Tom Wood
If you’re someone who enjoys gazing at the heavens and contemplating the wonders of space, perhaps you’d be interested to learn that there are five planets you’ll be able to see in the night sky this week.
On Tuesday, the planets will quite literally align in the sky so that you’ll be able to cram in five whole planets in one sitting, provided you know where to look.
Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury and Uranus will all be out up there just after sunset on March 28, should you gaze skywards.
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In the UK, the easiest planets to see will be Venus and Jupiter, though you’ll perhaps still be able to get a glimpse of Mercury, Uranus, and Mars in the sky if you’re lucky.
Obviously, there are going to be places where this is going to be a bit easier, though one professor said that where you are ‘is not critical’ to whether you’ll get a good look at the cosmic ballet.
It’s more to do with the conditions of the place you’re in.
Professor Beth Biller from the University of Edinburgh told MailOnline: “Exact location in the UK is probably not critical.
“What's more important is to be out of the city and to be somewhere where you have a good view of the horizon.”
This parade of the planets is taking place because many of the other inhabiting planets of our solar system are all in the same constellation.
It’s not out of the question that you’d be able to see three in the night sky, but we’re not as regularly able to see five planets together in the sky.
The last time this happened was only in 2022, though.
Before that, it also happened in 2020 and 2016, so it’s only really every so often.
Professor Biller added: “Venus and Jupiter are both very bright and easy to pick out and you may have already seen them close together over the past few weeks.
“Mars is a bit fainter, but still easily observed with the naked eye.
“Mercury starts getting tricky - you need to be at a dark site with a clear view of the horizon if you want to see Mercury.”
As for Uranus, you might need some special equipment, but if you’ve got a set of binoculars that should be enough.
A senior editor of Sky & Telescope, Rick Fienberg, explained the situation in the US, where seeing some of the planets might be more difficult.
On Fox35, he said: “Unless you have a clear sky and a nearly flat western horizon free of obstructions such as trees or buildings, you won't see Jupiter and Mercury.”
Still, if you want to make the effort, it’ll be interesting to see so much of our solar system in the same sky at night.