It’s the Best Week to See All Seven Planets in a Spectacular Planet Parade
If you have any interest in Skygazing, it’s your week. Now you can see amazing planet parades in the night sky. Planetary parades are when several of our solar system planets are visible in the night sky at the same time. All seven planets will be seen this time, which means Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Neptune and Uranus. (Of course, Earth is the eighth planet, Pluto was demoted in 2006 and is now considered a dwarf.)
Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury and Saturn should be visible to the naked eye. You need a high-powered viewing device, such as a telescope, to discover Neptune and Uranus.
The best time to view a planet from the Northern Hemisphere will be after sunset around 8:30 pm local time. After that, you may still be able to capture Venus, Mercury, Saturn and Neptune on the horizon, but these planets will be below the horizon from 11:30 pm to midnight, depending on where you are. After that, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus will finally stay for a few hours before sunrise until Mars finally sits down.
By the beginning of the parade, Mercury, Saturn and Neptune will be closer and closer and cannot be easily seen with Venus, not far away, while Jupiter, Mars and Uranus fill the night sky until the next parade begins.
Mars, Jupiter and Uranus will be in the southeast sky, while Neptune, Venus and Saturn will occupy the southwest sky at 9:30 pm local time.
Will I see the Earth parade in my area?
Most, if not all, locations in the United States, Canada and Mexico should be able to see this planetary parade, thanks to its length and limited planetary motion. We checked out observation stations in California, Texas, Ohio and New York with Calgary in Mexico City, Canada and Mexico City and were able to find all six planets in every place, so how far north is the east is, the east is It doesn’t matter. , to the west or south, you can see it.
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The sun will be there after the setting. After dark, it only takes a few hours to watch Venus, Saturn and Neptune before they dip below the horizon. This is no matter where you are, so everything happens at the same time no matter where you are.
In the last few days of February, Mercury appeared and the parade had increased to seven planets. This will be best viewed at sunset and will be harder to see when the sun is still on the horizon.
Do I need any special equipment to view the parade?
Technically yes. You will be able to discover Venus, Mars, Jupiter and potential Saturn under the appropriate conditions. However, Neptune and Uranus are too far away to be discovered. Astronomers point out You may need a telescope with a 50x magnification of at least 8 inches of aperture to see Uranus and its ring, and a magnification of 150x to see Neptune and its ring. If you are fully equipped, give this telescope a point on Saturn. At 25 magnifications you will be able to see The crown gem of the solar system In all glory.
The standard space viewing rules also apply here. You will need to stay away from the city where light pollution can confuse your vision. For many, even the suburbs may not be enough. If you plan to leave the city and its surroundings for a long time, you need to make sure it is a clear night and as little as possible.
How do I find planets in the sky?
Given the fact that Neptune and Uranus are particularly difficult to find adjacent to Saturn and Venus, it can be a bit difficult to find all six planets in the sky.
For this, there are some good tools available. Check Stellarium’s website,as well as Night sky map of time and date. These should give you a good idea of where each planet is relative to other planets. Star Walk 2 is a great app Android and ios. Stars have their own Android and iOS app The same is true.
What is a planetary parade?
Planetary parade is Common terms This applies when four or more planets line up immediately in the night sky. This is not an official astronomical term, so you rarely hear astronomers use it. However, NASA is known This phenomenon is called a “planetary parade.”
The official term is planetary alignment, although the term tends to make some confusion. Some explanations of the phrase include planets arranged on the same side of the sun being adjacent to each other. Planets can never be fully lined up exactly as you see in the picture, but they can all be on the same side of the sun and are relatively close to the arrangement.
However, in daily use, planetary parades and alignment are the same thing, just describing when several planets in the night sky can be visible at the same time. These planets may be similar to each other in the orbit of the sun, but cannot be seen from the perspective of the earth.
