FIVE PLANETS WILL ALIGN ACROSS THE NIGHT SKY. HERE’S HOW YOU CAN SPOT THEM

Representational image.

Fri 24 March 2023:

As five planets get ready to align with one another, astronomers will be treated to yet another stunning sky display. Later this month, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Uranus will form another magnificent planetary parade.

On March 27, the planets will be in perfect alignment.You can see the moon that night as well as a well-known star cluster. However, not everyone will be able to see all five planets clearly.

Look towards the western horizon on the evening of March 28 if you want to witness the spectacular alignment of the five planets. You must stay clear of anything that might obstruct your vision. Those who live close to a beach with a shoreline that faces west will probably be able to see the spectacle the best.

The timing will also matter since two of these planets will set soon after sunset. Mercury and Jupiter won’t be visible for very long post-sunset and will set beyond the horizon 25 to 30 minutes later. However, both of them will be shining brightly but can be best viewed using binoculars a few minutes before sunset.

Both of them will be closer to the horizon. Mercury will be to the right of Jupiter. While Jupiter will vanish after a few days, Mercury will continue to remain visible.

Meanwhile, Venus is already becoming prominent in the western evening sky and will be the easiest to spot. The brightest planet and Uranus will appear higher up. It will also be the first planet you can see once the sun sets. Mars, which was 50.6 million miles away from Earth on November 30, is 211.4 million kilometres from our planet this time. However, it should still be easily visible in the night sky and will be quite high, near the moon.

This evening, the moon will be a crescent, with Mars visible to the moon’s upper left. It will be challenging to see Uranus, but binoculars will help.

Five planets also lined up a few weeks ago, and it also happened last year.

According to NASA, “the planets orbit around the Sun in approximately the same plane, the ecliptic plane, and thus trace similar paths across our sky,” which causes the planetary alignment.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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