On the night of December 28th, it will be possible to see all of the planets in the solar system (excluding Earth) at the same time. This includes Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, which are all visible to the naked eye. Uranus and Neptune, the outermost planets, can be seen with binoculars or a telescope. This is a rare opportunity to observe all of the planets in the solar system at once.
Gianluca Masi, an astronomer with the Virtual Telescope Project (VTP), has informed Newsweek that the best times to view the planetary parade will be December 31st, Wednesday, and Thursday. Masi also mentioned that Mercury is quickly fading and moving back into the sun's glare, so it may not be visible for much longer.
Witness the Five Planets Align
The VTP is offering a live stream of the solar system's grand tour, which will begin at 4 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or 11 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on December 28th and will last approximately 45 minutes. If you are unable to observe the planetary parade in person or would prefer to watch from home, you can tune in to the live stream.
The Virtual Telescope Project is a service offered by the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Ceccano, Italy, managed by Masi, that operates and provides access to robotic, remotely operated telescopes. During the live stream, Masi will use his camera to show each planet in the sky and will share in real-time what the device is seeing.
As reported by Space.com, the five planets that are visible to the naked eye - Venus, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, in that order - will be aligned in the sky starting from the southwestern horizon. It may be challenging to see Mercury, the smallest planet in the solar system, with the naked eye, but it is possible if the sky conditions are dark enough. Uranus, which can only be seen through binoculars or a telescope, will be located between Mars and Jupiter, while Neptune, which can also only be viewed through optics, will be located between Saturn and Jupiter.
An illustration showing the planets of the solar system. It is currently possible to see all the planets of the solar system simultaneously in the night sky.
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Celestial Phenomenon
The alignment of the planets is not a rare occurrence, happening at least every few years. The last time all eight planets were aligned was in June. To see the phenomenon, it is suggested that you look south after sunset. The planets will appear in the following order from east to west: Mars, Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Mercury, and Venus. Vahé Peroomian, a professor of astronomy and physics at the University of Southern California, advises looking southward about 30 to 45 minutes after sunset to spot Mercury and Venus before they get too close to the horizon, and Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars will be visible once it gets dark from the southeast to east.
Planets can appear in the same part of the sky as they orbit the sun, according to Peroomian. He explained that Mercury completes one orbit in 88 days, Venus in 225 days, Jupiter in 12 years, and Saturn in 29 years. This means that as long as Jupiter and Saturn are visible, the remaining planets will eventually line up, as they all orbit the sun at different speeds. It is less common for Uranus and Neptune to be visible at the same time, as they take 165 years and 84 years, respectively, to orbit the sun.
These two planets also spend considerable time on opposite sides of the sun from our perspective. On Wednesday night, Uranus and Neptune will be relatively close together, but because Uranus moves around the sun twice as fast as Neptune, they will move further apart from each other. As a result, it will not be possible to see both planets in the night sky at the same time for several decades, according to Peroomian, as per CBS News.
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