Rare Planetary Alignment: Witness Five Planets in the Night Sky – A Guide with Tips and Tools

2023-06-16 07:32:38

Skywatchers and astronomy enthusiasts are preparing for a unique event that sees five planets from the solar system line up in the night sky, according to StarWalk.

To enjoy this special event, you will need a very clear sky, a vision far from light pollution, and perhaps some binoculars or telescopes.

On the morning of June 17, regarding an hour before sunrise, look east. There, you will see a bright object near the horizon, which is Jupiter. It will be the brightest of the five planets and the easiest of all to spot.

Then, look a little to the right. There, you should be able to see Saturn over the southeastern horizon. It will appear fainter and smaller than Jupiter, but it will still be visible to the naked eye.

Then, your next bet will be to spot Mercury which is almost above the horizon, just below and left of Jupiter, between the eastern and northeastern horizons. After that, it will become difficult to monitor it.

As for Neptune and Uranus, which are farthest from Earth, they will be the weakest in the sky. Unless you have very clear skies free of light pollution, you will probably need binoculars or a telescope to spot these two planets.

Neptune will be regarding halfway between Jupiter and Saturn, and Uranus will be regarding halfway between Jupiter and Mercury. Therefore, the planets will travel across the sky, from lowest to highest, in the following order: Mercury, Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune, and then Saturn.

It may be difficult to determine the locations of planets among the stars in the sky, including the constellations, and to be able to locate them accurately, a group of applications can be adopted, such as the Stellarium application, which is available for free download, and Sky Tonight.

Planetary alignment, not an actual planetary parade, is what we observe from Earth

Planetary alignment occurs when multiple planets appear in Earth’s sky on the same side of the sun at the same time, according to Star Walk.

During this event, the planets of our solar system do not actually line up, but, otherwise, it is an optical phenomenon that allows seeing the planets close to each other in a small part of the sky.

The alignment of the five planets is a rare event, and the next similar alignment will not occur once more, according to StarWalk, until September 8, 2040.

Source: Russia Today

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