A “parade of planets” will be visible in the US sky before dawn on Sunday, but not all six worlds will be visible to the naked eye.
The orbits of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune formed a procession over certain parts of the world on Thursday, but will march towards America on June 3.
Only Mars and Saturn can be seen with the naked eye; A telescope is needed for Neptune, Uranus, Mercury and Jupiter, which will be overwhelmed by sunlight.
But those who want to catch a glimpse of the celestial event should head out just before sunrise, and the east coast will have the best viewing area.
The orbits of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune formed a procession over certain parts of the world on Thursday, but will march towards America on June 3.
“People who plan to get up early and go out on June 3 expecting to see Jupiter’s swollen disk or Saturn’s rings at a glance will be, to say the least, quite disappointed,” meteorologist Joe Rao warned this week.
In fact, most skywatchers will have a hard time seeing tiny, distant Mercury and gas giant Jupiter, as both worlds will be too close to the horizon to be visible to most people, especially those who live in regions rocky or mountainous geographical areas.
And only those with good telescopes will be able to glimpse Uranus and Neptune, which like Mercury will be too faintly visible to be seen with the naked eye.
Uranus, according to the meteorologist, can be seen with the naked eye, but only those who live in remote and suitable areas can observe the stars.
“Only under very dark skies and no light pollution,” Rao wrote in space.com.
“Of course, to see such a faint object, you need to know exactly where in the sky it is,” he noted. “A good star map will certainly be of great help.”
Only Mars and Saturn can be observed with the naked eye; A telescope is needed for Neptune, Uranus, Mercury and Jupiter will be overwhelmed by sunlight.
For those who live in a rural, flat, open country, like Montana or somewhere in the Great Plains region of the United States, who want to get up early to try to spot this planetary parade, a more modern version of a star map could be useful.
stellarium is a useful online tool to help plan where to look at dawn and, on mobile, The free Sky Tonight app can help make searching for our solar system’s June parade grounds much easier.
You’ll still need a good telescope and even better weather to be able to spot all six planets in one morning, but you shouldn’t despair if you fail.
“You worry that planetary alignments are rare, but honestly, we have one every two years,” said NASA Meteoroid Environment Office chief Bill Cooke. ABCduring an alignment of five planets: Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars in March 2023.