Planets on parade: 5 will be lined up in night sky this week

Looking forward to this if skies are clear. The conjunction of Venus and Jupiter a few weeks ago looked spectacular through binoculars or a low-power telecope.

Algernon LaCroixToday  11:04 am JST

Looking forward to this if skies are clear. The conjunction of Venus and Jupiter a few weeks ago looked spectacular through binoculars or a low-power telecope.

Or even the naked eye. Remember the Christmas season of 2020 when Jupiter and Saturn made a very close nice pair as well.

As an amateur astronomer I always enjoy events like this. However, the pandemic has restricted social interactions and sharing these events with others. I have seen all the major planets of our solar system (incl. Pluto) and just this weekend I observed Venus, Mars and Uranus. Also last night I saw the crescent Moon very close to the Pleiades star cluster ('Subaru' in Japanese), that made a wonderful sight to behold! And lately Venus and Uranus are very close together too. Uranus is sometimes visible to the naked eye, it's not too hard to observe if you know just where to look. Being near Venus right now makes it a breeze!

And I've still been tracking down and observing that notorious 'Green Comet' we've enjoyed over this winter. Now it's at magnitude 8.5 which means you need a telescope to see it. SkyLive.com helps me locate it (it's near Orion) and it looks small and fuzzy now. Never really was 'green', more 'bluish'. Most comets are.

These events occur several times throughout history. We now know that they don't give doom and gloom, it's just a spectacle to enjoy. Positive news for a change!

Not easy to see from light-polluted cities.

wallaceToday  12:44 pm JST

Not easy to see from light-polluted cities.

Yep, this is a problem. It makes objects like Mercury and other things close to the horizon almost impossible to spot.

As an amateur astronomer I always enjoy events like this. However, the pandemic has restricted social interactions and sharing these events with others. I have seen all the major planets of our solar system (incl. Pluto) and just this weekend I observed Venus, Mars and Uranus. Also last night I saw the crescent Moon very close to the Pleiades star cluster ('Subaru' in Japanese), that made a wonderful sight to behold! And lately Venus and Uranus are very close together too. Uranus is sometimes visible to the naked eye, it's not too hard to observe if you know just where to look. Being near Venus right now makes it a breeze!

Starpunk, are you out in the country? My hometown in Australia has an excellent amateur observatory, with a gigantic 26" reflector, a few smaller ones, and an antique brass 6" or 8" (I think) refractor that has heritage listing. The higher altitude and country location make for magnificent skies. Urban Kansai, on the other hand...

Looking forward to seeing this. And it seems like the weather will be good on Tuesday (at least here in Nagoya) so hopefully we can get a good view.

Very cool. With all the chaos and dysfunction happening around us on this planet, it's amazing how everything in our solar system is moving in sync and precision above our heads.

Its kind of neat when there is an alignment like this.

Unfortunately this occurs when the planets are low on the horizon (which is always the case for Mercury and Venus), which means the views of the individual planets aren't the best.

I bought my first telescope last year and over the summer got some really great views of Jupiter (with its Galilean moons) and Saturn (with its rings) when they were high in the sky near opposition. Watching them now when they are low on the horizon in the early evening they are basically just little dots that don't reveal any detail.

wallaceMar. 27  12:44 pm JST

Not easy to see from light-polluted cities.

Venus and Mars should be easy to see anywhere. They're both very bright. Jupiter too is very bright but it's very low right now. Mercury can be tricky but being near Jupiter it's not too tough. And Uranus is very close to Venus. Binoculars or a telescope show that view the best.

rainydayMar. 27  03:02 pm JST

Its kind of neat when there is an alignment like this.

Unfortunately this occurs when the planets are low on the horizon (which is always the case for Mercury and Venus), which means the views of the individual planets aren't the best.

I bought my first telescope last year and over the summer got some really great views of Jupiter (with its Galilean moons) and Saturn (with its rings) when they were high in the sky near opposition. Watching them now when they are low on the horizon in the early evening they are basically just little dots that don't reveal any detail.

Venus is EXTREMELY bright right now. No mistaking it. Things will get better for Jupiter and Saturn later on.

Starpunk, are you out in the country? My hometown in Australia has an excellent amateur observatory, with a gigantic 26" reflector, a few smaller ones, and an antique brass 6" or 8" (I think) refractor that has heritage listing. The higher altitude and country location make for magnificent skies

I'm in an American suburban part of a large city. Seeing the planets is quite easy. Of course with larger instruments, the better the views.