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New York Times

A Parade of Planets Is Marching Through the Night Sky

Astute skywatchers may have already seen the striking line of planets across the night sky in January. This week Mercury joins the queue. Now every other world in our solar system will be visible among the stars at the same time — if you know where to look. According to Gerard van Belle, director of science at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, an alignment of seven planets is neither mystical nor particularly rare. 'On the scale of supermoon to death asteroid, this is more a supermoon sort of thing,' Dr. van Belle said. Still, the planetary parade, as the event is colloquially named, 'makes for a very nice excuse to go outside at night, maybe with a glass of wine, and enjoy the night sky.' A Parade of Planets Beginning in late February, seven planets will align in the night sky. But Uranus and Neptune may require a telescope to see. Mars SKY AT SUNSET ORION Jupiter Uranus Plane of Earth's orbit Venus Neptune Mercury Saturn HORIZON LOOKING WEST Saturn Line of sight to Neptune SOLAR SYSTEM Line of sight to Uranus Jupiter Viewed from above the solar system, the seven planets will fall within Earth's line of sight at sunset, and will not be obscured by the sun. Mercury Sun Mars Venus Earth SKY AT SUNSET Mars ORION Jupiter Uranus Plane of Earth's orbit Venus Neptune Mercury Saturn HORIZON LOOKING WEST Viewed from above the solar system, the seven planets will fall within Earth's line of sight at sunset, and will not be obscured by the sun. Saturn Line of sight to Neptune SOLAR SYSTEM Line of sight to Uranus Jupiter Mercury Sun Venus Earth Mars By Jonathan Corum | Source: NASA Why are the planets aligned? Whenever planets are visible in the night sky, they always appear roughly along the same line. This path, known as the ecliptic, is the same one that the sun travels along during the day. This happens because the planets orbit around the sun in the same plane. Dr. van Belle likened the configuration to a vinyl record: The sun is in the center, and the grooves are the orbits of the planets around it. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.