RARE event: Watch these planets align TOMORROW

Get ready to witness an exciting astronomical event on the evening of 28 March because five planets are set to align.

By: Michelle Swart

Five planets, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Mars, will be gathering in a small section of the sky, Stark Walk Space reports.

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How to see the planets align

To catch a glimpse of this celestial gathering, begin your observations soon after sunset.

As you look towards the horizon, you’ll see two bright objects, Jupiter (with a magnitude of -2.1) and Mercury (with a magnitude of -1.3), both located in the constellation Pisces, and separated by approximately one degree.

If you look higher up in the sky, you’ll see Venus shining brightly in the constellation Aries with a magnitude of -4.0.

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If you use a pair of strong binoculars, you’ll be able to spot Uranus nearby, shining with a magnitude of 5.8, and located about 2 degrees away from Venus.

Mars will join the lineup higher up in the sky as the night progresses, near the first quarter Moon in the constellation Gemini.

Mars will have a magnitude of 0.9.

While 28 March is the best day to witness this event, it will still be visible for several days before and after that date.

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So, make sure to take advantage of this opportunity to observe the five planets gathering in the sky.

“Don’t forget to look to the sky [at] the end of the month for the planetary alignment which will have at least five planets — plus the moon — all visible in almost an arc shape as seen from Earth,” wrote former Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin in a tweet.

What are there conjunctions?

The night sky planets don’t always remain visible as they rise and set throughout the night.

At times, they may not be visible at all when they are in conjunction with the sun.

The alignment of planets is an optical illusion.

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In actuality, the planets are not anywhere close to each other in space.

This alignment happens only from the viewpoint of Earth.

Although Venus and Jupiter may appear to be next to each other in the night sky, they are actually 430 million miles apart from each other in reality.

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