Herts astronomer explains how to see January’s ‘beautiful’ planetary alignment
Skygazers on a look-out for celestial displays are in for a treat as six planets line up across the night sky, with four visible to the naked eye.
Ben Burningham, Associate Professor in the Department of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics at the University of Hertfordshire, has been speaking to the media about this exciting astronomical event, which will continue to be visible until the end of the month.
Dr Burningham said this line-up, sometimes called a “planetary parade”, occurs occasionally when several planets are visible at the same time.
“The planets in the Solar System all orbit within the same plane, and so they always appear in a line in the sky,” he said.
These worlds can be seen throughout January with Venus, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars all above the horizon at the same time.
Dr Burningham said: “All bar Uranus and Neptune will be visible to the naked eye, however, viewers should be able to see all six of them with a good amateur telescope.”
He continued: “It is a beautiful thing to have six planets (four naked-eye) visible all at once, the only naked-eye planet missing is Mercury. While planetary parades are not especially rare, they certainly don’t happen every year with six planets, nor do they occur for so long.”
Dr Burningham said Venus is the brightest planet in the sky, followed by Jupiter, which appears quite high in the southeast just after sunset.
Mars will appear to viewers as orange/red and low in the eastern sky, while Saturn is faintest and is diagonally upwards and south from Venus, he added.
Dr Burningham said: “They (the planets) will be getting closer together until Venus passes Saturn on the 18th of January. Saturn will then be closest to the sunset.
“The planets are visible now, but going forwards for the next month, Saturn will be setting earlier and sunset will be later, which will make it quite hard to see this planet by the middle of February.”
He said the Moon can make it tricky to spot Saturn if it is very close, but other planets will still be bright enough to be clearly visible.
Dr Burningham said: “Those looking to follow the alignment can start by spotting Venus, as the very bright ‘star’ in the west.
“They can then then look for Jupiter as the next brightest thing further southeast and higher in the sky and find Mars, orange and low in the east. “
“Saturn lies between Venus and Jupiter and is the next brightest thing in the sky.”
The Bayfordbury Observatory is holding an open night on 17 January and 7 February, which may give viewers an opportunity to see all six planets through the telescopes. Details of how to book tickets for an open night at University of Hertfordshire’s Bayfordbury Observatory can be found on the Bayfordbury Open Evening website.