The impressive conjunction of five planets that can be seen in the sky this week

Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Mars, and the Moon will align in an arc in the sky this week, and most of them can be seen with the naked eye.

This phenomenon is commonly known as “a planetary parade” and will be visible after the sun sets in the west.

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In order to see this spectacle of nature, it is best to have a good view of the horizon and have clear skies.

A similar alignment could be seen last summer: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn joined in a rare planetary conjunction.

“In plain sight, even from a city, Jupiter, Venus, the Moon and Mars should be easily visible. Uranus should be visible with a medium-sized telescope, and Mercury is the added challenge for the very determined,” said Jake Foster, an astronomer at the Royal Greenwich Observatory in London.

Foster assured that such alignments are typical of our perspective from Earth.

“The planets aren’t aligned right now, they’re all spread out across the Solar System. But just from our perspective, every once in a while, they come close enough to each other in the sky that we can see them together,” he said.

Animation of Venus and Jupiter together. (GETTY IMAGES).

Tips to see it

The best day to see the conjunction will be This Tuesday, March 28.

Give yourself the best chance of spotting them by moving away from the bright city lights as the sun sets. Try to find somewhere with a clear, unobstructed view. The observation should be done in the early evening because Mercury and Jupiter will quickly disappear over the horizon.

The easiest way to tell if you’re looking at planets or stars is to look at what kind of light they emit.

“The stars twinkle, but the planets don’t. So if you’re seeing a bright light that’s constant and not flickering or flickering, then you’re almost certainly looking at one of those planets.” Foster said.

Source: Elcomercio