Five planets are set to align in the dawn sky this weekend, giving budding astronomers the chance to see a fairly rare display.
Mercury, Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune and Saturn will line up at dawn on Saturday, with some visible to the naked eye.
Early risers with a good view of the horizon will get the best chance of spotting the alignment, also known as a planetary parade.
It is expected that Jupiter and Saturn will be fairly easy to spot, but Neptune and Uranus may require some binoculars.
Additionally, Mercury will only be visible for a short space of time.
What to look out for with planetary alignment
Don Pollacco, a professor at the University of Warwick’s Department of Physics, said: “While Jupiter and Saturn will be easy to spot by eye, Mercury will be more challenging as its proximity to the sun means that it is only just above the horizon and visible about an hour before sunrise.
“Neptune and Uranus need binoculars to be sure of seeing them – although some keen-sighted people can see Uranus unaided.
“Jupiter and Saturn will be bright objects that have a yellowy colour, Mercury often looks pink, and Uranus and Neptune pale white-green.”
Alignments occur when the planets in the solar system are all roughly positioned in the same direction when viewed from Earth.
Saturn will be the first to rise, followed by Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus and Mercury.
Prof Pollacco said: “Given that we understand the orbits of the planets, we can predict when these ‘alignments’ will occur.
“While the planets may look relatively close together in the sky they are of course separated by many millions of miles.”
When will the next planetary alignment take place?
The next five-planet alignment will take place on April 20 2024, which will be a morning parade with Venus, Mercury, Neptune, Mars, and Saturn.
The previous alignment before this one took place on March 27 earlier this year.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel