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Washington Post
Porridge Patel, The Washington Post
The rising crescent, with 41% exposure, began to rise behind a golden statue as the sun began to set in western Edmonton, November 10, 2021. Photo by Ed Kaiser / Postmedia files
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The best planetary party in 18 years has begun. As a 17th century astronomer, you can join him by just looking up.
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Throughout June, observers in the sky can see the five closest planetary neighbors on Earth with the naked eye, but the best opportunity to see the spectacle will happen on June 24. As a bonus, the Earth’s crescent will also be positioned between Venus and Mars and act as a substitute for Earth. Observers of the sky can see an incredible view of the six celestial bodies, located diagonally, starting low in the east: Mercury, Venus, Earth’s moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The distance between Mercury and Saturn will be 107 degrees, according to Sky & Telescope.
“The planets often get closer to each other and move away from each other, but it’s just a particularly fun order. It’s just a coincidence, “said Michelle Thaler, a NASA astronomer. “It’s kind of like a really fun tour of the solar system that you can do for free.”
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When celestial bodies appear close to each other from Earth, astronomers call the spectacle a coincidence. Coincidences of several planets are quite common and occur every few years, but all five planets are arranged only once every two decades. The last time the five planets were aligned was in December 2004, and the next alignment will not take place until 2040. Due to the different orbits and inclinations, all eight planets will never be perfectly aligned.
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How to watch
While telescopes or binoculars can help observe the sky, planets will glow brighter than surrounding stars and should be easy to see with the naked eye. Just go out about 30 minutes before sunrise and hope for a clear horizon. A darker sky is better, but the planets will stand out even above the city lights.
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“Even in the city they are bright enough – you have to be able to see. Climb a friend’s balcony or rooftop. As long as you can get a nice clear horizon and clear skies, you can see it, ”Thaler said.
Mercury is the most difficult to see on the planets due to its proximity to the sun. The small dark planet is usually lost in the glare of sunrise or sunset, but the planet will gradually move away from the sun over the course of the month. On June 24, Mercury should be much easier to spot and will rise an hour before the sun rises. Thaler, who has only seen Mercury about half a dozen times in her life, experienced her best performance near Dulles International Airport.
Thaller said that the rare planetary alignment does not pose a danger to people on Earth, but the gravitational pull of all the planets on one side can be observed very easily through the tides of the Earth. Due to its distance, Venus exerts the greatest tidal force on Earth, although it is only a small part compared to our moon. Thaller said the spacecraft could also sense extremely small forces – on the scale of parts of an atom – as gravity from the planets attracted them.
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Observations of planetary coincidences have been made for centuries and date back to the ancient Greeks, who observed the movements of these five planets with the naked eye. (Uranus, Neptune, and the dwarf planet Pluto were not discovered until the telescope was invented in the 17th century.) At the time, people thought they might be gods or spirits. The word “planet” comes from the Greek word “planetes”, which means “wanderer”.
“People have noticed that they are different – most of the stars have remained in position relative to other stars, but these planets seem to be wandering in the sky,” Thaler said. “Sometimes they all happened to be arranged in one part of the sky.
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