5 Planets Are Aligned and Easily Visible This Week—Here’s How to Spot Them

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Even though looking up at the night sky on any clear night can be one of the easiest ways to feel a sense of wonder, occasionally we’re treated to an extra-special show. Sometimes, you get front-row seats to a once-in-a-lifetime event, such as the green comet that streaked across the sky for the first time in 50,000 years this past January. But even our closest celestial neighbors can put on a spectacle of their own that’s worthy of checking out. And this week, five planets in our solar system are aligned and easily visible in the night sky. Read on to see how you can spot them.

READ THIS NEXT: The Next Total Solar Eclipse Will Be the Last Until 2044, NASA Says .

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Amateur astronomers can look forward to some must-see celestial activity in the coming days. This week, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, and Uranus will form an arc across the night sky , with the planets putting on a dazzling display as they line up near the moon. Fortunately, both the placement and brightness of the objects will mean most people will be able to spot them using just their eyes.

“The heavens are aligning,” Noah Petro , a scientist with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter project at NASA, told The Washington Post . “If you have a telescope, you can dust them off or a pair of binoculars; it’s a great excuse to get out and look for the night sky. And if you don’t, you can still see these [planets].”

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If you’re running on a tight schedule or are worried you’ll miss your chance to gaze up, you may still be in luck. The spectacle will be on display for several days, becoming visible just after sunset, Petro told The Post . The entire alignment will stay within sight until about 30 minutes after the sun goes down when Mercury and Jupiter dip below the horizon and out of view.

While March 28 was considered the optimal viewing date by astronomers, there’s still some advantage to catching the show throughout the week. The coming nights will “actually provide better opportunities to see Mercury as it puts another degree between it and the horizon through mid-April,” Tony Rice , a NASA ambassador, told The Post in an email.

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Unlike solar eclipses or some other night sky events, amateur astronomers won’t be limited by geography when trying to catch a glimpse . Instead, the alignment will be visible to people around the world who are lucky enough to have a clear sky and relatively low interference from light pollution. So long as you have your bearings, spotting them should be pretty easy.

“If you go outside, right at sunset, right after the sun goes down and look west, you’ll see these planets strung out in a line extending about 50 degrees or so,” Bill Cooke , a NASA astronomer, told CBS News, adding that the sight would look “very pretty.”

If you’re hoping to identify each, Mars will appear highest in the sky and closest to the moon, while Uranus will be located close to dazzlingly bright Venus, according to Petro. And notably, viewers also won’t need any kind of telescope or binoculars to catch sight of the planets.

“That’s the beauty of these planetary alignments. It doesn’t take much,” Cooke told the Associated Press.

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If weather conditions aren’t ideal for your area or you somehow still manage to miss this week’s solar system spectacle, you won’t have to wait too long to catch other planetary alignments. Unlike once-in-a-lifetime events like the passage of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) earlier this winter, this type of celestial display can happen a few times a year. There will even be an opportunity this summer when Mercury, Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune, and Saturn will line up across the night sky on June 17, CBS News reports.

However, this week’s event does stand out for one particular reason. “Uranus is going to be the rare critter that you’ll be looking for in that alignment,” Cooke told CBS News, adding that it will have a greenish glow. “If you’re collecting planets, here’s the chance to add Uranus to your collection.”

The Next Total Solar Eclipse Will Be the Last Until 2044, NASA Says

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Whether you’re a casual stargazer or a devoted amateur astronomer, there’s no denying that there’s something special about witnessing a rare celestial event like a solar eclipse. Besides the fact that they only occur a few times each decade, getting a good view can come down to where you live having the right weather conditions. If you’d love to witness a solar eclipse anytime soon, you may want to mark off your calendars. NASA says the next one will be the last you can see from the U.S. until 2044. Read on for more info on how to catch this unique event.

READ THIS NEXT: NASA Promises Humans Living on the Moon in 10 Years .

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If catching a major cosmic event has been an item on your bucket list, you might want to grab your calendar . On Apr. 8, 2024, North America will have front-row seats to a total solar eclipse for the first time since 2017. But besides being a relatively rare event in and of itself, this will also be the last opportunity to view a full eclipse from within the contiguous United States until Aug. 23, 2044, according to NASA.

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Even though many areas across the U.S. will be treated to at least a partial eclipse, only places that are in the total eclipse’s direct path will get to experience the moon entirely blocking out the sun . The first sight of totality on the continent will start on Mexico’s Pacific Coast before it becomes visible stateside around noon in Texas, according to NASA. From there, the path will continue north through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine before leaving the U.S. in the late afternoon.

Viewers in Canada will be able to experience the eclipse as it begins its path through Southern Ontario and eventually makes its way through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton. The eclipse will disappear from North America as it passes off the East Coast of Canada in the early evening.

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So long as weather conditions remain favorable, part of what makes the experience of a total solar eclipse so special is the truly unique conditions it can create for those in its path. During the initial partial eclipse phase—or for those watching in areas outside of the total eclipse’s path—viewers will first notice a crescent blocking out part of the sun as the moon slightly covers the star while wearing the appropriate safety glasses, according to NASA.

For a few fleeting moments before the sun is covered, spectators might also be able to catch sight of Baily’s Beads, which are glimmers of light that form bright spots as sunlight passes through crags, craters, and valleys on the moon. A sharp, bright spot on the edge of the moon’s shadow known as the “diamond ring” will then appear, named for its resemblance to a sparkling piece of jewelry.

The moment the sun is completely blocked out is known as “totality,” marking the only point of the experience you can watch directly without protective glasses. Spectators might be able to make out different parts of the sun’s atmosphere, including a pink ring created by the star’s chromosphere or rays of white light from the corona. But while the view above is spectacular, sights on the ground can be just as surreal as conditions can create “a 360-degree sunset,” planets and bright stars can become briefly visible, the air temperature can drop, and “often an eerie silence will settle around you,” NASA describes.

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If you’re already excited to catch a glimpse of the rare celestial event for the last time until 2044, it might not be a bad idea to start preparing for the experience. Arguably most importantly, NASA warns you’ll need the correct specially designed safe solar viewing glasses or handheld viewer to actually be able to see it . Otherwise, you’ll need to use an indirect viewing technique, such as a pinhole projector.

“Except during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the moon completely blocks the sun’s bright face, it is not safe to look directly at the sun without specialized eye protection for solar viewing,” the space agency warns, clarifying that normal sunglasses won’t offer sufficient protection. “Viewing any part of the bright sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury.”

And besides ensuring you have the proper equipment, you might also want to consider arranging a place to stay if you have to travel to witness the event. Cities along the path of totality will likely see a large influx of tourists scooping up available lodging, with Ross saying organizers expect anywhere between 375,000 to 500,000 people to descend upon Rochester alone.

“We’ve been starting to spread the word really since 2019 by meeting and also kind of designating everyone as an eclipse ambassador, so everyone watching right now, get ready because all of your out-of-town relatives are coming here [and] they’re gonna want to stay in your house,” Ross told WROC.