A RARE planetary parade is to emerge in the night sky this week for the last time until 2040.
Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Saturn and Mercury will be strung across the sky in an arc shape on 28 February.
2
2
The moment will be short, lasting until roughly 6:30pm GMT / EST in the UK and the US – which is when Jupiter will fall below the horizon.
Stargazers will have to wait 15 years for the next alignment involving seven planets.
Only five planets, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and Mercury, will be visible to the naked eye.
Uranus and Neptune are simply too far away from Earth, and therefore require a telescope or binoculars to view them.
While they will mostly look like larger, twinkling stars – you will be able to set Venus and Mars apart from the rest.
Venus will be the brightest in the sky, shining twice as bright as the North Star, Polaris.
Venus, Jupiter and Saturn will appear as bright-white points of light.
While Mars has a distinct orange glow.
Alignments of four or five planets are not uncommon, as their orbits bring them to the same side of the Sun as the Earth.
But it’s remarkably rare for six, or even seven, planets to align.
How to view ‘planet parade’
The best time to witness the celestial phenomena is just after sunset.
Mars will appear in the eastern sky.
Jupiter and Uranus will be visible in the southeast.
While Venus, Neptune and Saturn will appear in the west.
While binoculars or telescopes can give a detailed view of the planets, they can also limit the portion of the sky you can see.
Jupiter is scheduled to set at roughly 6:30pm GMT / EST in the UK and the US.
Mercury’s placement will also be low on the horizon, meaning it will dip out of visibility at about 7pm GMT / EST.
What causes the alignment?
Planets are constantly moving, which means their paths occasionally cross into an alignment in Earth’s sky.
Dr Dan Brown, an astronomy expert here at Nottingham Trent University, explained to The Sun: “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.”
