Technologies

A 4-Planet Parade Is Coming This Month. Here’s How to View It

A cosmic lineup is coming: Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Neptune will shine side by side in the night sky.

Space activity is picking up in April with two meteor showers and the historic launch of Artemis II, which finally sent humans back to the moon and is due to return home on Friday. Stargazers looking for more to do during the first full month of spring have a few more things coming, including a minor planet parade where four planets are set to be in the sky at the same time.

The small parade starts around April 16 and lasts until nearly the end of the month. It features Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Neptune. All four planets are relatively close to one another on the eastern horizon just before sunrise each day. Those planning to view the parade will need to stay up almost all night or wake up very early to see it.

The best time to view it depends on where you are. If you’re at a higher elevation, the best time is just before 6 a.m. local time. People at sea level will have to wait for the planets to come up above the horizon just after 6 a.m. local time, and they’ll be swiftly chased by the sun, giving viewers a narrow window to view all four planets before sunrise.

Since sunrise is dependent on location, you may have as long as 40 minutes or as little as 20 to see all four planets. You’ll want to check the sunrise times in your area to see if you have enough time to spot all four planets before the sun comes up.

The proximity to the sun and the narrow window make April’s planet parade one of the more difficult ones to see, according to Geza Gyuk, senior director of astronomy at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium.

«Mercury is, as always, close to the sun and hard to see,» Gyuk told me. «Since Mars and Saturn will be close to Mercury, they will also be hard to see without a very low eastern horizon.»

April’s planet parade gets easier to see as the days go on, and attempts made after April 20 are likely to be more successful than those made before. April 18 to 24 are the best days to try. Before those dates, Saturn is a bit close to the sun and rises late over the horizon, and after them, Mercury starts to drift precariously close to the sun.

Get out (or borrow) a telescope

Skygazers need a telescope at a minimum to see all four planets, since Neptune is not visible to the naked eye.

Even using a telescope, Gyuk says it takes some skill to pick out Neptune in the night sky. He also recommends taking a pair of binoculars, since it’ll make the other three planets easier to see, but warns skygazers to be careful not to look directly at the sun while using them.

The usual stargazing rules apply: You’ll have better luck away from light pollution, so leave the city and suburbs to get the best view.

The chance to see four planets in the sky at the same time, and so close together, isn’t terribly common. Gyuk says that astronomers tend not to refer to these events as planet parades — instead calling them «planetary alignments» — but also rarely pass up the opportunity to view planets in unique configurations like this.

«I always try to catch a glimpse at least whenever this sort of planetary alignment occurs,» Gyuk said. «It is a thrill to me.»

Technologies

How to Watch the Artemis II Splashdown Tonight on Netflix

You can also stream it live on services like HBO Max and YouTube.

NASA’s Artemis II mission is nearly complete, and Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are homeward bound on the Orion spacecraft. Now that you’ve watched the flyby livestream (which reportedly was NASA’s most-watched event), are you planning to see the astronauts land back on Earth? You have multiple ways to tune in for live coverage as this historic event comes to a close.

Orion’s splashdown in the Pacific Ocean will happen Friday evening, and thanks to the ability to watch live programming from the NASA Plus streaming service on Netflix, you can tune in via the streaming service. See below for details on when to watch.

How to watch the Artemis II return landing on Netflix

You can tune into live coverage of the Artemis II splashdown event on Netflix here starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. PT). Orion’s reentry and splashdown are expected to occur at approximately 8:07 p.m. ET.

If you want to rewatch the lunar flyby, Netflix has it available to stream as well.

Watch the Artemis flyby via CNET, HBO Max, Apple TV and more

You can also watch using streaming services such as HBO Max, Prime Video, Peacock, NASA’s YouTube channel and with the NASA apps for Apple TV, Amazon and Roku, which provide access to the NASA Plus streaming service.

If you need another way to watch the splashdown, check out live coverage here via CNET’s YouTube account.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 11, #1035

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for April 11, No. 1,035.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle features another one of those purple categories where you need to look inside words for other words. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Vroom-vroom!

Green group hint: They provide help.

Blue group hint: They hold things up.

Purple group hint: Wavy words.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Found in the trunk of a car.

Green group: Benefactor.

Blue group: Structural supports.

Purple group: Ending in bodies of water.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is found in the trunk of a car. The four answers are ice scraper, jack, jumper cables and spare tire.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is benefactor. The four answers are angel, champion, patron and sponsor.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is structural supports. The four answers are beam, brace, column and strut.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ending in bodies of water. The four answers are Bombay, Chelsea, screwdriver and snowflake.

Technologies

Amazon Luna to Drop Support for Third-Party Games and Subscriptions in June

Amazon looks to reshape its cloud gaming service, which has yet to catch on with gamers.

Amazon Luna, the retail giant’s cloud gaming service, will make a big change in June. In the same vein as Prime Video, users were able to bring over their third-party subscriptions and use them to play games in the cloud, but that all changes on June 10.

Luna will no longer support third-party subscriptions or games, according to the Luna support page updated on Friday. This feature allowed users to play games purchased from other online game stores such as EA, Ubisoft or GOG, as well as titles available via Ubisoft Plus and Jackbox Games subscriptions. Starting June 10, Luna subscribers will only have access to games available in the Luna library.

Amazon didn’t provide a reason for this change other than saying, «As our library continues to grow, more of that content is available to Prime members, and that’s where we’re focusing our future.»

What is Amazon Luna?

Amazon Luna is the company’s cloud gaming service. It went live back in 2020 to compete with Google’s now-defunct Stadia cloud gaming service, as well as Xbox and PlayStation’s cloud gaming. Initially, Luna required its own subscription, but it has since been added as a benefit with an Amazon Prime membership.

The Luna Standard plan that comes with Prime includes nearly 100 games, including major titles such as Alan Wake 2, Death Stranding and Hogwarts Legacy. Luna Premium is a higher tier for the service that costs $10 a month and comes with a bigger library of games that includes Madden NFL 26, Mafia: Definitive Edition and EA FC 26.

Luna is available for use on PCs, laptops, phones, tablets, Fire TVs, Fire tablets, certain Samsung and LG smart TVs, as well as Comcast’s Xfinity devices.

What’s changing with Amazon Luna?

On June 10, users will only be able to access games in their Luna library. They will no longer have access to games from third-party game stores or via third-party subscriptions.

What happens with my game saves on Amazon Luna?

According to the support page, game saves will be available for download 90 days after June 10. Accessing the saves can be done via the Settings page on Luna. Amazon does warn that the save data downloaded may not work on other platforms, and those users should access the saves right away to check for compatibility.