Sunday, March 26, 2023 | 15:27 WIB
Winda Destiana Putri / WDP
Jakarta, Beritasatu.com – The planetary parade consisting of Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Uranus will march across the sky on March 27, 2023.
Launch page Space.com, at this particular time of year, amateur astronomers participate in the Messier Marathon as 110 of the various deep sky objects cataloged by French astronomer Charles Messier come into view. Those with telescopes and a good knowledge of the sky would stay awake from dusk until dawn, searching for and recording as many Messier objects as they could.
Sometimes, there are organized marathons scheduled, as at the recent International Star Party in Flagstaff, Arizona. Even for aspiring amateur astronomers, the Messier Marathon is a significant observing challenge.
A different kind of challenge will be presented to sky watchers on the night of March 27th. There will be an opportunity to see five planets, famous star clusters and the moon in one night. For a clear view, make sure there are no tall objects such as buildings or trees in the direction you are looking. Your best bet is to look out over the west-facing shoreline which is perfectly flat and wide open with nothing to block your view.
The first two planets that will be visible are the smallest planet (Mercury) and the largest planet (Jupiter). Once you’ve found the right viewing spot, and binoculars in hand, wait until it’s roughly 20 to 25 minutes after sunset. And your viewing time will be short. Both planets will set beyond the horizon only 25 to 30 minutes later.
Both planets will shine brilliantly, Mercury will shine with a magnitude of -1.4, which is only slightly dimmer than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. Jupiter will appear even more dazzling at magnitude -2.1, which is twice as bright as Mercury.
It’s not easy to catch two planets so close to sunset. In just a day or two, Jupiter will disappear from view in the sun’s glare. Mercury, on the other hand, will move away from the sun’s vicinity and will become easier to see over the next few weeks.
In contrast to Mercury and Jupiter, the third planet will be very easy to see, namely Venus, a planet called the “Evening Star” (although “Evening Beacon may be a more correct term). It is the first planet to look for at sunset. Venus becomes even more prominent because slowly getting higher in the western evening sky each night.
At this time, Venus will set at around 22:15 local time. But two months from now, Venus will be distinctly higher in the west-northwest sky about an hour after sunset, and only set before midnight.
The fourth planet is Mars. Several months ago, Mars shone brilliantly because of its relatively close distance to Earth. On November 30 Mars is 50.6 million miles from Earth and looks like a very bright fiery star with a steady beam of light.
On March 27, Mars will be 131.4 million miles (211.4 million km) from Earth, more than 2.5 times farther away than late last fall. You can identify it right away, just by looking at our fifth celestial object at night, the moon. On this night, our natural satellite will resemble a fat crescent phase. And if you look to the upper left of the moon, that bright yellow-orange star is Mars.
If you look to the left of Mars you will see M35, a star cluster in the constellation Gemini the Twins. The cluster appears to be as large as the moon and fills the eyepiece with a bright sheen of stars from the center to the edges. With the 15×65 binoculars it’s like Life Savers candy, all white and shiny.
The fifth and last planet that will be visible will be Uranus. Barely visible to the naked eye on a very dark, clear night, what you’re looking for are faint, pale greenish stars. It will be the third largest planet and next to Neptune, the farthest planet from the sun.
# Planet# Planets Aligned# Astronomical phenomena
