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The Moon and the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus formed an arc in the evening sky on Monday, with some of them being clearly visible to the human eye. People could see this alignment after the western horizon had set. It is frequently referred to as “a planetary parade.” The optimum conditions for viewing the alignment of the planets were a clear sky and a clear view of the horizon. The five planets Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Mercury formed what was referred to as a rare planetary conjunction last summer. Traveling to a location with a clean, unobstructed view away from the city’s bright lights was the best way to see the planets in alignment on Monday.
The planets aren’t aligned right now; they’re all spread out across the Solar System
Jupiter and Mercury vanished behind the horizon swiftly in the evening, thus it was necessary to find the planets early. Due to the bright skies, people were able to enjoy some of the nicest vistas from Scotland’s northern regions and its islands. Prof. Catherine Heymans, the Royal Astronomer for Scotland, observed the display from Edinburgh’s Portobello beach. “Planet spotting on a crystal clear night along with so many other planetary parade enthusiasts was an absolute delight!” she said.
According to astronomer Jake Foster of the Royal Observatory Greenwich, such planet alignments are particularly specific to the perspective we get from Earth.
“The planets aren’t aligned right now; they’re all spread out across the Solar System, but from our perspective, they get close enough to each other in the sky that we can see quite a few at once,” he continued. Anglesey, in north Wales, features some of the darkest skies in Europe. Even with a tiny overcast haze, North Wales’ dark skies observer Dani Robertson reported from Anglesey that the evening was a visual treat.
“Over the course of the night, the distance between these objects shifts as the moon goes around us”
“I’m in my back garden and I can see a very nice little crescent Moon, to the top left, and just above it I can see Mars, which has a lovely red glow, and a bit lower towards the horizon there’s a really bright light and that’s Venus. If it were clearer, I could see all of it, the only one you wouldn’t be able to see is Uranus, you’d need a telescope,” she said. Dan Pye of Kielder Observatory in Hexham, near Scotland’s border, said that seeing the planets align provided us with a perspective on where we are in the solar system.
“Over the course of the night, the distance between these objects shifts as the moon goes around us, we move a little further around the sun, and the planets continue their journeys around the sun. I think witnessing this helps you realize that connection we have to the cosmic ballet we have with other objects in just our very local space theatre,” he said.