{"id":4314,"date":"2024-06-03T15:23:33","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T15:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/03\/parade-of-planets-appearing-in-tonights-night-sky-what-you-need-to-know\/"},"modified":"2024-06-03T15:23:33","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T15:23:33","slug":"parade-of-planets-appearing-in-tonights-night-sky-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/03\/parade-of-planets-appearing-in-tonights-night-sky-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Parade of planets\u2019 appearing in tonight\u2019s night sky \u2013 what you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus are aligning overnight on 3 June – but if you want to see it, you will need stargazing equipment.<\/p>\n

The planets will line up in a diagonal arrangement across the sky. Saturn will appear at the top, followed by Neptune, then Mars, Uranus and Mercury, with Jupiter appearing closest to the horizon.<\/p>\n

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However, some of the planets will be easier to spot than others.<\/p>\n

“Try looking east-southeast around an hour before sunrise at a location with a very low horizon,” says Gregory Brown, astronomer at Royal Observatory Greenwich.<\/p>\n

“Mars and Saturn will be visible by eye, Mars with a distinctly orange tint to it, while Neptune will only be visible through a pair of binoculars or a telescope if you are lucky,” said Mr Brown.<\/p>\n

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Jupiter, Venus and Uranus may be more difficult to see as they are very close to the sun, meaning they are trickier to spot in the morning twilight.<\/p>\n

“Even under ideal conditions, a dark sky, free from light pollution, Uranus is very dim and challenging to spot,” said NASA-JPL science communicator Ian O’Neill.<\/p>\n

“The skyglow near dawn makes matters worse. Neptune is more than six times dimmer than Uranus, so [it] always requires a telescope to see.”<\/p>\n

If you are going to spot the parade, head out around an hour before dawn. That would be around 3.30am in Land’s End and 2am in John O’Groats.<\/p>\n

When stargazing, it’s best to head away from any sources of light pollution like street lights or houses, and bring a chair and warm clothes as you will need to let your eyes adjust fully.<\/p>\n

“To explain why it is happening at all, it’s helpful to understand the structure of the solar system,” says Mr Brown.<\/p>\n

“The [solar system’s] planets, including the Earth, all orbit the Sun in a remarkably thin disk-shaped region of space.”<\/p>\n

That means that when the planets look close together in the sky, they appear in a “long trail of bright points in a roughly straight line”.<\/p>\n

This line is what is described as a so-called “parade of planets”.<\/p>\n

Although the parade should begin overnight into Monday, the planets will stay aligned for weeks.<\/p>\n

“They can last quite a while, with the fastest movers, Venus and Mercury, staying within the pattern for a few weeks,” says Mr Brown, “And the slowest taking months or even years to leave formation.”<\/p>\n

Although there’s a lot of excitement about 3 June, astronomers say there are more exciting displays coming soon that will actually be visible.<\/p>\n

“A ‘planet parade’ this is not,” said Preston Dyches, a science communicator at NASA-JPL.<\/p>\n

“The real planetary spectacle I would recommend checking out is on June 29, when you’ll be able to see Saturn, the third-quarter moon, Mars, and Jupiter.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on sky.com<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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