 2020. Especially at 11:30 PM IST on April 3, Venus will be inside the Pleiades for a while before this moonlight tryst ends in the ensuing days. A rare celestial occurrence to watch, indeed, and contemplate the beauty of this vast, vast universe.

NASA also adds that the viewers are in for a stunning show!

There is a lot happening in the sky this month, such as:

?Venus appearing inside a star cluster
?The planetary quartet of Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and the Moon
?A Supermoon on April 7

All this and more on the latest episode of What’s Up: https://t.co/LxsmW42yp3 pic.twitter.com/X42rQ0SIbe

— NASA (@NASA) April 1, 2020

Also, you don’t need to count on a clear sky and a serene surrounding to watch this marvel. You can also live-stream it online. It’s time to grab your coffee mug, tripod, find a place and settle under the stars.

If you like this idea, you will like the northern lights as well. Get inspired by the northern lights packages by Pickyourtrail so you can plan a vacation of your own when the lockdown ends.

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Calvin: If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I’ll bet they’d live a lot differently.
Hobbes: How so?
Calvin: Well, when you look into infinity, you realize that there are more important things than what people do all day.