The great planetary alignment: how to see the extraordinary astronomical phenomenon that will not be repeated for 400 years

The fans of the astronomy You will be able to enjoy a rare spectacle in February when the most exact alignment of seven planets in the sky occurs.

During January, six planets are already visible in the night sky: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

But on February 28, for a single night, they will be joined by Mercury, in a rare alignment of seven planets that will not occur again until 2492.

What is a planetary alignment?

In reality, it is not uncommon for several planets to be seen together in the night sky.

It is also not uncommon to see planets formed in a “line” across the sky.

This is an imaginary line of the Sun’s apparent path over the course of a year, known as the “ecliptic.”

The ecliptic is due to the fact that Earth and all the other planets in the Solar System formed from the same flat disk of gas and dust that once surrounded our Sun in its infancy.

This means that all the planets in the Solar System occupy approximately the same orbital plane (including Earth) and therefore all more or less follow the line of the ecliptic in the sky.

The different speeds at which the planets orbit mean that, sometimes, several of them can be aligned approximately on the same side of the Sun.

From Earth, if the orbits align correctly, we can see several planets in our night sky at the same time.

This is why so-called “planetary alignments” or “planetary parades” are really inevitable.

What will the planetary alignment be like in January and February?

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are bright enough to be visible to the naked eye during January clearings.

Uranus and Neptune are also there, but viewing them requires binoculars or a telescope.

In reality, the planets are not exactly aligned. Rather they appear in an arc across the sky due to their orbital plane in the Solar System.

But the real surprise, weather permitting, will occur on February 28, when Mercury joins this planetary parade in a great spectacle that can be observed from Earth.

“There’s something special about seeing the planets with your own eyes,” Jenifer Millard, a science communicator and astronomer at Fifth Star Labs in the UK, told BBC Future.

“It’s possible to go to Google and get a more spectacular view of all these planets. But when you look at these objects, they are photons that have traveled millions or billions of kilometers through space to reach your retinas.”

The spectacle may be fascinating, but do these alignments have any impact here on Earth?

Some scientists have suggested that planetary alignments could cause impacts on our planet, but the scientific basis for most of these claims is weak or nonexistent.

As Jenifer Millard explains, it’s really “just a coincidence that they are in this position in their orbits.”

The usefulness of planetary alignments

As space and science journalist Jonathan O’Callaghan points out, Planetary alignments can indeed have an impact on life on Earth, particularly in terms of exploration of the Solar System.

“Reaching the outer planets with a spacecraft is difficult because these worlds are so far away, billions of kilometers away, and would take decades to reach,” O’Callaghan writes in BBC Future.

“However, using the gravitational pull of a well-placed planet, like Jupiter, to launch a spacecraft outward can dramatically reduce travel time, something no spacecraft has done better than NASA’s Voyager spacecraft,” he adds.

Planet alignments have been used to investigate many different aspects of the Universe, such as the discovery and study of exoplanets, worlds that orbit stars other than the Sun.

And there are also some more novel uses, such as investigating the existence of extraterrestrial life in solar systems where exoplanets pass in front of each other from our point of view.

How to see the planetary alignment

This event, which will last several days during January and February, will be visible from different points of the planet, as long as weather conditions and light pollution allow it.

As NASA reports, during January in the early hours after dark you can see Venus and Saturn in the southwest, Jupiter overhead, and Mars in the east.

Uranus and Neptune are also there, but you need a telescope to see them.

The ideal time to observe the alignment is just after sunset, but you should keep in mind that the exact rise and set times of each planet will vary depending on your location on Earth.

The special surprise of the show will take place on February 28 when Mercury joins these six planets.

To enjoy the event, experts recommend locating yourself in a place with dark skies, in areas far from light pollution, such as rural or mountainous areas.

It is also advisable to check the weather conditions to ensure that the sky is clear on the day of the event.

Experts at Queen’s University in Canada recommend downloading an application like Stellarium or Star Chart.

When you point your phone at the sky, the app will tell you what object in the night sky you are looking at.

Telescopes and binoculars can help you see more details, such as Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s moons.