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Venus surpasses Mercury by 70 times, so it will be much lighter than its sister planet Earth, and all planets will appear in the night sky as small points of light for stargazers in the northern hemisphere, while Mercury is the most difficult planet to see without magnification, as it is located in part bright from the sky, yet it can be spotted near the much brighter planet Venus, As tonight they appear only 1.5 degrees away, and they reach conjunction – their closest point – on December 29 at 21:00 GMT, and the two will not be that close once more until 2024, as they can be spotted low in the west, and you will get better A view regarding half an hour following sunset, with the disappearance of Venus regarding 40 minutes later.
While the rest of the planets line up towards the east, Jupiter appears brighter than all the stars and high in the southern sky, and while the largest planet in our solar system disappears just before midnight, Mars remains visible all night following rising in the east just before sunset, and it will appear red and more brighter than most stars, while its neighbor Saturn will be golden in color when it appears in the southwest following dark.
The moon will also join the lineup of planets, appearing in the form of a waxing crescent between Jupiter and Saturn tonight, and Gianluca Massi, an astronomer with the Virtual Telescope Project, told Newsweek: “On these nights, we can see all the planets of our solar system at a glance, well following sunset.” It’s short, and it happens from time to time, but it’s always an amazing sight.”
The five worlds will shine in succession as they all travel at the level of the solar system, known as the ecliptic, yet they will not be as close as it seems, because each planet is millions of miles away from the others.
The “planet parade” was last seen from the UK in June, when it was also joined by a crescent moon, and the five planets visible to the naked eye appeared in order of their distance from the Sun – a lineup not seen in 18 years, and will continue to be seen until the end of this month. Only the year, when Mercury will fade.
The Virtual Telescope Project will broadcast the planet’s view live on YouTube above the horizon in Rome, Italy tonight at 16:00 GMT.