(ORDO NEWS) — During June, sky watchers had the pleasure of watching all five planets that we can see with the naked eye – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – line up in the sky. And this weekend they will be joined by a crescent moon.
The impressive thing is that the planets are currently appearing in order of their distance from the Sun, from left to right, if you scan the horizon: this means you start at Mercury (averaging 58 million kilometers or 36 million miles from the Sun) and end at Saturn (at an average of 1.4 billion kilometers or 886 million miles from the Sun).
A waning crescent moon should appear between Venus and Mars over the weekend (you might even think of it as a substitute for Earth).
Mercury will also be clearly visible on June 27, making it easier for you to spot it before moving to the right along the horizon. This morning the planetary show should be visible for about an hour.
This type of planetary alignment, known as a conjunction, hasn’t happened since December 2004, and it won’t happen again until 2040. .
The show will be visible on the eastern horizon just before sunrise obscuring the view. In the Northern Hemisphere, look east and south; in the Southern Hemisphere, look east and north.
Best of all, everything is visible to the naked eye, although of course you can take a closer look with binoculars or a telescope.
This conjunction has been in development for a long time: you may remember that Saturn, Mars, Venus and Jupiter lined up in the sky during April. Of course, this is just a perspective trick, but these are stunning views worth seeing.
These events and the visibility of the planets may vary in dates depending on where you are in the world. Everyone should have enough opportunity to see the five planets, even if there are a few cloudy days.
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