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Space

'Planetary Parade' Will See Six Planets Line Up In the Morning Sky (astronomy.com) 38

On June 3, a "planet parade" of six planets -- Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus, Mars, Neptune and Saturn -- will form a straight line through the pre-dawn sky. Astronomy.com reports: Some 20 minutes before sunrise, all six planets should be visible, though note that Uranus (magnitude 5.9) and Neptune (magnitude 7.8) will be too faint for naked-eye observing and, although they're present in the lineup, will need binoculars or a telescope to spot. But Jupiter (magnitude -2), Mercury (magnitude -1), Mars (magnitude 1), and Saturn (magnitude 1) will all stand out clearly to the naked eye in a line spanning some 73 degrees on the sky.

What's more, a delicate waning crescent Moon is crashing the party as well, standing just to the lower left of Mars. Note, however, that our Moon is not perfectly in line -- that's because Luna's orbit is tilted some 5 degrees with respect to the ecliptic. The next morning, June 4, the crescent Moon does a little better, falling more closely in line a bit farther from Mars. But now Mercury has stepped out of place and stands to Jupiter's lower right (south) as the two planets reach a close conjunction just 7 degrees apart -- not to be missed, especially in binoculars or telescopes!

By June 5, Mercury lies to Jupiter's lower left, replacing the gas giant as the easternmost point in the planetary lineup. And the nearly New Moon (just 2 percent lit) stands above the pair. As June progresses, Mercury quickly ducks out of view, passing close to the Sun before reappearing in the evening sky and leaving us with only five planets in the pre-dawn sky. But those planets continue to form a nice, clean line, stretching nearly 80 degrees from Jupiter to Saturn (with Uranus, Mars, and Neptune in between) by June 30. On this morning, the Moon as rejoined the line, once again a delicate waning crescent about 33 percent lit, hanging perfectly in place to Mars' upper right.

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'Planetary Parade' Will See Six Planets Line Up In the Morning Sky

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  • by Mr. Dollar Ton ( 5495648 ) on Saturday June 01, 2024 @02:06AM (#64514863)

    Planets visibly lining up in the sky is always a good time to get people to look up, and to unload some celestial mechanics and orbital dynamics on them visually. Double so when there's 4 of them and the Moon, because the Moon moves fast enough to make the point the next day.

    Even better if that happens in the evening, but you use what Nature gives you :)

    • Note that both Mecurius and Jupiter will be very close to the sun though, and may be difficult to actually see.

      • Yeah, Mercury is always hard, except when in transit. But even in a city, where the tall buildings get in the way, one can see it with a bit of preparation - finding a park with a hill free of vegetation is usually possible.

  • by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Saturday June 01, 2024 @02:10AM (#64514873)

    When do we have to start the chanting?

  • The sky is getting fairly light by that time.

    Also it will be fairly low in the sky, so your view is probably obstructed by trees, buildings etc.

  • Repent! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 01, 2024 @02:12AM (#64514877)

    Planets mysteriously aligning, leaving scientists baffled. Eclipses happening from nowhere. Don't you guys see it's a sign from God? Vote for Trump and stop this madness. There were no eclipses or strange planetary alignments during the Trump presidency. That can't be a coincidence.

    • Nobody's baffled cos there is no "mysteriously aligning" at all. From our perspective they might be all visible at once, that's all.

      Better get a primer on celestial mechanics instead of woo'ing at the ramblings of whatever nutjob inspires you to shitpost like that.

    • Planets aligning? No wonder I feel a bit grumpy today.
    • Planets mysteriously aligning, leaving scientists baffled. Eclipses happening from nowhere. Don't you guys see it's a sign from God? Vote for Trump and stop this madness. There were no eclipses or strange planetary alignments during the Trump presidency. That can't be a coincidence.

      Magnets, how do they even work [youtube.com]?

  • Hi is this possible to see in the UK and what time should i look up or is it only for the US pre Dawn so its daytime in UK Can we even see 73 is that west or east.
    • Re: When in UK (Score:5, Informative)

      by pitch2cv ( 1473939 ) on Saturday June 01, 2024 @03:57AM (#64514967)

      The planets don't visibly move in the time it takes for our planet to rotate between US and UK early morning. So yes, we'll all get about the same event.

      That said, for Uranus and Neptune you'll need a small telescope at least, and most of us will only be able to see Mars and Saturn before the Sun's glare outshines the rest of the planets: https://phys.org/news/2024-05-... [phys.org]

    • by Bob_Who ( 926234 )

      Hi is this possible to see in the UK and what time should i look up or is it only for the US pre
      Dawn so its daytime in UK Can we even see 73 is that west or east.

      I'm pretty sure you get the show in the predawn sky, as well. Further north may effect the view, perhaps, more than being further east and hours ahead of the Americas. Stonehenge Druid crop circle party time will be way more fun than this side of the pond, unless the Yucatan is hopping.

      • Rather try postdawn - it would be easier on the eyes when the sun is out of the way, but Im not sure you will see any one of the planets then. Try Stellarium on your phone before heading into cold outside.
  • Several planets and the Sun in alignment. But it's really hard!

    • by Bob_Who ( 926234 )

      Several planets and the Sun in alignment. But it's really hard!

      It only gets easier with unlimited frequent flyer miles and several thousand years.

  • The sight of Uranus in the morning (hurrgh!)
  • A Syzygy (Score:4, Funny)

    by Jahta ( 1141213 ) on Saturday June 01, 2024 @06:37AM (#64515079)

    This is known as a Syzygy [wikipedia.org]. Also a great score in Scrabble [wikipedia.org]!

    • by haruchai ( 17472 )

      This is known as a Syzygy [wikipedia.org]. Also a great score in Scrabble [wikipedia.org]!

      Had a small consultancy with that name a long time ago but had to change it as everyone thought the name was "CCG" and kept asking "what does CCG stand for"

  • Kubrick already did it.

  • According to https://science.nasa.gov/solar... [nasa.gov] only two of the six will be actually visible.

    From the article ""Planet Parade" note: Some online sources have shared excitement about a "parade of planets" visible in the morning sky in early June (June 3 in particular). In reality, only two of the six planets supposedly on display (Saturn and Mars) will actually be visible. "

  • The article was misquoted. The corrected quote is

    "But now Mercury has stepped out of place and stands to Jupiter's lower right (south) as the two planets reach a close conjunction just 7' apart -- not to be missed, especially in binoculars or telescopes! "

    where 7' means 7 arc minutes which is approximately 0.1167 degrees.

    • by irchans ( 527097 )

      For comparison, according to ChatGPT, "the maximum angular separation between Callisto and Jupiter as seen from Earth is approximately 499 arcseconds, or about 8.32 arcminutes."

      • by irchans ( 527097 )
        Oops, sorry. Chat GPT was in error. The maximum separation between Callisto and Jupiter is about 1,882,700 km. The minimum distance between Earth and Jupiter is about 588 million km. So the maximum angular separation is about 1882700/588000000 which is about 0.0032 radians or about 11 arcminutes.
        • Or, in "real money", it's separation gets up to about 1/3 of the angular diameter of the Moon, seen from Earth.

          Given a choice between relying on ChatGTP, and on the notes in my "Solar System Data" datasheet, I think I'll stick to the datasheet. I know where I got that information from ; I've no idea which new-age astrology website CthaPGtips is copying from (without attribution).

          • by irchans ( 527097 )
            GPT actually made the calculation, but it mistakenly used the average distance between Earth and Jupiter to calculate the maximum angular separation.
            • "Without presenting your working, ChatPGtips, present me something which you could have copied from somewhere random on the internet."

              When I was at school (and university, and work), you'd get about 90% of the mark for the working, and 10% for the result. (5% for getting the wrong answer, but writing your name legibly.) So at absolute best, that presentation would get 10%. Clearly, CharPGtips doesn't understand exam technique.

              That thing about "mistakenly used the average distance between Earth and Jupiter

  • For some years, a certain astrophysics vlogger has been trying to get a new entry into the "almanac" of "moon names" ("Harvest Moon", "Hunter's Moon", all that jazz).

    What's more, a delicate waning crescent Moon is crashing the party as well,

    Welcome, everyone, to the "Toenail Moon". Available every 27-odd days, in a sky above your head. (And generally, above the clouds too.)

    She knows who she is, but probably prefers to be known for her day-job as an astrophysicist, not as the inventor of the "Toenail Moon".

  • Here is the truth of the matter, from Sky and Telescope magazine [skyandtelescope.org]:

    This week, the seven planets other than Earth are in a line spanning about 90 along the ecliptic. But most of them are too close to our line of sight to the Sun to be seen at all. Only modest Saturn and Mars are in naked-eye view as dawn begins these mornings.

    So only Saturn and Mars can actually be seen, not six planets

  • Hope ya'll enjoy your planet show... Meanwhile in the PNW the pundits are calling the incoming weather storm "Juneuary", as we're expecting up to 2" of rain on the same day as this astronomical event. They are calling it an "atmospheric river" coming at us at the same time as this amazing planetary alignment.

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