People can catch a five-planet alignment next week as Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Mars will appear across the night sky.
The planets will align right before the turn of the month on March 28, according to Starwalk.
The large planetary alignment, defined as an alignment of five or six planets, will be visible after sunset within a small 50-degree sector in the sky, Starwalk said. Jupiter and Mercury will be located closer to the horizon, Venus and Uranus will appear higher up and Mars will shine near the moon, according to Starwalk. March 28 will be the best day for observation, Starwalk said, but the alignment will be visible in the days before and after.
Gary Swangin, an astronomer and manager of the Panther Academy Planetarium in Paterson, New Jersey, told the New Jersey Herald that Venus, Mars and Jupiter will be easier to see with the naked ete compared to Mercury and Uranus, which will likely take using binoculars or a telescope to catch.
While still days away, former Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin tweeted in anticipation of the event.
“Don’t forget to look to the sky [at] the end of the month for the planetary alignment which will have at least five planets — plus the moon — all visible in almost an arc shape as seen from Earth,” he wrote.
There will be other opportunities this year to catch a planetary alignment, including on April 11 and later in the summer on August 24. Another five-planet alignment of Mercury, Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune and Saturn can also be seen June 17.
Last June, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn lined up in that rare order — the same as their natural positions from the sun — for the first time since December 2004.
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