with the naked eye
The planets have been observed extending from the horizon line to regarding halfway above the night sky, with Mercury and Jupiter dropping rapidly below the horizon regarding half an hour following sunset. Cook said: Those interested in observing such astronomical phenomena can see the alignment of the five planets from anywhere on Earth, as long as you have clear skies and a view to the west. That’s the beauty of these Planetary alignments Pointing out that seeing Jupiter, Venus and Mars was easy because they shine brightly. One of the brightest objects in the sky was Venus, and Mars was hanging near the moon with a reddish glow. But Mercury and Uranus were harder to spot, because they were much darker, and would likely require binoculars.
Rare opportunity to spot the line up live
Cook said this was a rare opportunity to observe and discover the planet Uranus, which is not usually visible. Look for the green glow over Venus. In Hexham, near the border with Scotland, Dan Pye of the Kielder Observatory said seeing the planets lined up provided a perspective on where we are in the solar system. “Over the course of the night, the distance between these objects changes as the moon orbits us, we move a little bit around the sun, and the planets continue their journeys around the sun,” he said. “I think watching this, it helps you realize that the relationship we have with the cosmic ballet that we have with other things in Just our local space theatre.” Different numbers and groups of planets line up the sky from time to time. There was a five-planet lineup last summer, and there was another group in June, a little differently. Cook said this kind of Alignment occurs when the orbits of the planets line up on one side of the sun from Earth’s perspective.