Look to the Sky: A Rare Planetary Alignment on Friday Night
This Friday night, don’t miss the rare opportunity to witness a spectacular celestial event: a planetary alignment featuring seven planets. Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars will all appear together in what is known as a “planetary parade” shortly after sunset.
The Big Picture: February 28th is considered the best day to see this alignment worldwide. According to the astronomy website and app Star Walk, this event is a must-see for stargazers and astronomy enthusiasts alike.
What is a Planetary Parade? A planetary alignment occurs when planets appear close together in the sky. There are different types of alignments:
- Mini alignments: Involve three planets.
- Small alignments: Include four planets.
- Large alignments: Feature five or six planets.
- Great or full planetary alignments: Extremely rare, involving all the planets.
When to Watch: To catch the seven-planet alignment, find a location with a dark sky, free from light pollution, and with a clear view of the horizon. Sunset times is at 5:55 p.m. in Corinth. You can use the Sun calculator at Timeanddate.com to determine the exact time for your area. Experts recommend starting to look for the planets about half an hour after sunset.
How to See the Planetary Alignment:
- Visible to the Naked Eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter will be visible without any special equipment.
- Using a Telescope: To see Uranus and Neptune, you’ll need a telescope after it gets dark. According to Preston Dyches, a public engagement specialist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mercury and Saturn will be too low and faint for most observers to spot.
Why This Event is Special: What makes this celestial event particularly special is that the planets will be in roughly the same region of the sky during the dark sky phase of a new Moon. This offers a better chance for visibility, though weather and cloud conditions can impact your ability to see the planets.
Looking Ahead: If you miss this alignment, don’t worry! There will be more opportunities to see multiple planets in March, according to EarthSky. Additionally, a total lunar eclipse is coming up on the night of March 13 or early in the morning on March 14, depending on your time zone. During this event, the Moon will pass into Earth’s shadow and appear to turn red.
