There’s a fun event in the sky awaiting stargazers this week: the chance to see five planets, the moon and a constellation in what’s called a “planet parade”.
The show will be visible all week, but will be most visible on Monday night, March 27, according to the Old Farmers’ Almanac.
To witness this special event, head to a dark sky park or rural area away from light pollution, with an unobstructed view of the sky and horizon. Using binoculars or a telescope, look west about 20 minutes after sunset to see, from left to right, the group of stars known as Messier 35, Mars, the Moon, Uranus, Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury, all lined up on an invisible diagonal plane. (If you don’t have binoculars, you’ll still be able to see Mars, the Moon, and Venus, as well as Jupiter and Mercury if you have a clear horizon.)
A “parade of planets” is not an official astronomical term, according to Star WalkRather, it is used casually to refer to a type of planetary alignment, which can occur when multiple planets appear close together in a small sector of the sky from our vantage point on Earth.
Planetary parades are not uncommon, though they are not extremely rare either. A parade of five planets took place in June 2022, with a parade of four planets in April of the same year. According to StarWalk, the next five-planet parade will take place on the morning of June 18, 2023, featuring Mercury, Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune, and Saturn.
Read more about this special planetary display at Farmers’ almanac.
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