Most often, two or three planets form a line in the sky. Besides, a lot depends on the viewpoint. When planets line up on one side of the Sun, they are not necessarily in the same region of the sky for observers from Earth. Vice versa, when planets are in the same part of the sky from Earth's point of view, they are not necessarily aligned from the point of view of the Sun.
On July 4, , a rare and unique planet parade took place. This was a planet parade of the first type of the three described above. Before that, the parade of planets of this type happened in , and the next one is expected in Also, in August , the planetary parade of the third type occurred : observers could witness all the planets in one night. At the beginning of the month, the elusive planet Mercury shone in the morning sky, and brilliant Venus was sitting nearby.
The red planet Mars, distant Uranus, and Neptune, all approaching their oppositions, were well placed for observation, as well as the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. Even the dim dwarf planet Pluto offered skywatchers favorable conditions for viewing it due to its opposition. The stargazers will have a chance to enjoy the breathtaking planetary parade of the second type in March five planets of the Solar System — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn — will simultaneously appear in a small sector of the sky.
However, the observing conditions that month will be unfavorable for astronomy lovers from some parts of the globe. If you miss out on the planet parade in March, try your luck in June , when one more alignment of planets will occur.
If you would like to check the time of planetary alignment for your location and to easily locate planets on the sky's dome, consult the stargazing app Star Walk 2. Therefore, the fluctuations in gravitational force on us due to the alignment of any planets, which is tens to thousands times weaker than that of the moon, has no effect on earth. The closest that the eight planets will come to being aligned Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet will occur on May 6, Again, on this date, the planets will not be situated along a line.
Rather, they will be in the same degree-wide patch of sky, as shown in the image below. Additionally, the five planets Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus and Mercury will be in the same general part of the sky on September 8, While these planetary alignments have no effect on the earth, they can make for interesting nights for star gazers who know what to look for.
Topics: alignment , planetary alignment , planets , solar system , tides. The type of planetary alignment shown in this artistic rendering never happens. Public Domain Image, source: Christopher S. The closest the eight planets will come to being aligned will be on May 6, This image shows what you would see if you were off the coast of New York City and you looked due south at am on May 6, , as calculated by the software program Stellarium 0.
As you can see, the planets are not visually sitting on top of each other, which would be the case if they were all located on a line emanating from the earth as would be needed to maximize their net gravitational force on the earth.
Furthermore, they are not even visually sitting on a line in the sky. Will there ever be a moment when all eight major planets are in a straight line on the same side of the Sun? He points out that you have to start by defining the question precisely. Mercury, the fastest-moving planet, laps Venus every 0. On each pass, the chance that Earth will also be within this 3. So, on average, the three inner planets line up every The alignment gives us a rare peek at Mercury.
Planetary conjunction occurs when multiple planetary orbits line up. Though it appears as if they are next to each other in the sky, the distance between the planets remains the same, reports Megan Marples and Ashley Strickland for CNN. These rare events often happen many years apart. In December , Jupiter and Saturn appeared so close to each other that they resembled a giant star in the sky in what's known as the "Great Conjunction," Inverse reports.
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