(MENAFN– Al Bayan)
All the planets of our solar system were visible at the same time in the night sky the day before yesterday, which experts consider a rare astronomical event, according to the British newspaper “The Guardian”, which indicated that Venus, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars can to be seen, in order, with the naked eye, in the middle. The northern sphere, starting from the south-western horizon towards the east, with the vision of Uranus between Mars and Jupiter, and of Neptune between Saturn and Jupiter, with binoculars or a telescope .
According to the paper, all eight planets appeared at an interval of just 1.5 degrees. It indicated that planets could be spotted in the lower west and that the clearest view was expected about 30 minutes after sunset and Venus’ disappearance after about 30 minutes each day through the end of the year.
And speaking of this phenomenon, Gianluca Massi, astronomer of the Virtual Telescope Project in Italy, told the American magazine “Newsweek”: “On such nights, we can see all the planets of our solar system at a glance shortly after sunset , and this happens from time to time, which is always an amazing sight.
Mercury is the hardest planet to see without magnification, according to experts, because it is in a bright part of the sky, yet it can be spotted close to the brighter Venus, while the rest of the planets align due east, and Jupiter appears brighter of all the stars and highest in the southern sky.
While Mars, visible all night after rising in the east just before sunset Wednesday, appears red, Saturn, the second-largest planet, appears gold in the southwest after sunset every day until 2023.
The last time all the planets were seen in the sky simultaneously was in June, and all five planets visible to the naked eye were lined up in the sky in the same sequential order they actually orbit the sun: Mercury, Venus, Mars , Jupiter and Saturn – in an alignment that hasn’t occurred in 18 years.
This is expected to peak at the “quadruple meteor shower” around January 3, which produces blue meteors traveling at a speed of 40 kilometers per second, like the occasional bright fireball.
