An ultra-rare 5-planet alignment is happening for the first time in 18 years, and many space enthusiasts are looking forward to watching the phenomenon that features Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn in order.
The event will occur throughout the month of June and showcase the five planets in order where they will be clearly visible without the use of a telescope, an event that has not happened since 2004. It is common to see two or three planets close together in the sky and is known as a conjunction, but five is rather rare.
Ultra-rare 5 Planet Alignment
What makes this event much more spectacular is the fact that the five planets will be hovering in their natural order from the sun. NASA astronomer Michelle Thaller said that the order of the planets was entirely a coincidence.
She noted that planets are often getting closer to each other and farther away from each other, but this phenomenon was particularly "fun." Fortunately for viewers, the planets will be visible throughout June for around 30 minutes per day before the sun comes up, as per Deseret.
The best day to view the magnificent show is on June 24, and you should go to an observing site with a low eastern horizon. This is because Mercury and Venus will be very low in the east-northeast. Mercury never strays from the bright glow of the sun, said Dr. Rick Fienberg, former press officer of the American Astronomical Society.
Space enthusiasts should make the most out of this opportunity because the next time it will occur again is estimated to be around 2040. Despite the coincidence, all eight planets in our solar system will never be perfectly aligned due to different orbits and tilts.
According to the Washington Post, Thaller noted that even people in the city would be able to see the event because the planets would be bright enough to be viewable. She noted that the best place would be somewhere high up with a nice, clear horizon and clear skies.
Spectacular View
Out of the five planets, Mercury will be the hardest to spot because of its proximity to the sun and is usually lost in the glare of the sunrise or sunset. However, the planet will travel progressively farther from the sun as the month goes on.
The Earth's crescent moon will also position itself between Venus and Mars and will act as a stand-in for our planet. Viewers will then be able to observe a spectacular view of the six celestial bodies in order, Mercury, Venus, Earth's moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The distance between Mercury and Saturn will be 107 degrees at the time.
The phenomenon will come as another astronomical event will be visible in June, the M13 globular star cluster, a tightly packed spherical collection of stars in the universe. The M13, also known as the Hercules Cluster, is home to thousands of stars that are thought to be roughly 12 billion years old, almost the same age as our universe, CBS News reported.
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