Maybe the planetary alignment is influencing Maharashtra’s political destiny but star gazers are definitely in for a major delight!
In a rare planetary conjunction, five major planets namely, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, in our solar system will be visible brightly in a row onwards Friday.
These planets can be seen through the naked eye alone if the sky is clear. The best time to witness them is before dawn. Since June has the earlier sunrises of the year, the best time to see the alignment is before 5 am in the Eastern sky.
This conjunction is special as it includes Mercury, which is generally obscured from the view by the bright light of the Sun. Not just this, the planets will also be visible in the order in which they are positioned from the Sun. While it is common to view a couple of planets together at any given time, the alignment of five planets simultaneously is a rare phenomenon which last occurred in 1864 and won’t occur again till 2040.
The planets will appear “like a string of pearls spread out from close to the horizon”, said Prof Lucie Green, space scientist and chief stargazer, Society for Popular Astronomy.
A crescent Moon will also join the line-up on Friday. It will appear between Venus and Mars. The viewers in the northern hemisphere will get the best view from 45 to 90 minutes before sunrise. The people in the tropics and the southern hemisphere may get better views as these planets will rise higher in the sky before dawn.
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