Astronomy lovers will be able to follow an amazing celestial view on Friday when five planets line up under the moon in an event called “alignment” or “parade of planets”. The alignment will include Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus.
“The show will be highly visible on Friday,” PBS quoted Cameron Holmes, an astrophysicist at the California Institute of Technology, adding that “such alignments appear every few years or so, and a large part of them will be visible to the naked eye, even in urban areas.” It has great light pollution, and it can be monitored across the northern and southern hemispheres.
He also advised Holmes to head to a place with a good view of the western horizon just after sunset, when the colored sunset stripes are still present and turn dark blue, but not black.
The easiest planet to spot is Venus, often referred to as the “evening star” because it is the brightest object in the night sky next to the moon.
It is worth noting that Uranus is near Venus, although it may be difficult to view the distant planet without binoculars or a telescope unless one is watching from a location without light pollution.
Beneath Venus and Uranus will be Jupiter and Mercury, hovering just above the horizon.
Watching Mercury can also be difficult without special equipment, because the sun’s glare can overwhelm the planet. But for careful observers, both planets will be visible for 20 to 30 minutes after sunset, Holmes said.
As for Mars, it will be on a straight line from Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus and the Moon, and it will be easy to distinguish because of its distinctive orange color. Holmes said all the planets would appear “like pearls on a necklace” across the night sky.
Source – TRT Arabic
