Nebulas spotted in Norfolk skies ahead of planetary parade

Yahoo

27-02-2025

Giant clouds of dust and gas were spotted in Norfolk skies ahead of seven planets being visible at the same time.
Multiple nebulas, clouds of gas and dust that exist between stars, were seen by people across the county.
Trevor Mayes from Diss captured two nebulas on Tuesday night including the Horsehead Nebula.
The Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula were seen in south Norfolk (Image: Trevor Mayes)
This small dark nebula in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex takes the shape of a horse's head and is usually difficult to see.
Mr Mayes also spotted the Flame Nebula which is a large star-forming region.
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It is lit by the Alnitak star and is a vast cloud of gas and dust where new stars are born.
The two nebula sightings came after photographer Peter Everitt photographed the California Nebula from his back garden in north Norfolk on Monday.
The California Nebula was also seen (Image: Peter Everitt)
The star is located about 1,000 light years away and its name comes from its resemblance to the outline of California.
The sightings come just days before Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury and Saturn will all be briefly visible in the evening sky.
The planetary parade is a rare sight that has not been seen in 15 years.
It will be the last time seven planets can be seen simultaneously so well until 2040.
To best see the phenomenon sky gazers should look up after sunset at about 5.30pm on Friday.