Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are about
to line up, for the first time in more than a decade, letting us to observe
them with naked eye. This arrangement has been visible since 20th
January 2016. But the planets will be more apparent as we step into February
and the best day to spot these celestial objects would be 5th of
February. These planets will remain aligned and be visible till 20th
February.
One 5th of February, the Earth will be
facing away from the center of the galaxy, giving us the view of these five
planets together and way more clearly. The Moon has also merged with these
planets and will remain until 8th February, and then it will appear
as new moon. To experience this event, we first have to detect the Moon, and all
other five planets would be along its line. Venus and Jupiter would the
brightest among them, and Mercury would be a little difficult to spot. So don’t miss this event because it’s not going to
happen again until 2018.
This event doesn’t have much significance in astronomy
other than it is rare.
