Montreal – A rather rare planetary alignment will be observed in the coming weeks, during which Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible to the naked eye, close to each other in the same area of the sky, in the Northern Hemisphere .
“It’s an exceptional month of June, since all the planets of the solar system are observable in the sky! We are even able to see Uranus and Neptune with a small telescope”, notes Olivier Hernandez, director of the Planétarium Rio Tinto Alcan to Montreal.
Thus, from this Thursday, the conditions are placed to observe in order all the planets visible to the naked eye, with the Moon as a bonus, he notes, noting that it is however only during the second part of the month that they will be distributed in a more harmonious way and that it will be possible to see the line stretching more and more.
The planet Venus, nicknamed the evening star, is the brightest star in the sky. The other planets that are easier to distinguish are Jupiter and Mars, which have a slightly orange glow. But the real challenge for amateur astronomers is to find Mercury, which cannot be easily observed, explains Olivier Hernandez. “We are able to see Mercury from June 9, but the sun rises just after, which is not optimal. The ideal is from June 15 until the end of the month,” he said. he says.