If you’re into astronomy, you’re going to want to pay close attention to the sky over the next few weeks.
On the night of Tuesday, March 28, five planets – Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Mars – will gather in a part of the sky at around 50 degrees, a unique astronomical phenomenon, according to the Starwalk website.
Those who want to observe this spectacular event can do so after dark. Two bright planets – Jupiter and Mercury – can be seen near the horizon, in the constellation Pisces; the easiest to distinguish would be Venus, the brightest of the five planets. Venus will be located at -4.0 degrees from the constellation Aries, according to the Starwalk website.
Uranus, which in the sky would not be so far from Venus, will always be difficult to locate and may even require binoculars. Mars will be located higher in the sky, in the constellation Gemini.
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Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were seen together in late June 2022. Recently, two planets – Venus and Jupiter – were also aligned.
For South Florida residents, March 28 would be the best day to see the planets aligned, although the days before and after that date are also visible. The use of binoculars is recommended to better appreciate it.
At this time, the forecast for early next week in South Florida is a low chance of rain, so heavy cloudiness is not expected.
Although planetary alignments are rare, it has been less than a year since five planets last aligned.
The Frost Science Museum in Miami has not yet announced if it has any events or recommendations for viewing the phenomenon.