Stargazers get set for an awesome normal phenomenon next month – 5 bright planets in our Solar System will align in the night sky, & will all be evident with the naked eye.
If you discover a dark enough vantage point, you’ll be able to test out Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn tracing a glorious line left from the setting sun.
"The fainter planets that lie earlier to the Sun, such as Mercury & Venus, will be hard to see so it is best to wait until after sunset for the twilight to fully fade, but previous to the planets set," said Alan Duffy, an astronomer with Swinburne University of Technology in Australia.
"The planets make bigger across the sky, anchored to the horizon next the setting Sun," he added.
"This is because the complete Solar System is flat like an old vinyl confirmation with the planets moving along these grooves of the history. Looking out from the Earth we will see this as a as the crow flies line, recognized as the ecliptic plane, tracing across the sky."
Depending on where you are in the world, the top date and time to watch the skies will be dissimilar, but Duffy says that the challenge is to make sure that you don’t finish up missing Venus or Mercury as they move below the horizon.
"For Australia it’s top to look west by 7pm towards the finish of August," he said. "If you’re in Europe or North America you require to wait later for the Sun to set around 9pm. Even then, the further you are from the equator the less time you’ll have before the planets show to vanish beneath the horizon."
So, in other words, it will be a fast dash between the time the Sun sets sufficient to see the planets, but before they acquire too low on the horizon. You can minimise any issues you might encounter though, by discovery a flat plane and a dark unobstructed view.
"The top time to look is either surface of the full Moon on 18 August as the light from the Moon washes out the fainter planets," Duffy says. "The most hard planets to spot will be those fainter ones close to the horizon, so create sure to find somewhere dark with as clear a view as probable to the west where the Sun has set, import no low lying buildings or trees."
But critically, you guys have got this! Getting out into darkness & nature have other profit as well, so who’s keen on a camping trip at the finish of August? If you time it right, you might be bright to see the tail end of the Perseids meteor shower, too.
"The event this year is your last possibility to see all the visible planets together in the same night sky until 2018. It’s a reminder of the size of the Solar System that these giant planets stretching over enormous distance appear to us no extra than slight lights strung across the sky," said Duffy.
If you discover a dark enough vantage point, you’ll be able to test out Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn tracing a glorious line left from the setting sun.
"The fainter planets that lie earlier to the Sun, such as Mercury & Venus, will be hard to see so it is best to wait until after sunset for the twilight to fully fade, but previous to the planets set," said Alan Duffy, an astronomer with Swinburne University of Technology in Australia.
"The planets make bigger across the sky, anchored to the horizon next the setting Sun," he added.
"This is because the complete Solar System is flat like an old vinyl confirmation with the planets moving along these grooves of the history. Looking out from the Earth we will see this as a as the crow flies line, recognized as the ecliptic plane, tracing across the sky."
Depending on where you are in the world, the top date and time to watch the skies will be dissimilar, but Duffy says that the challenge is to make sure that you don’t finish up missing Venus or Mercury as they move below the horizon.
"For Australia it’s top to look west by 7pm towards the finish of August," he said. "If you’re in Europe or North America you require to wait later for the Sun to set around 9pm. Even then, the further you are from the equator the less time you’ll have before the planets show to vanish beneath the horizon."
So, in other words, it will be a fast dash between the time the Sun sets sufficient to see the planets, but before they acquire too low on the horizon. You can minimise any issues you might encounter though, by discovery a flat plane and a dark unobstructed view.
"The top time to look is either surface of the full Moon on 18 August as the light from the Moon washes out the fainter planets," Duffy says. "The most hard planets to spot will be those fainter ones close to the horizon, so create sure to find somewhere dark with as clear a view as probable to the west where the Sun has set, import no low lying buildings or trees."
But critically, you guys have got this! Getting out into darkness & nature have other profit as well, so who’s keen on a camping trip at the finish of August? If you time it right, you might be bright to see the tail end of the Perseids meteor shower, too.
"The event this year is your last possibility to see all the visible planets together in the same night sky until 2018. It’s a reminder of the size of the Solar System that these giant planets stretching over enormous distance appear to us no extra than slight lights strung across the sky," said Duffy.
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