Planetary Parade: See Five Planets Line Up In The Night Sky This Week

Forbes ^ | Jamie Carter

[Old Yeller]

Have you seen the “planetary parade” after sunset? It’s getting a lot of media attention, partly because Jupiter is about to sink into the Sun’s glare and ruin it, but you can glimpse some to all of the five planets naked-eye and with binoculars on any night this week. Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars are all visible right after sunset. Get somewhere high with a clear view of the western horizon to watch the sunset. After sunset have a look for Jupiter and Mercury very close to the horizon. You may need binoculars. Above them will be a very bright Venus, while high in the sky will be red Mars, flanked by an almost First Quarter Moon. What to see and when On Tuesday you’ll see all five planets, plus a First Quarter Moon just beyond Mars. On Wednesday you’ll see all five planet, possibly minus Jupiter, which will be slightly lower in the post-sunset sky. Mercury will be higher. On Thursday you’ll see a conjunction of Venus and Uranus. The two planets about a degree apart in the night sky (though you’ll only see Uranus if you use binoculars).Words and phrases like “aligned” and “in an arc” are being used to describe the event, but that demonstrates an ignorance of how planets orbit the Sun and how they look to use on Earth. If you want to watch it online then The Virtual Telescope Project will stream it live at 17:45 UTC (13:45 EDT) on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. MORE FROM FORBES Say Goodbye To Jupiter With A Beautiful Planetary Parade: The Night Sky This Week By Jamie Carter Understanding the ‘planetary parade’ All the planets, including Earth, orbit the solar system on the same plane.

[Old Yeller]

Good opportunity to get a clear view of Uranus.

[Yo-Yo]

[norwaypinesavage]

I looked several times on Sunday. All I saw were Venus and Mars. The horizon and the nearly new Moon were too bright to see anything else.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[moovova]

Five heavenly bodies in alignment...

[SunkenCiv]

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