A RARE ‘planet parade’ where Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Venus will align in the night sky will be visible tonight.
The six planets will move into a large arc that just about fits into your eye’s field of view.
The planets align every so often as they move in their individual orbits[/caption]
Although it’s important to note that only four planets, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus, will be visible to the naked eye.
Looking at the sky, Mars will be in the left corner of the eye, with Saturn and Venus in the right, Dr Dan Brown, an astronomy expert here at Nottingham Trent University, told The Sun.
Uranus and Neptune are never visible to the naked eye, as they are too far away from Earth.
The four visible planets, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus, will be strung across the evening sky on 18 January where you should be able to see them from 5pm to 9pm local time.
Although, the “best conditions” will be at 6pm, with Mars, Venus, and Saturn roughly 20 degrees above the horizon, according to Dr Brown.
Three planets will be particularly easy to find.
“Mars, Venus and Jupiter will be the brightest objects in the entire sky,” Dr Brown explained.
“Saturn is more like the 10th brightest, but still easy to find given its proximity to Venus.”
But if you’re struggling to find them, try using a sky map app like Night Sky.
A ‘planet parade’ is when four or more planets line up in the sky at once.
It will be visible until 21 February, with the best night to view being 21 January.
What causes the alignment?
Planets are constantly moving, which means their paths occasionally cross into an alignment in Earth's sky, as Dr Brown explains:
“All planets including Earth move in more or less the same plane in our solar system.
“So that from our perspective the planets are always very close to the apparent path of the Sun in the sky also known as the ecliptic.
“This means they will always be along this line.
“You could compare it with cars on a straight road.
“Since they can only drive on the road they will always be found along the road in more or less a line.
“What varies is how close they are to each other and when we can see them.”
Tips to view ‘planet parade’
Head outside early to allow your eyes to adjust to the dark.
This way you’ll be able to see Saturn, which won’t be as bright as Mars, Venus and Jupiter.
Dr Brown has encouraged stargazers to find a spot with clear views towards the northeast and southwest.
“Then look for the brightest objects in that large area of the sky,” he said.
There will be no need for cameras or telescopes, as these will only limit the portion of the sky you can see.
“These planets are bright and easy to find as they are the brightest ones around,” he added.
Don’t worry if you miss it – an even more spectacular display is coming.
On 28 February, all seven other planets in the solar system will appear in the night sky at the same time: Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars.
It’s not uncommon for a few planets to align – all it requires is for them to be on the same side of the Sun as the Earth.
But it’s quite rare for six planets to align, and even rarer for seven.
All you need to know about planets in our solar system
Our solar system is made up of nine planets with Earth the third closest to the Sun. But each planet has its own quirks, so find out more about them all…
- How old is Earth? Plus other facts on our planet
- How many moons does Mercury have?
- What colour is Venus?
- How far away is Mars to Earth? And other facts on the red planet
- How big is Jupiter?
- How many moons does Saturn have?
- Does Uranus have rings?
- How many moons does Neptune have?
- How big is Pluto?
- How hot is the Sun?
