The so-called planetary parade which started last month is heading towards its grand finale. For a brief moment on February 28, all planets in our solar system will appear in the night sky – a celestial phenomenon that scientists have described as rare.
After Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune aligned in the night sky between January 21 and 29, it will be the last time until 2040 that all seven planets, including Mercury, will align to create a spectacular night sky.
What is planetary alignment?
Astronomers use planetary alignment to describe the phenomenon when planets gather closely on one side of the Sun at the same time. Any number of planets, ranging from three to eight constitutes an alignment. Five or six planets showing up together is known as a large alignment, with five-planet alignments significantly more frequent than six. However, seven-planet alignments are the rarest of all.
Unlike diagrams and illustrations, the planets will not be visible in a queue. Planets orbit the Sun in different orbits in three-dimensional space which makes it almost impossible for them to come together in a straight line.
“While it’s true that they [planets] will appear more or less along a line across the sky, that’s what planets always do. That line is called the ecliptic, and it represents the plane of the solar system in which the planets orbit around the Sun,” NASA explains.
“This is, incidentally, why we sometimes observe planets appearing to approach closely to each other on the sky, as we view them along a line while they careen around the cosmic racetrack.”
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How to view the planetary parade?
To witness the parade of planets, get far away from city lights to an open area or hill. If the weather is clear, you will be able to see most planets to the naked eye, bar Neptune and Uranus. A telescope might help you witness these two planets.
Notably, Mars will appear in the east, Jupiter and Uranus in the southeast, and Venus, Neptune, and Saturn in the west. While January was special due to the Quadrantid meteor shower and the partial planetary parade, February has the ingredients to be even more special, owing to the rare alignment.