February ends with an attraction to heaven observers: a parade of seven planets through the night sky, including Mercury, Uranus and Neptune, along with typically brilliant planets like Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. But seeing all seven will not be easy, astronomers say.
Although the seven planets are all above the horizon right after sunset, Mercury and Saturn will be harder to locate this Friday (28).
“Mercury and Saturn are particularly close to the sun and will be lost in solar brightness, although Mercury gets louder and easier and easier to locate,” says Shannon Schmoll, Director of Planetarium Abrams at Michigan State University, in a communication.
“To have a chance, you will need a clear view of the Western horizon and perhaps binoculars to locate them after sunset.”
Venus and Jupiter will be easier to locate thanks to their brightness, and Mars will stand out with its characteristic red-orange color, according to Schmoll.
However, Neptune and Uranus are usually not visible to the naked eye and will probably require a telescope or binoculars to be seen.
How to locate the seven planets
Saturn and Mercury will be “Horizon Choles”, probably visible only in twilight or the lighting of the sky after the sun has plunged below the horizon, with visible Venus at the same time, said EarthSky editor, Marcy Curran, in a recent video on YouTube.
“Uranus and Neptune, of course, are there, but you need optical aid to see them, and you will probably not see Jupiter and Mars, who are higher in the sky, until at least the darkness begins to fall,” she said.
Curran advised to look for Mercury and Saturn, who will be low on the west horizon, about 30 minutes after the sunset, with the aid of binoculars.
“The planets will be in the southern half of the sky,” said Emily Elizondo, a doctoral student in Physics and Astrophysics at Michigan State University, in a communication.
“For the southwest is where Saturn and Mercury will be, and then towards the Southeast is where Mars and Jupiter will be, and then Neptune, Venus and Uranus will be in the middle. There are apps that use motion detection technology, so you can type the name of the planet, and it will show where this planet is in the sky. ”
Let Venus help
Don’t know where to look? If in doubt, look for Venus. It will be at its brighter point, but the planet will be low in the western sky and approaching the horizon every night before disappearing from the night sky until mid -March, said Earthsky collaborator John Goss. Venus will reappear in the morning sky in April, according to the NASA.
Unlike the stars, which seem to blink, Venus will remain a bright and constant light at the top of the sky. When the afternoon twilight ends at 8:58 pm (Brasília time) Friday (28), the Lua Cheshire will appear, according to the space agency. At this time of year, the heavenly object earned that name because the fine slice of the crescent moon resembles the smile of the Cheshire cat of “Alice in the Wonderland” of Lewis Carroll.
Hawaiian mythology also refers to this phase as a wet moon because it resembles a bowl that could contain liquid, according to NASA.
The crescent moon will appear briefly above the western horizon and will be about two minutes later. Mercury, which will continue to rise higher in the sky after sunset in the coming days, will be a few degrees above the moon. Venus will be above Mercury and the Moon, according to EarthSky.
The crescent moon, Venus and Mercury will continue to appear in line until Sunday, according to EarthSky.
“Let the brilliant Venus be your guide, he will appear first because he is higher in the sky, he is obviously brighter,” Curran said. “So, once you find Venus, below it toward the horizon look for a thin moon and mercury.”
Goss predicts that Jupiter will be high in the south sky and will remain visible for a few more months, while Mars, high in the Eastern sky, will be observable for another three to four months.
If clouds or bad weather obscure their vision, the virtual telescope project will share a live broadcast captured by its robotic telescopes in Maninciano, Italy, located in Tuscany under dark sky.
A sequence of planets
The reason why all planets seem aligned in the night sky is due to their orbits around the sun.
“All our planets spin around the sun on a flat album,” says Schmoll. “From our perspective on Earth, this disc looks like a curved line through the sky extending from east to west. As a result, all our planets will always be seen throughout this line. When we have multiple visible planets, this line may seem quite spectacular. ”
Typically, the planets are scattered along the plane in which they orbit around the sun called ecliptic due to their separate movements. But in February, the planets are all on the same side of the sun of our perspective on Earth, making them appear together in the night sky.
“This February is special because instead of being too far away from each other, they happen to be only part of the way, so everyone appears in heaven at the same time,” said Seth Jacobson, assistant professor at the Earth Sciences Department and Environmental Faculty of Natural Sciences at Michigan State University.
Understand how the planets form and what are the different types
This content was originally published in planet alignment: learn how to see rare phenomenon on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
